Pink Poogle Toy Forum

Hm, only 16 of you....We'll oust two of ya at the end of this round. So judges, rate and then choose two!

maniac

Program: Paint Shop Pro 8.
Image: http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0121164/ ... ey=0121164

rachel

Program: PSP 9
Image:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v390/ ... 1-orig.jpg

kiay

Program: Photoshop CS
Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/D ... gimage.gif
Note to judges: Looks better on a dark screen.

Neko

Image Used: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v199/ ... _image.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v199/ ... _image.jpg
Program: PS CS2

Bangel

Program: PSP 9
Image: http://www.cadtutor.net/ibank/raster/sk ... sky-19.jpg

Melmite

Program: PS 7
Images: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/ ... ection.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/ ... og-set.jpg

Kitten Medli

Programs: Paint, Adobe Elements
Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/M ... orce_5.jpg

stinkyllama

Program: PS 7
Image:
http://www.animegalleries.net/albums/us ... lies02.jpg
http://butterflywebsite.com/clipart/but ... toon_4.jpg

Ken

Program: Photoshop CS2
Image: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a223/ ... svegas.gif

LAQ

Program: GIMP 2.2
Image: http://img322.imageshack.us/img322/2660 ... dzz1ew.jpg

Tested

Program: GIMP 2.2.10
Image: http://www.jocelynaudette.com/Two%20Cows.jpg

Nikita

Program: PSP 7
Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v509/ ... s/edie.png

Marissa

Program: Photoshop CS2
Image: http://remedy.silhouette-project.com/my ... ekoarc.jpg
Note: Yes, the blog technically doesn't meet requirements in terms of dimensions...but you're Marissa, have judged this contest a million times, and therefore can be cut some slack.

Amethyst

Program: Photoshop Elements
Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/l ... img011.jpg
Note: Yes, you have mentioned various times how much you hate blogs over the course of various PPTTGs...lol!\

Iath-em

Program: PS CS2
Image: http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f78/Perhin/Image1.jpg
[url=http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f78/Perhin/Image2.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f78/Perhin/Image3.jpg

moogie

Program: Photoshop 7
Image: http://www.tnielsen.com/artists/nielsen ... al_witness


kanashimi

Program: PS 7
Image: http://www.wga.hu/art/s/schinkel/medieval.jpg

Wait... I sent mine to you but didn't post it...

(Was I supposed to post it? Kept forgetting >_<)

Sorry about that. My inbox is filled with about a million PMs, and it got lost in there.

You've been added now though.

After many hours of deliberation and hardship and stopping for dinner and other excuses, I have finished judging and grading your works. It takes work to get either a good grade or bad grade from me. Grade scale: 10-9.00 A; 8.99-7.60 B; 7.59-6.00 C; 5.99-5.00 D; 4.99- F

manic: The first thing that hits me is the text. The color matches great, but gets pretty hard to read when over like colors. It took me a few times to try and what was actually said before I got it all... or most since I still cannot make parts of it out. It was really gutsy going with that font color, and I will not tell you to change it since it looks so nice with that type of font. The image's transition from the original to here was great. No other comments there. The box for the text does bug me a little. The haze where the text would go seems a little too heavy and does not match well with the surrounding image. Aside from the text and haze, this is a really great entry. 8.0/10

rachel: First off, I do not get what the picture has to do with the text. The font works fine, not perfect, but good enough. The font color gets a little distorted where it overlaps with the people. The image looks like it was dimmed a little, but that works fine. It looks as if two different textures were used, one on the image overall and one in just the box for the text. They sort of clash when the meet the books and skin tones. In all, it is a nice entry and fine to look at. 7.56/10

kiay: I like this one. I really do. I'll take it on faith that it looks better on a dark screen. Taking your original image and making it into this is really amazing. I was shocked to see how light the original was compared to the entry. Black being my favorite color, this one quickly appealed to me. The darkness and grays work so well together, but they come off as friendly and warm instead of ominous and scary. The falling maple leaf shadows are a nice touch too. and work nice with the whole background. The foreground is nice. The indefinite details on the person makes her fit with the whole image better. 7.8/10

