Pink Poogle Toy Forum

Well, I intentionally did that resize out of scale and not to proportion to give it more of a cartoonish, fish-eyed type of a look. As far as the colors, well, it was red, is now blue (I took into account the requirements), and shaded with a cartoonish/cg colorization. Red from the marker lights was also replaced with yellow to conform with the regs of the contest. I also edited the background and added the lens flare. The font choice/placement was designed to look like a car ad, which I was quite pleased with.

...Alex: Interesting choice of subject. I like how you tinted the picture green and added a pixellated effect. The bright white area really overpowers the whole image, though, and the "along came a" in the background is really hard to see. 8/10
Amethyst: The overlayed character in the background makes the image look a little odd, but it does add a lot of nice green tones. The black kanji in the corner is way too bold, it would look better if it was smaller or another shade of green. You probably had a limited font choice, but this font is very blocky and mechanical looking against the leaves, here's a site with a lot of different Japanese fonts. Lastly, even though "leaf" is a fairly easily recognizable character, it's better to be safe and put in the English anyway. 7/10
Apricus: Excellent job recoloring the original image, the colors are still consistent and convincing. The bottom half of the image seems empty, perhaps adding more stars or raising the opacity on the text would help. 9/10
bluehawaii19: The way you retinted the image makes it very hard to recognize, and the grunge overlay really detracts from the "elegant" feeling I think you wanted. I think this icon would have looked much nicer if you'd tinted it some shade of purple, maybe lavender, the dark really washes out all the details and doesn't exactly fit with "elegant." 7/10
Darklegendary: Interesting method of recoloring the image. I like the contrast between the fisherman and the white wave, it works very well. The placement of your text is very creative too. There's a lot of blank black space in the bottom right corner, adding a little light grunge overlay would help make it less empty. 9/10
DM was on fire!: The original image had okay color balance, I don't know why you tinted it greenish, it makes it look like the photo was taken under a fluorescent light. The adjustments you made make the image really grainy, especially in her hair, and around the edges. The combination of a light blue border and white text is very hard to read, as well as the font that says "weird." 6/10
hellyer: I can't see much of what you've done to this image, as it was already color tinted. I think you should have chosen a more interesting font for "diary of a madman," Courier is very plain. 5/10
Kitten Medli: It looks like you used Smart Blur on this image. Smart blur is generally best for pictures with large areas of flat color and definite edges (drawings), not really for photographs. Besides that one filter, I don't think you did much to this image besides add text. 5/10
Koku: It's really interesting how the way you cropped the image makes it look very different. I like how you made the scanlines only in the background, it prevents it from being too plain, but it's not distracting. 10/10
Kyra: I like the rainbowy colors. The high contrast really brings your attention to the center. My only problem with this icon is that the text is very hard to read with the dot overlay. 9.5/10
meowth1982: I like what you've done with the original image, I'd have never guessed how dark it was. The sunbeams you added to the grass are very nice. The only problem is that the top of the f in "life" is cut off. 10/10
moogie: The way you desaturated the image is very dramatic. I think the script M in the background should be a little bit smaller so that it doesn't cover the corner of her mouth, and I would suggest you use a different font for "Moogs," I think the g of that font looks very awkward. Also, there's a very large empty black spot in the top left corner, perhaps if you had some more overlayed +'s. 9/10
Neko: The original image is rather grainy, and when you boosted the whites, it made it even more grainy. The pink border around "mitsu" is also grainy and inconsistent looking. 6/10
Optimus: Ugh, I just got a flashback of Uncle Matty. Very nice job filling in the grass and hiding the blurriness of the original picture. I think the lime green around the border and text is a little bright and distracting. 9.5/10
paola: Wow, this icon is very bright. The contrast is very nice and easily brings your focus to the fruit. I can see all the overlays you did on this image, and they're very well done, not distracting at all, but still noticeable. 10/10
ScottNak: Interesting subject for an icon. The background is very plain and it really blends in with the bowl and the overlaying text. 7/10
Shadowfare: Other than adjusting the levels and adding a slight mosaic overlay, you haven't done much with this image, but it very simple and elegant. When you changed the levels, you really blew out a lot of the detail in the center petals, and it just makes a rather odd-looking profile against the dark background. 8.5/10
Starchaser: I like the new background you made, it's a very nice contrast with the bird. The original image is pretty rough, so the extraction around the edges is a little awkward, not much you can do about that besides find a better image. Otherwise though, it's very well composed, I like how you made the background notably darker around the text so that it's legible. 9.5/10
Sunnie: The rainbow gradient really doesn't look very nice, nor does it really fit with the look I think you were going for. The pixel font you chose is very hard to read, particularly the e's, try a slightly larger more balanced pixel font. The heavy black border around it makes a nice contrast, but it's really overpowering. 6/10
timkhj: I can still see some traces of pink around the lines of the car, so I assume you used the magic wand to select the red and change it to blue. In this case it's not very obvious since you downscaled it so much, but in general, you want to have your source image exactly how you want it before you scale it down. I also don't think dark blue was the best color to change it to, since the whole image is a little dark toned, it doesn't really stand out at all. 6/10

I vote out DM was on fire!, Kitten Medli, Sunnie, and timkhj

The pink is actually from the background when it was shrunk that much... I checked the steps (I save after each big change) and there is no red or pink left from the car in the full sized image, although the pavement behind the car's hood there is lighter in color. I should have kept better eye on the end result, especially since i was editing the background just above there. And no, I used replace color, not the magic wand, and took several steps to ensure the color was not transferred. However, I see what you mean about the dark color. Thank you for pointing that out. I will keep it in mind for future works.

