Pink Poogle Toy Forum

Just a little note, I put the entries in correct numerical order because...for some reason they weren't. Any judges with in progress ratings might need/want to rearrange them to reflect that.
And WIS, I am waiting on the programs used for the entries, I do take that detail into account.

Ooh. Sorry, I got the notion that Flame will post the programs AFTER you guys rate.

Flame stated "later" not "after" implying that she only didn't have the time at the moment to do it at the time she was originally posting the entries. Not that she'd post them "after" everything was judged. Considering it can often play quite a factor in the judges eyes, it's only fair to continue posting what programs were used in the process of creating the entries.

One - I honestly have a hard time to make any sense of the picture arrangement combined with those colors. I assume the textbox is mean to be to the left, and there's no real problem with that, unless you want the scrollbar to cut straight through the blog. Nevertheless, I strongly like your choice of font and the placement of it.

Two - Whoah, easy does it with the contrast! be more careful with that next time. Due to the high contrast this blog really lacks a darker spot and is too bright. The main concept is good though and with just a small colorchange this could have been pretty darn good. Placing part of the image over the text box might not be such a good idea considering a scrollbar will cover most of it if the blog would be used.

Three - Very good, I like how you have sort of gone against the flow, making the outer of the box lighter instead of the text box itself. Mainly you could get in trouble when placing text inside the box; if you make the text color for example white a part of it will always be badly visible when standing against the brighter spots of the box. These spots aren't too big though so it's not that bad really. Great job with the colors.

Four - Making this blog into a gif might not have been the best idea since the colors got very grainy and the image quality was lowered considerably. Other than that i like the simpleness of the blog and when put into use this blog should function well.

Five - Strong colors, you've managed to make them work in this combination though. The only thing that bothers me is the placement of the frog; I don't like it covers part of the text "Bullfrog" as well as how close one of its toes comes to the text box.

Six - The Card Capture Sakura image you used got awfully blurry, or at least it looks like it. I think it would have worked better if you would have kept the original contrast as well as made the flower image you used stand out a bit more, since the blog really needs some eye-catching element. Yet again I must point out that it's seldom good to place anything inside the text box because it comes in the way of the text.

Seven - I would have preferred if you kept the doll in its original size when putting it in the corner of the text box, resizing such images to make them larger makes them rather blurry. As for animation, I don't really feel like it fits in (adding the fact that big animation is nothing very common or good for blogs in general). Other than that the background looks really empty, you could have tried to fill it out a bit more.

Eight - Simple yet neat, I like this one. The image effects fit in well and you managed to create a nice and spacy text box with a fitting text (font etc.) placed perfectly.

Nine - Not bad, not bad at all. Although the blog seems quite framed in it's very tasteful at the same time, a good example of how you don't have to make everything that outraged and ambitiously out of the ordinary to do a good job. I think you could have tried to get in more of the night-feeling by using darker colors on the blog instead of making it even brighter than the original image. Other than that i have nothing to complain about.

Ten - Great blog, I like how you've used effects that made it look kind of like a painting. Still this is another blog of many where the text box should have been kept clean. Al though it does look good in an aspect, and you've not placed the man to the left inside the box that much, it will still come in the way of the text.

Eleven - Well you've certainly managed to give a more old feel to the image with the colors and all, good job. I'm not sure I like the 3D-ish effects of the text, it would have been better if you kept it as more plain (keeping the shadow, it's good).

Twelve - The cutting out of the penguins is poorly done, I'm not sure if this was part of a plan but I don't think it's that good. The stripe-like "sunshine beams" look awesome (I don't know how the heck to explain them), but then again the swirls to the right look very much out of place and the text box is way too small.

Thirteen - Doesn't really look like much has been done to this blog. Additionally I don't like the text at all, it is out of place and "Dreams" is hard to read when it's placed against the image on the background.

Fourteen - Pretty nice, actually. I have to point out though that i feel like the small "happy berry" text going around the whole blog is a bit too much. You've done a good job with the rest it seems.