Neko: My personal favorite of the group. If I could just give a short review and a grade it would be 'Wo ai ni' followed by the grade. Expanding on what I have said, the character is beautiful. You made a brilliant choice in original work to use. The simple fade on the original and expanding the background to fill the rest of the image is great. This is the sort of image I would use regardless of the context, it is just so pretty. 9.3/10

Bangel: Really nice. The font matches nicely with the background. The background has a nice calm about it. It really feels as if I am watching clouds pass overhead. The only problem I see is that it does not feel like this is a blog, but more of part of a greater website. It could just be me in not seeing how it fits as a blog so I will not fault you since the image would work really great with a similarly themed site. I really like the font style. Although it seems like the lines are a little harsh for the feel, it does fit and flow nicely. 7.7/10

Melmite: Frogs. Hippie frogs. The frogs are nice, but the fairy seems almost a little out of place. It takes a few viewings to accept her, and I have. The interesting patterns of the fairy's wings and the top left frog are nice, but don't really fit with the rest of the image. I like the glowing egg-like structure in the top middle of image. The squirmy, leech-like thing at the bottom of the box for text is nice too. It is like the background is a freeze frame of a small stream. The border around the image is good too. The only real nitpick is the text. The font is right, but the color blends too much with the background. A little darker green or a darker green outline would work great. 7.7/10

Kitten Medli: When I first saw this image, I thought 'cool'. I do not know why. I just did. Since I have no clue who those people are, I'll ignore that fact. I really like the colors. All of the colors match nicely with each other. Since I do not know who this group is, I cannot really tell if the stars and curved lines have any relation to the group, but I really like them since the remind me bubble chamber images. The text is nice, but it does not really seem to fit to well with the rest of the image. A simpler font or thiner font width would work better. PS: I swear I have seen the central circlular image at the top of image in a biology text book in a section on mitosis. 8.01/10

stinkyllama: Really nice. Everything works together pretty well. I love the foreground. Kawaii. The text is perfect font and a sweet message that goes with the overall feel. The background is the only nitpick. I like the superimposed butterfly on the solid color background is not what I would expect with the foreground the way it is. I would expect a more detailed background or even a faded image of a field of butterflies. The color of the background does work with the image. Very nice. 8.0/10

LAQ: Dungeons and Dragons. That is what I think looking at the entry. Go to the original, she looks like she is examining her belly button or points lower. On the entry, she looks like she is checking to see if her bra is on straight. That out of the way, I do like the shiny, bronzy, goldy effect over the whole image. It looks like it would reflect light and glow if it were not an image on the computer. The only off point is the text under the box for text. The font just needs a better match for the overall feel of the image, maybe something Old English or something else with a flair. This would work great on a fantasy or sword collection site. 7.6/10

Tested: The only thing I can nitpick is the box for text. Its color clashes extremely with the rest of the image. The font matches the image. The image is great. I like to think of it as 'Impressionist Cows'. I really like the black and white cow looking out of the image. It is like she is daring us to read the blog. I do not know what kind of site would have a blog like this, but I think it would be a fun one. 7.65/10

Nikita: First of all, it must be cold in that bar. That being said, the foreground is all that is easily made out. Without a very good eye or access to the original image, it would have been hard to tell why this got the title it did. Speaking of the title, its color matches the background too well and is a little hard to make out. The background has been darkened a little too much to be made out to well. I can understand darkening it, but not too much since the original is pretty dark to begin with. I really have issues with the foreground since her shirt color almost matches her skin color and makes it a little close to risky. A different foreground image with the same, less darkened background would make this idea work good. 6.2/10

Marissa: Kowai. Neko no kowai. Everything with this works well together. The nekomimi's deranged look fits with the blood red moon. I really cannot see anything wrong except for the limited number of sites that could use a blog like that one. 7.6/10

Amethyst: Day-am. Just Day-am. What needs to be said? The background is great. The use of the original is great. The layout is great. Even the loss of detail in the box for text looks good. No nitpicks. No bad comments. Just a 8.7/10