Thanks for the feedback Judges, I knew when I entered it I was running a few big risks becuase I know it looked like I hadn't done much at all with the image which was pretty much true and I wanted to use a hand written style font but a tried about 10 and i couldn't get them to be legiable and fit the picture well.

I know where you're coming from, guys. I was totally at a loss as to what to do with this. I did actually play around with stuff for a while, but you can't really tell. Oh well. :O Thanks anyways!

I checked the first post, adn I can't find anywhere that say people who aren't participating can't post ... so I hope this is ok.
I just wanted to say that I've been following this for ages ... ever since I missed the sign-ups!
Anyway- I think everyone who entered is really great - and just wanted to mention after reading the judges comments tht I can't see absolutely any text in ...Alex's spider icon. 'along came a' I believe.
I just wanted to say that! And I everyone's is cool, but as I'm not a judge I won't go into it!

It's there, in the background. My monitor is very light, so I can sort of see it, but right now I'm using a school computer and I can't see it.

Haha, but then it would look like everyone else's!

Shadowfare - Nice, clean and simple. I like how you kept the mosaic effect very subtle... it seems to tie in nicely with the shapes of the petals. The border adds a bit of "spark", but it might have been nice to see a bit more "personality" in the icon (a subtext is an easy (if maybe overused!) way of doing this). In general, though, very pleasing to the eye!

Kyra - Hmm, looks good! The colours work well, and the two alternating fonts for the text is a nice effect. As Silja mentioned, though, it is a little hard to read, and also seems a bit crowded over the guy's head/hair. Moving the guy leftwards and/or down a bit would solve this, as well as making the icon a little more "dynamic". Centering images tends to make things seem a bit static... though admittedly this kinda suits the picture you've chosen!

Alex - Ew! Icky! The green tint you've put on the image is wonderful... it really makes the spider seem that much grosser (if that's possible!). I can barely see the text with my screen's brightness/contrast turned up to max... it's a pity because what I can see of it looks good, though (I like the positioning).

Amethyst - This is surprisingly abstract, seeing as it came from a photo! (in a good way!) The shades of green are nice, with the dabs of yellow, I think, saving it from being tooo green! The kanji character looks quite nice, though it does seem a bit bold and dark. I don't really know what's available when it comes to japanese fonts, however, so I can't say much in that respect!

paola - Lovely textured effects here... I particularly like those thin curved lines. The way you picked out the bright green of the fruit for the border is a nice idea, though the border does look a bit heavy. I notice you've used a darker green inbetween the light green and black... since the two greens contrast so much, the dark green looks as dark as the black, giving the effect of a 2px black border. Maybe leaving that 1px space clear (with just the image showing through) would "lightened" the border.

DM - I like the composition of this image (I like the font and text placement)... but overall, the quality of the picture seems to pull this piece down a bit. Removing a dark background from an image to place it on a light background isn't that easy... and I think the scanlines draw attention to some of the darker/jagged edges, unfortunately. Attacking these edges with a feathered marquee might have helped, perhaps. Also, I know people don't have red skin, but the overlay effects you've used have made the darker part of the girl's neck really quite red (according to my trusty Photoshop eyedropped)... so that's something to keep in mind.

meowth1982 - Wow, you've done quite a bit to the original picture! The extra colours you've added really make it interesting... I really like the sunbeams too. I guess it's probably an obvious thing to say, but the small text is rather too small to read... which is a nice effect, but since the text is black and a little blurry, it is a little distracting. In general the black does seem a bit dark, but it balances out the dark figure on the right, so that's good!

Apricus - Very nice colorisation... the blue green looks lovely, and really brings out the world-ball a lot more than the original picture. I like the border too. It's subtle, but gives the neat "finished" look that it needs to. Hehe, I don't really have any suggestions, nice work!

Koku - Hehe, nice icon! It seems to tell a story in itself, which is nice for a LJ icon (as they tend to be used to express personality and emotions). The two fonts you chose look great together, and it's very nice the way the "g" curves around under the witch's face. The diagonal scanlines were a nice choice, as they draw attention to the witch and the text.

hellyer - Hmm, as the other judges have said, it would have been nice to see something extra added to this image. It's almost unfortunate, when images are tinted so perfectly that you don't want to change them! Um, the font looks quite cool... he could be a computer-literate madman, after all.

