.BC.Zephy - Well first off, I do very much have to compliment the colors in this tag. I do very much enjoy those, and I actually think if they were a little more distinct on the left, and as well as a tad more color on the far right side as there is near the focal, I think that would improve the tag. I do not think too drastically, but one of those small tweaks that you are able to make. I like the focal area in this tag, and I think it merges pretty well with the left side of the tag. However, not so much on the right side I think more because the left and middle are kinda all there basically, the far right side seems a tad empty. It is almost as you forgot to fill it in over there. Also with the effects that are over there they kinda disrupt the flow of the tag, because they almost appear as left overs of the c4d renders that were used in the rest of the tag, that were forgotten to be erased. Now I think there are a few slightly larger things in the tag that could be fixed or worked on to improve. The first off being the quality of the tag. The quality of the overall tag I would not complain so much about except that there are a few smaller areas that ruin those areas of the tag. The majority of the tag seem as though it is very smooth but there are a few areas that are a tad sharp in the edges and what not. I would either try smoothing those areas out, or possibly adding a few more sharper effects, as well as effects in between to even out the tag. The next thing I believe myself, is that something could possibly be added into the tag. It is almost as though there is something missing from the tag, because although it is full, it comes off empty in an aspect. I think it might be the right side, so maybe just adding some text might help that, or even a top and bottom border (no border on the sides). The very last thing that I would have to comment on is the lighting. The light source is too overwhelming and is even in the wrong area of the tag. First off, when adding a light source, you need to pay attention to the detail in the renders or focal points, and in this case, the render has the light source coming from the other side. So your light source is first off on the wrong side of the tag. As well, it is a tad strong and does not have enough transition in the tag. I would maybe dampen in down just a tad and make it span out a tad more.
Come on people, don't make me close this....I would like to keep this open, but one a day? Not worth it, sorry. I will try getting online a tad earlier tomorrow to see if that changes anything.
Alright people, I will be on for about an hour then on a little later, so go ahead and start hitting it up.
nanSTA - Ok well, I will go ahead and be totally upside down on this and start with the second tag. Well with this tag, all I can say is that I have seen in the past before I left MUCH better from you in my personal opinion. Honestly, I know that this is most likely not what was done, but it looks like you blurred a large c4d in the background and then made it smaller and put it in focus as the main focal point in the tag. There just does not seem like there is anything going on within the tag, it seems kinda dull. I think that if there were more flow, lighting, contrast, and just even a little going on in the tag it would look so much better. I can usually pin point better in tags than I am doing with this one, but I just cannot really pull anything out of this one, as it just seems like the tag was never finished. Then for the second tag, I think that this is more of a nanSTA tag in my opinion. Although, maybe not the best work I have seen from you, this is one of those tags that you can tell you made as it sorta has somewhat of your style within the tag. The first thing I was looking at in this tag was the dark/light contrast in the tag. I know that a good style for some tags is almost that faded look, but in this tag I think it would look better if it had a little more contrast and not so much of the faded out look. Also I think that has an effect on the lighting as well, because with some more darker colors and some more vibrant colors as well, I think the light source would fit in more. In this case, the light source is a color that in my mind does not even fit in with the tag, it just stands out too much. I do not think just coloring it without some more contrast in the tag would help either. The next thing that I was looking at was the speckles that you have all over the tag. I do like those effects on the right side and in the middle, but I think they stand out a tad too much on the left. I think if they were just cut down a tad bit and maybe even smaller, because they seem a tad large on the left side, it might look a tad better in my personal opinion. However, I am not seeing almost any flow in this tag at all. With all of the effects that you have in the tag, and how chaotic it looks in the back, I think some more effects causing some flow in the tag would look better. I think that if even you had a few effects in the front that were a tad sharper that showed a little somewhat flow it might look better. Right now, in my mind, it just seems as though the tag was rushed and kinda comes off a tad messy. However, I do like the effect in the front middle/right position that is right over the render. I think that has a special feel to it and it definitely stands out but as well, I think it looks very well done. However, it looks as though in the bottom right corner, part of it got put over there by accident (looks that way) and maybe either fix that and blur it like the rest of the tag, or possibly remove it.