Iath-em: It must be just me, but I did not get what you were going for here. The images do not really blend together well with the choice of colors. The woman seems really out of place. The colors are very disjointed and do not seem to match very well when going image to image. The shift to black and white in the box for the text really throws me off. It also throws off the whole image since there is a discontinuity between the top and bottom of the image. Take a look. It does not match up too well. The varying font size, color, and style really throws me off. Is the background supposed to be a moonscape? I am sorry. I can not even begin to think where to begin to help fix the image. 5.3/10

moogie: A close second in my favorite entries. My first thought: 'That is a Magic card'. I check the original. That is a Magic card. Great choice for source material. I love the faded effect you did. With the forest around the central character, it really makes you feel like life is ebbing and flowing through the forest. Keeping the strong green was a nice touch. I like the superimposed face on box for text. Your choice of text and font was really good. This is a really great modification of an original image. 9.0/10

Ken: I could not believe the original image. You really made it seem like it was late afternoon in your image. Very impressive. The text color, font, and size all work fine. The placement of the box for text is good. It seems a little small, but that is okay since the only way to make it bigger without ruining the whole image would be to increase the width. No complaints, just a solid entry. 7.73/10

kanashimi: Your cathedral is nice and stretchy. It almost seems like you had to squish the original to make it fit the size requirement, but a quick glance at the original proves otherwise. You are fitting a lot of action into such a small space. That is hard to do. Your background does not look right with the cathedral in the foreground. It is like watching a time-elapsed video where the cathedral stands still, but the environment moves around it. One last comment, the fore-text does not really mesh well with the back-text. Keep the same back-text, but change the fore-text to match a little more. Keeps the same fore-text color or maybe a little darker. 7.5/10



Not wanting to hurt any feelings, but the grades dictate that Nikita and Iath-em are the one I vote off. Sorry. Better luck next time.

PS: Do I get a prize for being the first judge to post?

PPS: Please don't talk about or complain about your grade. I have a tendancy to see more flaws in that case.

Notes: I am really, really picky about this. Becareful whenever you save anything as a Gif or a Jpeg. Always use the GIF/JPEG optimizer, for PSP I think they are under file -> export. I'm not entirely sure for Photoshop, it might be the same. And I say this expecially for gifs, gifs can only hold 256 colors. Which isn't... a lot. Only use if you have a cut-out. Jpegs can leave ugly artifacts too, especially around fine details like pixel font. If there are artifacts left over from the original image, please, run it through a noise filter.


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maniac - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v315/ ... deblog.gif
See, I think this piece could have really been something if you hadn't resized the image. Unless I'm mistaken, the original image's height is just about right. You could just trim a bit off the width. (Like the room on the right) The left would have made a nice and spacious text area. The text is sorta, piled on her right now. Again, if you had left the image as it is, there would me room for text on the left. The text isn't that visible, as it's about the same shade of blue-grey as the background, perhaps a dropshadow or a stroke would help. You shouldn't have saved it as a GIF though, there are some nasty color-reduction artifacts on the image. However, I do like the blog area's border, and the lightly colored airbrush behind it. - 6/10


rachel - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v390/ ... round1.png
First of all, I like how you've maximized the blog area. Very nice. The border of the blog area, (on the sides), could've been 100% opaque red like the borders of the entire image, I think that would've looked better. (I think the same for the text, except with a dropshadow of some sort) All that aside though, this blog doesn't really "wow" a lot. I rather like the textures you have put over it, but I feel that it needs something more. There also seems to be some artifacts left over from the original image. - 6.5/10


kiay - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/D ... gtrans.gif
Ahh, this is truely gorgeous. Though, being the artifact pickier, I think you could've cleaned up some of the bad gif compression from the previous picture. Though, lovely brushing and colors. Also, I couldn't help but notice that the girl had faint white lines around her. Perhaps adding a dropshadow of a lighter color would help? The blog area is small, but it'll suffice. - 8.5/10


Neko - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v199/ ... try_01.jpg
This blog functions well, large text area. How you've extended the clouds is great. I do like the colors and all. However, the image seems over-bordered. I think the border of the entire image is overkill, perhaps a simple one, two or even three pixel border would have sufficed. The chinese characters in the bottom left corner also seems a bit out of place, perhaps you could have faded them into the blog area? Congrats on no visible artifacts! - 7.5/10


