My First Sig.

This is my first sig. I didnt use any tuts i just messed about. Its not that good but I like it ;)
http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/w...4SniperSig.png

http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/w...niperSig-1.png
CnC :)

Hmm. Not bad. However it needs some refining. This is a tough render to use because it ia a 3d render it's kinda tough to blend in.

The yellow glow think is a bid distracting and it doesnt rly blend into the BG. I like the BG good use of c4d's. Buti think they dont go with your render choice. I'd drop the render and that yellow thing and sue a different sotck.

Also your text it's okay but try and stay away from blending options they make it unable to blend in easily making it a bit too obvious to look great. i suggest you read my text tutorial. it's in the text basics area. I think it'll help you a lot learn the basics of text and what to use. the mso timportant thing to remember is when you don't know text, use default fonts! they will work better 99% of the time than any other font. Which is whhy this is good cause you use a default font.

c4ds look good though and text looks decent. Just bring in a different stock.
Maybe try reading a few tutorials they might help you learn a few new techniques.

Thanks mate.. I was just seeing what i could manage lol

I like the render you chose, it's a good high quality render which you have well positioned in the signature (y).

The background as the last person said makes nice use of C4D however it isn't very fitting with the render, you need to consider colours, the blues and dark blacks just don't suit the image at all - perhaps consider some earthy colours to fit with the image ;)
Again the glow thing is kinda distracting, I'd imagine your background to be more fitting to a space age render... not the sniper from COD4. Avoid using a glow effec on the render too because it looks rather tacky, don't worry about the render not always being a major stand out focal point, I like seeing sigs that all fit and work together in harmony.

Text is an issue, it's slighty small, not well well place and the text effects don't help. You should experiment with methods of making the text stand out other than text effects. :) Once you manage to get a background that suits your render this will be easier because at the moment too much is contrasting, it should fit easier once you have most things working together in the sig... if that makes sense.

I'd recommend getting yourself some brushes, make yourself a background with some neutral greens, browns and such (use eye drop / pipette tool on your render for good colour suggestions) and mess around. You can use a C4D to add some lighting to your signature then download a few fonts and mess around with those. See which works best then mess around with sizes of text, placement too.

Another tip - I always find that when text is used on a sig.. even if your handle is something like iTz ShAnE. It will always look better written on a sig as Itz Shane or ITZ SHANE or itz shane... simple because of consistancy. Eye for detail is important and the text looks kinda messy because of the cap lower cap lower cap lower... I hope that once again makes sense.

For a first sig it's rather impressive though by all means. I've seen far worse experienced sig makers in my time. You are using a number of effects nicely, try different things and you seem to have render placement down to a pickle quite nicely.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for all the info Kanariya. I will have another go at this ;)

Have a mess with the same sig and keep us updated.

Try a few examples with different things, post em all up and i'll do my best to tell you which one works best and what works best with what.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Papa

the most important thing to remember is when you don't know text, use default fonts! they will work better 99% of the time than any other font. Which is whhy this is good cause you use a default font.

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I agree with this, to a fault. I do agree that the default fonts (arial, tahoma, myriad, etc) work well in most cases, but it's mostly because they aren't cluttered with fancy curves or useless ligatures. I don't think it hurts anything to be creative and find a sweet spot when it comes to fonts. One font, certainly, does not suit every piece of work. But if you decide to use typo, do some research. There are thousands upon thousands (of millions) of fonts out there to choose from. Personally I like OTF fonts because of the glyph selection, but you can do what you like. I would definitely suggest typography books to anyone working with art, specifically because it can be such a big part of graphic design.

Just keep in mind that if you intend to make typography part of the piece, that you spend some time on it. Typo shouldn't just be slapped on, it needs to be thought out and actually incorporated. Typography in itself, shouldn't ALWAYS be needed.


The one thing I think will help you the most, is to follow some color theory. If you use PS CS4, it comes with an extension called "Kuler" that will do your work for you. All you do is input a hex and it gives you all kinds of color modes with which to build a palette. Having a good foundation in color theory will help any and all design work you do. I duly suggest you check out some of the color theory sites out there, and maybe get a book or two.

And the last bit of advice, even if it doesn't apply to you...Don't use stocks or renders just because you feel like you have to. Signatures shouldn't be good just because the stock is good. Otherwise what is the point of signatures?

Keep it up man.

Thanks for the info Solaris.

I have added another. CnC ?

Ok, both the background and font are now better, but could still use some tweaking.

Revert back to how the render was before because I feel the effect you have placed on it kinda draws away from the detail that is on it and ruins it. Make the background perhaps more slodgy, earthy... grassy... kinda like a camo? See if that works.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kanariya

Make the background perhaps more slodgy, earthy... grassy... kinda like a camo?

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Any ideas on how I would do that?

OK erm..

Try following this tutorial..
http://www.avivadirectory.com/photos...udge-tutorial/

Don't smudge the gun though like it would suggest to do so in the tut, just stick with the colours on the guy. See how that looks. Keep smudging out and it should fill the canvas.