Fifteen - I'm impressed with the effects added to rose, they look great. However I have a feeling the downsides are a bit too many. My biggest problem is with the text box, it looks like an attempt to make something really flashy but that went overboard. I'm not sure of how you thought the text would be placed on it, but if only the thin strip of pink was meant for that the text box will become far to thin, adding the fact that a scrollbar has to fit in there too. The placement of the text is not as good as it could have been.

Sixteen - I wouldn't recommend placing animation in a blog, but for once it actually works well with the rest of the blog, so why not, good job. Same thing with placing things into the text box, however you seem to have avoided big problems there too. With both of the things mentioned above I hope you don't push your luck too much in the future though.

Seventeen - Some color and contrast are needed, definitely. For now the blog looks rather dull, with no difference between box and background and all. The text is great, but it would look way better combined with better image settings.

My votes go to One, Seven and Thirteen.

Feeling this is necessary for this round for my part; a warning to Twelve, Fifteen and Seventeen.

Programs posted finally. Sorry for that delay.

And the blogs weren't in order because they really didn't need to be. The number merely coincides with the number of the blog in the link.

Bumpage!

Why are the rest of the judgings being delayed this much?

That's what I was wondering... and your judgings are very strict Silja
But I guess that makes you a good judge, and maybe I should just put more effort in my graphics.

1. Ok, this one appears to have a very original idea, but its execution is very poor. The most extensive work I actually see in this blog is in the typesetting. Desaturating, color overlaying, and fading out to a perfectly plain background are just so easy (and obvious) that they really detract from the looks of this blog. 5/10
2. I rather dislike the stark color contrast on this picture, it looks especially bad against the muted background. The display text at the top is rather hard to read since it's so light and thin. 6/10
3. Hm, I detect sloppy photo manipulation. The bold jagged line above the mountain range and the dramatic color difference is a very obvious sign that it's been altered. Also, that little black spot near the top right corner of the text area really bothers me, is it a bird or an off-color compression artifact? 6/10
4. The *.gif compression on this is quite bad, as Silja pointed out, the picture is horribly grainy, a big sacrifice for such a small transparent area. Besides that, this blog is rather boring, a picture over a brushed background. 6/10
5. This one's very cute, I like the bold vectored look, nice work. There's one part I rather dislike, and that's the white to yellow gradient on the frog, the white part that's solely in the finger reminds me of E.T. and that looks totally out of place. 9/10
6. This one's not very eye-catching, the picture commands total attention against the very faint background. The text on the right is extremely hard to read, try a heavier font, and as for "Release," it looks unnatural, like you used faux bold on it. 7/10
7. I would have gone for a different picture here, the resizing artifacts are awful enough in the main picture, and even worse looking in the background. The animation is clever but I think unnecessary, since there's so much empty space you could easily have static text and fill in the space with it. I also don't like the big portion of blank space near the bottom left under the doll, it's very unbalancing. 5/10
8. An interesting effect here, I quite like how you utilized the scanlines to obscure some of the characters and keep the ones in front more in focus. Very simple and functional, which I always like. My only suggestion would be to add more interest to the text area, it's rather obvious you did a pixel stretch from the bottom of the picture, and that's rather boring. 8/10
9. I see you played with the levels a bit to make the lights brighter, that's actually quite well done. I'm not too fond of the background, it's really too abstract and I think it's unnecessary. Lastly, the picture has a lot of detail, the text you chose is very bold and I really think it overpowers all the fine lines in the city picture. 8/10
10. Interesting border, but I think it looks overly artistic for a pharmacy setting. I'm not too fond of the watercolor filter over everything, it's not exactly fitting for the picture, and I think it would have been better to choose another picture rather than enlarge and try to hide all the upscaling artifacts, which I strongly suspect is the case. The text area is really too busy with all the colorful bottles and packages in there, I think it would be rather hard to read any text in there. 7/10
11. This reminds me of antique picture postcards. All the effects really contribute well to it, but I don't know what to think about the ring of dark brown in the bottom left corner. Is that supposed to be a coffee stain? There's one effect you've left out that really detracts from the whole old look, though, the borders all around the picture appear to have tears drawn in them artificially (which is unconvincing), it would have looked much better with dog-eared corners. 7.5/10
12. I hope you weren't going for a realistic photo composition, because the glacier in the middle totally throws off all perspectives and makes the penguins appear to be giant. Also, the extraction is rather sloppy. As for the rest of it, the text area really seems too small, and I think the swirl brushes on the side really don't need to be there. 6/10
13. The only work I can see that's been done is to extend the background, do a little editing to the cat's right paw, and add all the other elements. The one thing that I can see that's been done that I think would take more than 1 minute is the editing of the paw, which is unnecessary and actually makes the picture look worse, like it was poorly extracted. 5/10
14. This is very cute, but I think the background needs more interest, it looks like someone just ran the halftone pattern filter over the render clouds filter. I'm also not too fond of the obvious picture mixing, the picture of the girl has very fine (now purplish) lines, while the berry has very heavy black lines. 7.5/10
15. I quite like this one, it's very original and it's not often that I see people actually draw things on the picture, which is a nice effect. The only part of this one I really don’t like is one part of the swirl brushes, where it seems like you blurred them together to make a spike. That looks very unnatural and unfitting. 9 /10
16. The filters really obscure this picture too much, when I first looked at this blog I thought that thing was a basket. I'm not especially fond of the colors here, they remind me of infrared goggles, and they're really overly bright. 7/10
17. I see you lowered the color saturation and added the blog elements. That's not really substantial work... 5/10