Bangel - http://img417.imageshack.us/img417/9530/skyblog2pz.png
This one is simple, yet very elegant. I love the cloud theme. This would make a very good blog. Although, perhaps the font you chose was too busy for the blog. A simpler cursive font would have sufficed? But, congrats on leaving no artifacts! - 8/10


Melmite - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/ ... e/blog.jpg
I think you should've gone with a simpler background, or made the background yourself. The current one is too much. The text isn't bad though, it's kind've hard to read, but it's legible. I wish you could move the whole blog area, including the text on top, to the bottom left corner so that it doesn't disturb the frog, because when a scrollbar goes over the frog's nose, it'll look silly. I'm not going to hark on you of artifacts you didn't remove from the main image because I'm not too sure if you wanted to keep the gritty look or not. The border is very disappointing, I think a one or two pixel line would've sufficed. - 6.5/10


Kitten Medli - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v37/Medli/blog2.png
Wow, this is lovely! I love all the brushing and the color themes. You can just make out some light textures, they're very nicely done. I like how you've sharpened the text area, it takes a keen eye to notice it, but it's very neat! The only thing to pick on is the 'Welcome' text, it seems a little... out of place. I see you're dealing with width issues there, but perhaps even just "Family Force 5", with 'Family' on top of 'Force 5' would've worked better? It would also take up some more room. The text area is short, but it's very wide, which is a plus! Congrats, no visible artifacts here! - 8.5/10


stinkyllama
- http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b300/ ... slblog.jpg
I think you've had heck trying to cut that image out! Anywho, congratulations on that! Firstly, though, I cant tell if there's much of a background behind the scanlines. I wish there were more of a texture or something. I do like the colors you chose and the big blog space. However, there is a butterfly on the top right corner of the blog. If you put the sidebar over it, then it'd look silly. If you didn't, there'd be an empty space above the text of the blog. Perhaps it would be best if you put a little text above the box. - 8/10


Ken - http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a223/ ... sblog1.gif
Ahh, the image was lovely manipulated. The text is simple, yet rather beautiful and goes nicely with the image. There are some artifacts left over from the original image, but it's hard to tell with the scanlines and the textures. I really like this piece, except for the fact that the blog space is really tiny. I think you can fit only about, 3 words on there. If you have a really long word, then a really unsightly bottom scrollbar will appear on the bottom. - 8.5/10


LAQ - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v297/ ... _blog1.png
Laq, I must say, this is lovely. I love the "background", and it seems as if the stairs are leading up to the text. I like how, instead to hide the jpeg artifiacts, you sort of "highlighted" them by sharpening the image. Though, the girl you chose is rather blurred for the center of attention. I think it would be best if you sharpened that somehow as well... Lastly, the blog area should have some sort of a light border. The blurred effect is nice though, it seems like it's part of the blurred out girl. - 8.5/10


Tested - http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/6397 ... log6wb.png
I'm sorry to say, this wasn't very good. Like the text implies, it's very basic. You seem to have shrunk the image a little, and added a Back to Basics text. I'm not sure why you chose the blog area to be blue, it should be black/white to match the cow on which it's on. The font seems very out of place and just... stuck on there. There is a border, but it's the original picture's border. You should have extended that border around the entire image. (Have one around your blogs too) - 5/10


Nikita - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v509/ ... ppttg1.png
Wow, I love this one! I love the color-wash effect, you've manipulated the image nicely. What sometimes happens when people manipulate images is that the black areas gain more and more ground as the contrast hightens. (Or the light areas) I'm very glad to see it didn't happen here. That picture was a hard one to to work with! Although, some slight nitpicks, the border of the blog, I think, should have been black. Also, perhaps there is a way to make the CowGirl text more visible without making it look too ugly? Good job, overall! (No artifacts!) - 9.5/10