Sorry matador and vanquish, I left my status as online last night. But since I did that I will go ahead and critique your tags to be fair. Also for future reference, please read the rules as I do state that I only want one tag per person per day. Since I have been gone though I will let today be a multiple tag day, but starting tomorrow I will only critique the first tag in your post. Vanquish - I am going to start with your last tag(s) first, because they seem the most simple to desrcibe and I need to warm up as I am still a little tired. I would say out of both versions that I think the second version is the better of the two. Although I am not too much of a fan of either as I do not care for these type of tags because in my own opinion they are not that skilled of tags. This one though is nice, and fairly simple to the point where it is looked at as a placement tag, because without good placement, this tag would be totally ruined. So there is not too much critique I can put into a tag like this, as there are not really any elements to these tags except placement and the amount in the tag. So I would say go with the second one, as the first just seems to be a tad too empty without the text. Ok now I will go to the first tag, the hulk tag. Well first off, I just want to compliment your lighting job in the tag. I think that it was very well placed first off and the color of the lighting was chosen very well also. Then I think also that you didn't just use a soft brush and mess around with the layer opacity and what not, but actually took time to do the lighting. I would have to say this is one of the most well done lighting jobs in a tag I have seen in awhile. Next I want to focus on the text for a brief moment. Now I think the text was done well, but I do think that it could still be improved. The 'HULK' text I think is probably good enough, not too much improvement to be done there, but the 'Not My Choice' text could use a little work. I think the main thing that just doesn't work for me too well is the font type that was chosen and especially with the lighting, the font just seems to be too thin for that to work in my opinion. So I would almost just try to pick out a slightly thicker font, especially for it to flow a tad more with the 'HULK' text. How I can not really complain at all about the depth of the tag, as I think with the buildings in the background with the c4d effects in the front, that portrays depth very well, and I do not see much room at all for improvement there. However, in my mind I think that there are a few things that could be improved with the effects of the c4d renders in this tag. The first of which is located on the left side of the render, even though there is only a small amount, there is a small problem I can see. I look at it, and what first comes into my mind is that the effects just fade too much. I am not really sure if they so much fade too much, or if it just might be too soon. Either way, I think if they stood out just a tad more, but still not overdoing the effects on the left, that it might improve it just a tad. Then on the right, I like this area for the most part except closer to the bottom of the tag. The kinda foggy type feel with the white lighting throws me off from the rest of the lighting and the effects. I think that basically for me to look better, it just needs to be toned down and kinda just look like the rest of the effects, with nothing needed to be added towards the bottom of the tag. Ok now finally, for the last tag (well, the second tag). This is probably actually my least favorite out of all three tags, and that is saying something considering I am not too much for the style of the third tag at all. I am not saying it is a bad tag, or that the effects and what not are just displayed badly, but there is one problem for me in the entire tag. That problem is simply the color of the tag. The tag overall is just completely and totally monotone and just makes the tag a bore to look at, and it does not come across all that appealing. I think that if you added some other color, or maybe even chose a different color to monotone the tag in it might look better, but right now in my personal opinion the color just makes the tag a bore. Secondly I want to discuss the lighting effects done in the tag. After the first tag, I would just expect basically some amazing lighting jobs from you in tags like these, but I am actually disappointed in the lighting in this tag. There is no real light source coming from anywhere in the tag, yet there are two light sources on the focal point. The lighting is coming from both sides of the render in this tag, but the only light source that seems to be in the tag itself is in the back of the tag on top, and even then it is hard to decide if that is even suppose to be a light source. So I would maybe work a little more with the lighting to get something that justifies the tag with a light source in there somewhere. Again, I think that the depth is decent in this tag, and although this time you probably could do somewhat with a little more depth, it is not needed as much as a few other aspects within the tag. Next I want to go very direct with you on the flow in this tag. I think directly near the focal point of the tag, the flow just seems to be done very well, not perfect, but good enough. That is, until you reach the far right side which is where the flow of the tag is thrown off by those two lines. It seems as though the flow is going to the right in that direction but then these are going in the exact opposite direction and just kinda catches you off guard and throws it off. The effects and the text are done decently well, and actually I do personally like the text in this tag. The effects I think are a tad overwhelming in some spots, and also it just does seem all that was done was a few c4d renders were thrown into the tag, and nothing done aside from that. So all in all, the first tag, the 'HULK' tag was done the best out of the three. The second tag I think was just lacking overall, and I think it could have turned out better with maybe some more time put into it. I mean after looking at the first tag, my instinct would tell me that you almost rushed on the second tag. Then lastly, the third tag, again not my favorite style, I think was put together rather decently.