I vote out 1, 13, and 17.

Because I've been overloaded with schoolwork and very sick since Friday.

I dunno where jaye is.

Jaye, I think, is overloaded with work too. Or something.. she usually always finishes her request board requests, but she hasn't touched it in a few days.

If there is something that doesn't make sense, please ask. I'm a bit tired at the moment.

And this round will end tomorrow, regardless of whether jaye rates or not.


One
Pretty. Not sure why you used that specific image for color overlay, but it looks nice. The text area is a tad small though, but that could easily be adjusted. I'm thinking maybe the first letter of each word of the
text would look better with a bit of the blue of the red colors from the overlay. It's a bit plain.

Two
A bit bright. The contrast was a good idea, but there's a bit too much of it. Especially against the pale and washed out background. Tone down the contrast and it'd probably look pretty good though.

Three
Pretty good with the colorizing in the text box. Unfortunately, the most attractive part of this is the text box with as it has the most color. And of course, with text over it, you wouldn't be able to appreciate it. Maybe The outer areas could've had the color added to them instead?

Four
This is a really basic looking blog...background, image, text. The image quality isn't great, and I think maybe the text area needs to be more opaque if text were to work.

Five
Very nice. I just don't like how part of the frogs toe overs the text. The colors you chose are also very nice. Except the darker border pruple looks a bit brown to me against the yellow (or maybe it actually is brown...?)

Six
You were trying with a dreamy look here, I think.... The text in the background needs to be a bit stronger. You sort of have to squint and know what Cardcaptors is about to actually read it. The main font is also a little plain looking.

Seven
Can't say I like the image blown up in the background. Overall the blog is very empty, and I find the animation of the text very distracting. The little faerie doll also seems to set this blog off balance.

Eight
I really like this. The scanline detail is subtle and fits this really well. Good image choice, and text choice. Maybe add some detail to the text box...but really, with text in it, I doubt you'd really need any detail there at all.

Nine
The image you chose is gorgeous...but the color of the text area really takes away from it, as does the text because of it's color. The first thing my eyes were drawn to instead of the image was the text "City Lights". I'm tempted to say maybe the text area would've been better just black, though I know you made it opaque so the background detail could show through.

Ten
Not bad...The text area should've maybe been kept plain though. I'm not sure how well text would work in it with all the distracting stuff in the background. And I'm not sure the blue watercolor wash really goes with a pharmacy...but I suppose it works.