Marissa - http://remedy.silhouette-project.com/my ... rcblog.png
Wow! Let me, first, congratulate you on the VERY nicely done PNG extraction. I tried this on a black background, and I was very impressed! The blog is great, very cute... er... yeah, cute. The only thing I can pick out... is perhaps the dropshadow behind the text should've been red? (Instead of a purpley lavender color) I can see a little bit of the jpeg left over from the last picture, but only when it's on a dark background. - 9/10


Amethyst - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/l ... koblog.jpg
This one's really lovely! The entire color scheme, the text box, this is great! Love the image manipulation and all you've done. There's really not much to say, but it's great! - 9.5/10


Iath-em - http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/7976/ppttg17kn.jpg
This is beautiful! You have an eye for graphics. I love the textures, the butterfly wings, the effects, everything! Though, the border does seem to be a little dull for the image. Perhaps the border (and the arrow) could have been a gradient that led from black to a lavender? Also, the blog area wouldn't work too well, because you have black AND white in there. It'd be hard for text to show up. I like your text placement however. - 9/10


moogie - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/ ... round1.png
I think, that this was rather bland. The image is very messy from before, and I think you should've tried to either clean it up or highlight it by sharpening the image. (Instead of putting scanlines over it) The text and the text area is visible and good for... text, but it's very bland and just... white. I think for the text area, a green might've worked better? I like how you've erased the scanlines on the girl though. The faded version of her in the textbox is also nice. Perhaps a faint border for the textbox would help. - 7/10


kanashimi - http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/5531 ... opy3db.gif
On first look, this is great. I like how you've stretched the image and all that. Its very nice, however, the text detracts away from it all. Its very sharp, very un-anti-aliased. The text box is nice, and the image could've used a border like the one in the text box. Some very nasty gif compression issues here as well. - 6.5/10


--


I choose to eliminate - Maniac and Tested. Sorry guys.

psst...it's Family Force 5. "Five" is a numeral. And don't forget the force, yo. OK. End rant!

Maniac - Whoa. oO Well, the text is really hard to read. If the blue was just it's outline colour, or if it was on overlay, plus if the text was closer together. Also, the border (for the whole blog) is too thick. You could've easily have gotten away with a 1px or 2px border.

Rachel - The way that the image is, it look as if it (it meaning the blog) was saved in a JPG (2x1x1, I believe is a normal JPG with the optimizer in PSP . If you had maybe resized it smaller, or done a Edge Preserving Smooth, that would be good. But aside from that, and the fact that the text box is too large for my taste, I like it.

Kiay (Darklegend17) - Long time, no see girl! I see your graphics talent is still with you. Unfortunetly, since you saved it in a .gif, the girl's belly is pixellated. My thoughts are, save it in a .png with transparency. As WIS said, the colours are dark, and there are some problems with white noise. If the background was lighter, that could've been avoided.

Neko - Your border is rather interesting. I'll have to try that some time. I also like the way you lightened up the image. I also like the border for the box. It's rather simple, but yet it's fancy. (Oh: what does the text on the blog say? It's not gonna count for anything, I'm just curious) I'm...just. Speechless.

Bangel - Just about everything that Maniac said is what I think. BUT, what you could've done is added a halftone or something to make it seem less plain. Also, if you still have the layers and wish to use your blog, I suggest changing your font to Edwardian Script ITC.

Melmite - First thing. When saving with PS, save to web for JPG (if that's what you're saving in). Change the compression to 0, and those arifacts won't be there. Also, you made the image of the faerie (I'm English ) bigger...not good. Resizing images UP always hurts them. If you have to, then use the edge preserving smooth to smoothen it out. Also, the text is pretty hard to read. But aside from that, I like it. The border is pretty wicked.

Medli - As much as I like you and FF5, I unfortunetly can't give you extra credit because of your picture choice. Would LOVE to, but I can't. Anyway, the background is incredibly awesome (teach me...), but one question? Where does the blog text go? Aside from that...MY MOMMA RAISED ME IN DA DURRTY SOUTH, A COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, SO YOU BEST WATCH YO' MOUTH.
(PS: Who do you want more? Durban or Phatty? I'll take Phatty over Matt, I'll take Matt over Phatty...woah, those are words I thought I'd never say. XD)

More tomorrow...whenever I get majourity of my CAT test done.