If you have any problems with that, get back to me and I'll try and explain it myself, I think a slight smudge might work with this sig.

Erm ok i didnt really understand that tut lol

Ok, give me a few moments and I'll cool something up for you to help. Is that ok?
Bare with me, I'm easily distracted.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kanariya

Ok, give me a few moments and I'll cool something up for you to help. Is that ok?
Bare with me, I'm easily distracted.

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Yea thats ok, No rush :)

Oh btw what progam are you using? Photoshop?
Also could you provide me with the render?

Photoshop CS4 Extended ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kanariya

OK erm..

Try following this tutorial..
http://www.avivadirectory.com/photos...udge-tutorial/

Don't smudge the gun though like it would suggest to do so in the tut, just stick with the colours on the guy. See how that looks. Keep smudging out and it should fill the canvas.

If you have any problems with that, get back to me and I'll try and explain it myself, I think a slight smudge might work with this sig.

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Thanks for the link, i remember looking for a smudge tutorial a while back.

Okie dokie. This is VERY BASIC, but it shows you the settings you need and i'll explain it best I can. I'll do a tutorial for smudge one I remember how to do it properly, I'm VERY rusty at it - but for the purpose of what you need it for, this SHOULD suffice.

Anways.

http://i39.tinypic.com/2dgnymw.jpg

Take a look at that image, (You will need both images for the settings so hold tight before you get started).

I have circled the brush i used, it's a default brush called Chalk so don't worry you don't need to download ANYTHING! To your right you should be able to see brush options. Make sure you have the smudge tool selected which is the little hand pointing, you can see it next to the image of brush i circled for you. (this is an image copied and pasted onto the canvas)

Really hope I'm not confusing things there.
Anyways...

Make sure you set the settings like i have for scattering. (or as close as you want)

http://i44.tinypic.com/2cgosw4.jpg

Then make the settings the same for shape dynamics, the other two boxes you see ticked just tick them ;).

If you see at the top of the picture you can see my 'render' (it's a photo, it's not been rendered). I have drawn on arrows for the direction you smudge. For the background you need to smudge away from the image, outwards.

The second image you can see what it looks like once its done - doesn't have to be exactly the same, course yours wont be... different images bring varied results. However can you see how this gives you the perfect colours for your background? It also looks slightly like an army cameo (Or will do with your colour scheme)

Does this help at all? If not I'll be less lazy and make a proper tut.

I understoon that Thanks. I duplicated the render and blurred the bottom layer and did a bit to the background aswell. Here is what it ended up like :)


http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/w...niperSig-2.png

I looks must better imo.
I'd try and find some C4D to pop in there because it still looks slightly bland. Try and stretch the smudging all the way -------->
Don't pop a layer effect on, make the background stand out more.

Little suggestion for you.
Try and work with smaller canvas', it means you have less room to fill so your sigs look less spacious. As you are just starting out you are still learning things so you have less knowledge to fill large canvas'... plus I think large sigs look unsightly.

Choose a nice small render, the sniper rifle does some damage to that sig due to its size and it mean you're being left with a lorra' space to fill.

Thanks for all you help :) I will try a different theme later on :) A small canvas aswell ;)

Glad I could help, anytime just ask.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kanariya

I like the render you chose, it's a good high quality render which you have well positioned in the signature (y).

The background as the last person said makes nice use of C4D however it isn't very fitting with the render, you need to consider colours, the blues and dark blacks just don't suit the image at all - perhaps consider some earthy colours to fit with the image ;)
Again the glow thing is kinda distracting, I'd imagine your background to be more fitting to a space age render... not the sniper from COD4. Avoid using a glow effec on the render too because it looks rather tacky, don't worry about the render not always being a major stand out focal point, I like seeing sigs that all fit and work together in harmony.

Text is an issue, it's slighty small, not well well place and the text effects don't help. You should experiment with methods of making the text stand out other than text effects. :) Once you manage to get a background that suits your render this will be easier because at the moment too much is contrasting, it should fit easier once you have most things working together in the sig... if that makes sense.

I'd recommend getting yourself some brushes, make yourself a background with some neutral greens, browns and such (use eye drop / pipette tool on your render for good colour suggestions) and mess around. You can use a C4D to add some lighting to your signature then download a few fonts and mess around with those. See which works best then mess around with sizes of text, placement too.

Another tip - I always find that when text is used on a sig.. even if your handle is something like iTz ShAnE. It will always look better written on a sig as Itz Shane or ITZ SHANE or itz shane... simple because of consistancy. Eye for detail is important and the text looks kinda messy because of the cap lower cap lower cap lower... I hope that once again makes sense.

For a first sig it's rather impressive though by all means. I've seen far worse experienced sig makers in my time. You are using a number of effects nicely, try different things and you seem to have render placement down to a pickle quite nicely.

Hope that helps.

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You give serious CnC

anyway

For a first sig its okay, check out some tutorials and fresh up your skills, and you'll soon be producing good sigs

What can I say? Happy to help 8)