Feedback (AKA: criticism)

Want to know others' opinion of your graphics? Want to be certain your stuff is good? Tips on what'd look good? Well, here's where it comes down to the honest truth.

WARNING: If you can't take any form of criticism, please don't post here. No one will say anything 'sucks' or that you should just 'give up' Photoshop, however people will be pointing out flaws and nitpicking your graphics. But remember, you're here to improve your graphics skills, so some ego bubble-bursting is worth it in the end.

Everyone, please follow the rules:

1. NO BASHING. Don't be negative; be encouraging. Please avoid cruel words and try to be compassionate. We want honesty, yes. But a little sugar on the honesty cake wouldn't hurt.
2. Give constructive criticism. Don't say 'it looks nice'/'it's ugly' without explaining WHY. And if you think something needs more work, please elaborate how the person can go about doing that.
3. Make sure to include what program and which version of it you used to make the graphics you post here for criticism. This helps the other members better understand how you can improve and give you proper directions.
4. Don't forget to thank the critics for helping you out~

OK, since the group is dead, I'll start.
Two latest sigs I made.
Software: GIMP 2.4.5




One of my first ever made sigs (just for fun):

simplyme: Alrighty, I'll be your first critic! xD;
1. That's pretty interesting, especially it's from GIMP. I really suck at it so I'm pretty impressed on what you can do with it. Is it intentional for the right side to be blurry and then the left side to be choppy? I think it could be better if it could stick to one style than just one. But this style is effective too, so you took a risk there. I think the coloring is well done, even though it can improve a little like maybe make it a little lighter and add a gradient coloring somewhere. But since this is kind of "moody" it makes a great impact. The Japanese characters in the background (I'm pretty sure that's a brush because I think I have the same one), it's a nice way to fill up the emptyness. You kept it simple, which is good. The more simple it is, the better, the more complicated it is, it goes in the trash. So good job on this one. ^^

2. Hohoho a masking technique. :O I've seen this technique so many times used in for those "epic" signatures, and this sure looks like one. xD;I like it how the coloring of the person (Sorry I don't who that is ;; ) matches the background... however one thing is kind of bothering me is how as the background spreads it gets darker... thus making the person just being there. There's a difference of just "being there" and standing out. I think it would be better if the dark parts weren't too dark, I mean keep them there, but maybe lighten up a little. The lightning bolt is kind of random, in a good way, it takes up the emptiness which is good. Sometimes emptiness is bad and sometimes it's good. For this case, it's bad, but you added the lightning bolt which is good. ^^;

3. Hahaha, first sigs. You gotta love them. xD Alright first things first, the image is really low quality. Sorry but that was the first thing that I noticed. And also the lightning streaks are kind of random, and it covers most of poor Wolfram's face (that's him right?). The background is not a good texture, I would never use that kind of texture. The brushing is well... interesting. Especially the colored dots. xD; I think it would be better if the dots were just white or some other plain color. The text is just..... D: yeah. But of course this was one of your first sigs so you know. xD;;

I'll have some more soon as well...

Sorry I'm answering so late!

1. Thanks! I kept that blurry part from the original picture. At first I wanted to make it choppy too, but after trying it out I decided that the blurry part looks better.

2. So it's called a masking technique? I didn't know it had a name. That person is Sasuke from Naruto (wearing ANBU gear) and Sasuke's affinity is lightning, that's why I put it there. I thought it was clever. Next time I'll try not to make the edges so dark, I'll see if it looks better.

3. Yes, the image was extremely LQ. It was a screenshot. Everything in this sig is kind of random, I was just starting with GIMP. I didn't have any interesting fonts back then.
I love this sig anyway.

Thank you so much for spending your time on commenting, Melissa, I appreciate it a lot.

@ simplyme:
regarding the first sig with Kanda, decorating the background with the chinese characters is a nice way to give it a oriental feel. However, a lot of people don't know that the string of words don't mean anything. They are gibberish to people who can actually read chinese. Thus it seems less like you're trying to say something, and more like you're just putting random words there for the sake of decorating it.

Sorry if it seems harsh.

It doesn't seem harsh at all, ahgreg I really used this gibberish brush only for the sake of decorating. Whether it means something or not, it doesn't matter. It only fills the space in the middle of the sig. I doubt that "people who can actually read chinese" will feel offended.

......meep..
i don't usually make sets for myself so....yeah..
this one is quite simple i didn't change much keeping the elegance of it, most people just make it look too simple or too well decorated
Bash away

@simplyme
I see nothing to criticize ...I love the feel the sig gives out in Kanda sig especially
In my opinion you don't need to understand the words ..you can feel the picture

newly made siggys
any opinions for improvement?

The first one is quite amazing, nothing like your old style my alien friend, truly a work of art