It goes at the top. Its a little darker. It has the one little star in it. It spans the whole way across.

Durban.

I fixed.

Good boy. Now experience the wonder:
http://www.familyforce5.com

Gahaha.

...it's saved as a png...

Note to artists about textbox size: Even in the smallest of Neopets blogs,the textbox is 167 pixels across and the scroll bar takes away 10 pixels. Many of your blogs did not come anywhere near this, making your blog nearly unreadable (and therefore nearly unusable).

maniac
VERY clean looking blog, however the textbox width (128 pixels) makes textbox width a bit of an issue. Not much was done to the original image, although the end look is decent. I love the use of a broken line for the textbox border. I only wish you used a bit more of the original pic width for a wider textbox; or perhaps putting the textbox width-wise across the bottom. 7.5/10

rachel
YEA!!! A fully functional blog! The center could stand to be a BIT lighter to increase readability, but the text is fully legible as it stands. You didn't do too much to the image, but it still looks very good. 8/10

Kiay
at MOST you have 150 pixels to use widthwise, and that is a small issue. (see top) The cutout looks good on that background, but the glow you used on her does not look good (unless the monitor is too dark to see it). 7/10

Neko
Very nice looking entry. It has a dreamy feel to it - you softened up the original just right for this blog (well, at least when your source image was there ) Very nicely done border. Great job (and with a good sized text box, too!) 8.5/10

Bangel
Ummm... I know you can do more than this. I've seen it... This just looks like the source pic with text in the middle and a bit of blurred cloudness at the top. It really doesn't look very inspired. At the very least, put the text at the bottom so the whole image can be used as a text box. Split like this, you waste one side or the other. For the record, I do like the text 6.25/10

Melmite
Well done. my biggest complaint is that especially with the stretched out aspect of your bottom image, the highlight on the bubble ends up being too light. Perhaps a little burn/dodge to lessen the effect? Your text is just a touch light, but no big complaint - its very legible. 7/10

Kitten Medli
Well, the concept looks okay, but considering the size of your blog, the textbox is rather small. Shift the images down and the blog would be stellar. As it is, only a few lines of text at a time could be read - alot of scrolling for the blog reader. 7/10

stinkyllama
Simple and good looking result. Great job cutting out the hair and flutterbies Although a more complex background might have improved on what is already a very good blog, I really like what you have. Minor point to make: the butterfly in the top right area of the text box is either going to be covered with a scroll bar or the text will have to start roughly 30 pixels from the top of the text box. 8/10

Ken
SUCH A BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF ART, RUINED BY A COMPLETE LACK OF FUNCTIONALITY!!!! I won't even show the math. It's too wrong. I mean, it looks SO good, very nicely made (ya, minor artifacts around the tower) but cannot be used effectively. Instead, possibly put the textbox above the hotel (without clipping the top) and crop to use the tower to border the left side of the blog. Looks 9/10, Functionally 2/10...

LAQ
VERY good composition on your blog. I really like how you've blended those individual components so seamlessly, and the functionality is great. 9/10

Tested
Well, you didn't really do much here. The text box is too small and the color doesn't match. 4/10

Nikita
Not bad, but a bit too dark for my taste. Functionally sound and a good look overall. 7/10

Marissa
.png transparency issues aside I really liked this entry. Bringing up a point already made, that purple glow does stand out a bit. Considering your skill (btw nice getting rid of the extra white glow so smoothly) possibly remove all the purple? Just an idea. Curious to see. Functionally good (minus that pesky height requirement). 9/10

Amethyst
First, I love XXXHolic. Second, I really like your blog. As with Nik, a bit dark for my taste, but I really like the red coloring and effects you used. Good sized text box. 8.5/10

Iath-em
Great composition, very creative. Good sized text box. However, your text box is a combination of both black and white, making text color a bit of an issue. Maybe match the main text color? Either way it would be a bit harder to read than many other entries. Future blogs, perhaps change your text box area to make it easier to read text in that area. Use less contrast between light and dark. 7/10

moogie
Artistically sound, however the textbox is rather small - 130 pixels wide. Please keep in mind width when you make the text box. 7.5/10

kanashimi
Well. You showed many techniques. Too many. as interesting as those individual parts are (text box, sky, text) it all appears to be haphazardly thrown together. the black and white text box border REALLY stands out, and not in a good way. In the future, remember to try and make your artwork carry across the whole project, not just have interesting pieces. 6/10

Now for the bad news. I vote Tested and kanashimi out.