Eleven
I really like this one. The 3D text doesn't neccessarily go with the old feel of it though, but it's alright. Also, the brown smudge...whatever it is, gett rid of it.

Twleve
Text area is too small. I like how you worked with the images placing them infront of/behind the mountains. Very creative. I can actually see it as part of an advertisement or something....Oh, I don't like those swirls that much. Don't really see how it fits in with the rest of it.

Thirteen
It's cute I guess, but I don't see what you've done other than add text and a text area.

Fourteen
The black text and the little image in the top right corner look odd. And the text going all the way around is a bit much....I think it might've looked cute just on the right side. But overall, very nice.

Fifteen
The text area is way too solid against the soft image. It takes away from the pretty rose image...I love the effects you've done to the rose though, and the text around the rose. "Missin Green", however, looks a bit dingy...especially against the text box.

Sixteen
I like the image choice and the placement of everything. The animatino actually works too. But I don't like the yellow colors around the black test. The yellow reminds me of mustard, and against the reddish tinges of the image...It's not that appealing of a combination.

Seventeen
Changed the coloring a bit, added text, and a text area. The text area needs to be opaque, and overall this is very dull...


Seven, Thirteen, Seventeen

I'm really, really sorry. I finally got hold of a day when I don't have to do too much work for once due to the swimming gala my school was holding (originally I was planning to swim, but naaaah).

I told WIS that when I'm stressed and peed off I can't judge properly

One:
Wow. That was my first impression. But y'know, I can't just judge like that I actually would like to have it just black and white, the image selected is nice, but I think you overdid the colours by strangely overlaying them. So you now have colour sticking out everywhere. Next, I must comment on the space of where the blog should be. I actually can't figure out where to put the blog, I'm assuming that it will be at the black spot over there.

Two:
I like how the colour match, but easy with the contrast. The image you've chosen is too light. I understand why the contrast is like that though; try darkening it, you have to raise the contrast to get the different colours to stand out.

Three:
I love this! I also like the idea of the blog being in a darker colour while the other places are lighter. I also like what you did to the image, very, very pretty. It's very simplistic, but the effect is awesome, well done! You might want to try lightening the diagonal lines at the top a little.

Four:
On whole, this isn't a bad set at all but it doesn't give me a feeling that you've put all your effort in. The image's contrast isn't adjusted very well and somewhat grainy. Originally, the edges would show, but you've compensated that by having a little glow, so I think that's a good technique.

Five:
Funky! I love how the colours work out so well and the background is really amazing. Teach me However, the frog's toe covers "bullfrog" and the blog space might be a little too small.

Six:
This is a nice and gentle theme you've chosen and I think the chosen image is suitable as well, so well done on that. It is a little bright and blurry though, so you might want to consider improving on that a little. I actually don't really like how the text goes in the text box, there isn't a big problem, but it just doesn't look right for me.

Seven:
Although the animation on blog idea is interesting, but I really wouldn't like to look at an animated blog. The content is in the blog, not the text that keeps flashing, it distracts people like, "ooooh shinnyy" except replaced with, "oooh moving texttt *-*". I love the pattern overlay, it's a very interesting idea and the rounded text box too, it suits the theme. The image is a little grainy and you might want to widen the blog a little.

Eight:
FMA This is another simple blog, but I like this one. The blog space is clearly distinced and what you've done with the image is, although simple, quite effective. I really like how the text blends in with the theme and image, well done!

Nine:
Love this, a lot. It's very clean and simple and I like the images you've chosen to work with. I would, however, try to use a different font than that, maybe something more elegant? There's nothing wrong with this one though, I'm just suggesting something possibly better. I also like the background, the image behind everything.

Ten:
-tilts head- Oooh, slanted, nice idea. However, I thought the border may be a little too much? And the blog space is a little thin. This is like a painting, very well done to how you've manipulated the imae. On whole, a very clean blog that makes people happy

Eleven:
I must comment on that brown thing on the ground. I don't know about other judges, but I do feel it's a little out of place. Other than that, very good, I like the feeling it gives and you've manipulated the image quite well without going into the extreme.