Neko - Very pretty icon, this has a very nice feel... you improved on the colours from the original picture a lot, and I like the way you've added the extra pink in the background, it gives the picture rather more depth! The pink looks quite concentrated in some areas, though, while others look a bit blank due to the plain white in the background (especially on the left side there). The outline around the text looks a bit blurry, too. Otherwise, very nice though.

timkhj - Hmm, I can see what you were trying to do with the cartoon look, but the perspective still bothers me a bit. I think it's maybe because it gives the initial impression that you've squished the car horizontally so it fits in the icon space. Next time, maybe try skewing it so that the perspective matches a little better (in this case, you'd drag the top right corner downwards a bit). Otherwise... colourising is good, the lens flare is cute... the text seems a bit cramped in the top area though.

Optimus - Cute pic! The diagonal placing of "woof!" is cool, very effective. I tend to find the overall effect of this icon a bit... busy, though. The grass in the background is made busier by the texture, and it is a bit distracting from the dog, which is the main subject. It also makes it more difficult to read the text. Maybe selecting the background and toning it down somehow (hue/sat maybe?) would have looked good.

ScottNak - Haha! So very... unappetising, what with the green and all! The subtletly of the colours and the randomness of subject appeals to me, hehe. Though I said the subtlety was nice, maybe playing with the colour levels or brightness/contrast of the image would have brought it out a bit better. "Levels" especially can highlight certain colours, to good effect.

Kitten Medli - Hmm, you certainly rather improved the original image! Still, I feel that the icon is somewhat missing something. The bird's colours are so bright, it could have been a very bold icon... but the background is a bit plain. Maybe a texture or a contrasting colour in the background would have added some extra interest.

bluehawaii19 - Nice use of textures and grunginess going on there! It is a bit hard to tell what the picture is without seeing the original, but the petals make some interesting looking abstract shapes. A border in that dark blue colour would have finished it off nicely. Otherwise, I like it!

Darklegendary - Hehe, nice idea of using the clouds picture... those dirty-looking vertical lines look good too. In general, I feel maybe the icon could do with a bit more contrast (though maybe you left it dark to go with the text/your name?)... whiter waves and brighter/richer blue would go with the dramatic feel of the picture. The text and border look good though, I think they match the "darkness" of the icon well ^_^

Sunnie - Funny photo! ... I have to agree with the other judges, however, that I'm not sure if the rainbow colours particularly "agree" with the bunny. The combination of colour tinting and the dotted pattern give a kind of grainy effect, making it look like the photo quality wasn't very good. Maybe putting a rainbow background behind the rabbit (and overlaying the rabbit part a little) might have given a similar but cleaner effect? The pixel font is also a little too small to read easily.

Starchaser - Hmm, very good work with adding the background behind the bird... it really needed that extra contrast! Positioning of text is great, the light gray compliments the bird well. I don't really have anything to suggest! Very nice!

Moogie - Ooh, you really made this picture a lot more dynamic by rotating it like that... I like the way you made it mostly grayscale, except for her eyeshadow. I think you could have enhanced this effect more, even (brighter green eyeshadow), but it's rather nice as it is. The pattern of crosses looks good, it's nice to see you paid attention to fading it out around her eyes ^_^ I really like the big "M", but it's a pity that it's a bit crowded around the picture there... and that goes for the main text, too.

This round my votes go to: Sunnie, hellyer, DM and Kitten Medli

Kitten Medli, DM was on fire!, Sunnie, and timkhj cannot participate in this round.


I apologize that vkceankraz and I didn't rate this round.


Round Requirements
-Make a Neopets sidebar.
-Neopets sidebar = the toolbar on the left of the Neopets website. Just make sure you include all the links (explore, logout, world, etc.) in the order that they go.
-Make the dimensions of the sidebar relatively the same as the actual Neopets sidebar
-The thin strip of the sidebar at the top of the page isn't neccessary, so don't bother making it if you don't want.


This might be a little confusing, so please ask if you have any questions.

Thanks for the ratings, everyone! I was a little worried about that round, as it's a fairly old graphic, but I've always quite liked it.
Well, as long as I'm back, I might as well post my entry.

Sidebar
Program Used: PS 7
Original Images: I used a lot of pictures of books for this sidebar. Seriously.
Plus, a screenshot of the normal Neopets sidebar for the Search box and advertisment.

Murr, I really want to be able to use that now...

OMGOSH omgosh that is so awesome!

Hey Flame do we need to include the mini advertisment, link to us, set language and the time?

http://photobucket.com/albums/v32/DarkL ... ar2gif.gif

Original image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/D ... limage.gif
Program: Photoshop CS Yes, cs, not 6 =P

Well, Thanks for the fun!!! I entered hoping to learn and grow as an artist, I think I did. So, thanks for all the input everybody! Good luck in future rounds