Rachel - I know.

Flame - Uh...my Linux computer recently took a dying puke, so I'm stuck on Windows for the moment. <_< When's judging due?

Judging is due ASAP. As in...how soon can you get it to me? And does running on Windows really affect anything? *blink*

maniac
Not really much done here that I can see other than a bit of resizing, adding a text box, and adding text.The rest is very hard to read, I don't know what it says, and I don't feel like squinting and figuring it out. So, my advice would be to make the text legible. Also a little plain looking right now...maybe add some sort of effect?

rachel
Simple, cute, and clean cut. I like the font choice, though I'm not too sure how it applies. Work Hard does with the books, but Play Harder? Eh, not overly important, so anyway. I'm not so sure that text would work with this, so maybe make the text box a little more opaque. Not so much that you can't see the books, but a bit more of a white colors would do some good.

kiay
I like, except for the fact that the text box is a tad bit too small. Make it biiiiigger. I think there might be a glow around her too, can't tell if thats what it is for sure...but either way, I don't particularly like it.

Neko
I'd darken the Japanese symbols so that they're more eyecatching and less dull...the extended border around the text box really doesn't work because of the soft look of the rest of the blog...Thank ya very much for leaving a lot of space to write....Yep.

Melmite
It's too...busy, I think. Text bok is too small, and could easily be extended. I don't like how part of the text box cuts off the frog's nose...with a scroll bar there, the frog would have no nose at all. The text is a bit hard to read, and the the images don't really match the background. I do, however, like the border you used. Sort of airbrush/spraycan look to it, and I haven't seen that before.

Medli
Not bad. The colorizing works, and I like the background designs. However, I have no idea where the text box is supposed to go on the top or the right. Bother areas are too small, either way...

stinkyllama
Pretty. I love the large butterfly in the background, and good image choice. I think the blog would look better with a dark purple border to really set it off. Also, I think the text could be just a little bigger. It's a tad cramped looking right now, especially with the border around it.

Ken
You've edited the image well. Given it a sorta faded look. There's nothing really to change about it except TO MAKE THE TEXT BOX WIDER!!!!! You could've probably mirrored the bottom of the image and the sky and extended it so you'd have more room for the text box.

Laq
Hm, I don't actually like this, but I'm really not sure WHY. I think it's because it looks like an actual person with the head blurred out, making the quality seem a little bad. But I'm not sure. I like the text placement and color...really stands outs, looks pretty.

Tested
Okay. You took an image, stuck text and a textbox on it. The textbox color does not go, and the box itself is rater small. Probably best to change the color, or colorize the whole blog. Also, add more interesting text...unfortunately, nothing about this blog is particularly eyecatching.


Bangel
Okay, sorta copy and paste job, I'm thinking...though you might've colorized it a little? Okay, I'm not exactly sure where the text goes, assumedly up top because that's the lighter area. I think it would've been better if that area was slightly more defined with a white transparent text box. It's a little empty, a little boring. Maybe add some design, swirls or something, to add interest.

Nikita
There's a random guy! Okay, the only reason I say this is because of that guy on the left. In the original image, you can see two levels of the bar. But in this, you can't tell...thus he looks like you sorta just shoved him in there. XD Probably best to just get rid of him entirely. I like the soft look of the blog, and the adjustment of the colors...Hm, yep, that's it.

Marissa
Your blog won't show up for me...but I remember liking it and not wanting to kick you out, so yeah. I'll rate it later if it shows up.