Twelve:
AWWWWWW Penguins are so cute! Wonderful images you've chosen and good font choice and placement. You haven't done too well in cutting and pasting the the images on the blog though and the blog space is too small. I like the nice blue though.

Thirteen:
Kitty is love! And great font choice. But you haven't really done much to the image; even though it's simple, but do try to at least smoothen out some bits or maybe the lighting/contrast of the image. Also, the text doesn't stand out and looks a bit choppy.

Fourteen:
I actually think the "happy berry"s would be better off without being in the image. I love this blog, however. The image is well placed and so is the blog space. The text above it is placed well too and nice font choice.

Fifteen:
Awesome! I love this, a lot! The only problem I've got with is is the size of the blog space! It's far too small for anything! I also thought the background could be a colour that suits the other colours. Black looks okay, but there may be a better choice.

Sixteen:
Awww, I like this one too! I like how everything is in a colour, but different shades. The contrast gives a nice effect too. Again, animation >< And the word "music" is far too large. I would think just the image and the blog would be enough (even though a little blank at the top).

Seventeen:
I'm sorry, but I don't like the text choice in this one. Nor the blog space. In the blog space, i'm afraid we won't be able to see anything you write because the background is too flowery. The image could be manipulated a little better though.

My votes go to one, seven and thirteen
Warnings go to twelve, two, four

so, it looks like i'm out, being blog one and all.

just a few things.



i was hoping there'd be a way to force the scrollbar to the left



hm, it may look like little work was put into this, but that isn't the case. the image actually wasn't desaturated, the overlay did that, and i worked extensively on the actual overlay, changing colors, mostly green looking, out and such, i also did alot of smudging witht eh image, it really didn't look anything like the original when i was done, i probably didn't even need to post it as an image, well, yeah. i didn't want to you a normal textbox on this one, so i tried something new, i guess that is too easy...shame on me.



i had problems with this too, originally it was much smaller. i shrunbk the image by about thiry pixels for the sake of the textbox.



yes, and i put a sentence in my entry pm saying as such, but it was ommitted. no problem though, seeing how hectic this week was for everyone.

---

just to say, i don't think i like the anonymous entry thing much, there were many times i really wanted to reply to the judges concerns about my blog, but couldn't. i also wanted to give a small tidbit for my reasonings behind doing something not so normal, but oh well, i guess i'll say it now.

---

i didn't want to do a normal blog, with a pixel line for a border and some image half visible under it. so i did alot of playing around with an image i liked, i tried to make the image look dinamic by rotating it and smudging small areas, there was originally alot of green in the overlaying image, which was used by complete accident. i had to change alot of colors and make some lines much more smooth. i actually worked much harder on this image than i have on many other images i've made in the past. oh well, so much for trying something different.

Actually, you could have replied at the end of round 1 just as you did this round. By the end of the round after all judges have rated, it doesn't matter if you're anonymous or not. The number a person gets assigned each round obviously changes each round anyway.

*shrugs* You know, you could've PMed me or IMed me if you wanted to know if you could comment or not. Sorry it didn't work out for you.

As for 'many times' that you wanted to respond, er, this was only round 2.

A brilliant point, Moogie, about wanting to reply to the judges. I feel much the same way, so..

Anyway, I'm out for sure this time (13) and I don't think I'll be entering again. It's pretty obvious that regardless of how much work you put into an entry, if it's not amazingly well-made with some fancy-arse program, you're not getting anything for it.

Anyway, to the judges: I think yu really underestimate the difficulties of making a blog in PAINT for crying out loud. For Mithros sake, I had to re-pixel in everything that is under my text area (part of the hammock and the cat's paw). So, yeah. It's a competition about quality and not effort, so...I'm out.

And I really fail to see why we even have to include our program used in the entry if it's not even going to be taken into consideration by the judges...