Matador - Well, I am judging from not getting any comments in your thread that you know this is probably gonna come off kinda harsh. But I want to warn you before I critique and you read it, that this may seem a little harsh, but I am just trying to be honest and to help you out. I want to start off this with looking at the text in the tag. When working with the typography of a tag, you can not rush into it and just place some text into the tag, because text is just as important as lighting or even the effects of the tag. With bad typography, follows virtually a ruining of the tag itself. No I am not saying that the text however ruins this tag, but however it does drop it a notch on a scale. You have two sets of text in this tag, which are 'Green' and 'Matador', and unfortunately neither help the tag whatsoever. First off, the fact that you overlapped the two texts, was a bad idea in the first part, as well as having lowered the opacity on the 'Green' text. What I would suggest doing actually is removing both sets of text, and taking a good amount of time and sit there and think about the best placement for the text, and then once you do that, put the text in and go through every single font, and then go through multiple sizes of the text. Just remember, text is not something that can just be thrown in, it also takes skill and thought. Now although you have incorporated flow into the tag, unfortunately it is not the best type of flow. There are two types of flow, there is flow within the tag, and there is forced flow. In this tag, I am seeing forced flow and that is all. The background effects have no flow whatsoever, they just seem to be totally random, and it appears that you added those lines to create flow in the tag. First off the lines themself kinda helped ruin the tag as they are not all that appealing, and by forcing flow, it is as though you are trying to force the tag to have what it needs in order to be a good tag. You can not do that, because a good tag should have that without too much effort. The last few things I want to look at are the overall effects, the lighting, and the color/contrast of the tag. First off, the overall effects of the tag just seem to be lacking in general. It seems as though, apart from the lines you added, the background was just randomly made and then you slapped a render onto it to try and make it look better. Unfortunately it does not work that way, and you have to work with the render and the background together to make sure they fit with one another. Also, I think if you looked at some tutorials it might help you because you can get some ideas of how to use some more advanced techniques with the effects of the tag. Next is the lighting of the tag, which like the flow seems too forced. It looks as though all you did was after you finished the tag, you took a white soft brush and just put in on top of everything and maybe even lowered the opacity and called that your light source. Again, you want to incorporate the lighting with the rest of the tag, which means placement, color, and even the look of it. This type of light source is not the best, and although sometimes it may work the best for the tag, you need to be able to blend it in so it looks realistic and not forced. Lastly, the color and contrast of the tag are just boring, bland, and sadly unappealing. The color just seems to be dull and is lacking any vibrance whatsoever. You want to work with color so it stands out and it makes someone want to look at the tag, rather than just glancing at the tag. Also contrast is a very big part of the tag, and the fogged over look only works on a few select tags. In this case, you can really tell contrast is needed by looking at the render, because the render seems almost to be washed out of color. This tag is definitely needs some more darker areas, as well as maybe a tad few brighter areas as well.