Amethyst
Love the choice of red. Very nice. Blog is myserious. However, I'm really not liking the horizontal lines...sorta kills the quality of the girls face and makes it look a bit odd. Probably should've just been left on the background. Also, I would've maybe no extended the text box the whole way across the blog.

Iath-em
I really do love this. Text choice is great, as it image choice. I love what you've done with the butterflies and background. I love how the text area is set off, and it's a good size. However, text wouldn't really work in there, as you go from whites to blacks. You need to add some sort of semi-transparent color (probably purple) over the area so that text would actually work.

moogie
The more grey shading definitely looks better on this. Problem is, the TEXT AREA IS TOO SMALL! Make it bigger. Not really sure if there's anything else to change, because I do like tihs.

kanashimi
You've tried effects, but they don't work...Hm. The text needs to be antialiased, and be a color that actually matches the rest of the blog. The text area needs to be bigger. The horizontal motion blur thing in the background is cool, however, it's sort of ruinced when you see it next to the blurred text box. Probably would've been better to have the text box just a semi-transparent color, and not a blur.


Kanashimi. Tested.

Oh, just my life. I thought I was going to have Linux in a matter of hours. Turns out it's in days.



Started when I left off (edited Medli's rating a bit):

stinkyllama - First thing's first. TONE DOWN YOUR SCANLINES. Scanlines are best when they're faint, or just enough where you can see it, but it's not overpowering. Also, the white pixels on her hair annoy me just a bit. The text on the bottom is a bit small as well.

Ken - Except for the fact that the text would be cramped in the box, and the bottom text is a bit blurry...ZOMG THAT'S WICKED.

LAQ - I'm going to be honest. This isn't your best. All I see you did is colourize the picture, made the book higher, and blurred a box over the girl (is that a girl?) standing on the stairway. I must admit, though. The effect placed on the text is pretty interesting.

Tested - Dude, I'm afraid I'm going to have to say the same. All you did is just add some text and a box. You can do so much more with the GIMP, but it just takes some time. Also, I can't quite tell if there's a border on it or not.

Nikita - I like it too. The text looks nice, the colours look very nice, and the brushes go well. I also like the way you unblurred her hand. The border...well. That's a bit interesting. I think if you had put the blend mode on burn instead of overlay (for the box), it may have matched the darker feel that you were attempting.

Marissa - Uh oh. Marissa entered. She'll kick everyone's butts! I was trying to figure out holw the dimensions were off, but I remember that it had to be no less than 300, rather than the 200 I was thinking (200? Yeah, I'm wondering why I was thinking that too). You did an EXTREMELY good job on smoothing the image, and the transparency. If I was that good, I'd do it way more than I do now. <_< But, I think the .gif made the background distort a bit, but it's not thatbad.

Amethyst - Quoting what I said to Melmite: "When saving with PS, save to web for JPG (if that's what you're saving in). Change the compression to 0, and those arifacts won't be there." Saving graphics in .jpg, unless the compression is changed, really changes the way it looks. Also, the scanlines are pretty heavy, which is a little annoying as well. And finally, the overlay border, if it would work, should've also been in the text area.

Iath-em - You should SERIOUSLY open a request board. After both Jaye and Dawn closing theirs', you would have a LOT of customers. The colours are absolutely amazing, the text looks great (overlay text is love, yes?) And the way that you separated the blog from the text area is absolutely wicked. Tell me, you ever thought of applying for Neopets-Layouts?

moogie - MOOGS. Long time, no see, either! For some reason, the picture seems really blurry. I think you may have overdone the width of the scanlines, though. Also, the text on the blog area is pretty hard to read, since the colours are so close. And as Flame said...the text is squished. (Well, she didn't say it in those words...)

kanashimi - Text definetly needs to be anti-aliased. You're also missing some sort of border (the one that's around the text area would look great), and the text area's background looks pretty strange. I think if you had made it darker, with the same background as the blog, it would look much better.

Tested and Kanashimi.

Tested and Kanashimi are out...sorry guys!

Round 2
-Make a lj icon (meaning it has to be 100x100)
-No greyscale
-Due in 4 days, which is Wednesday night according to my time.
-It must have readable text.


Questions? Comments? Post 'em!