Signature of the Week - Discussion thread

17!!!!
WOW a lot of competition this week!

 

There should be atleast 4 hours left, no?

 

8 hours and 55 minutes if the entrie date was friday morning at 9 dutch time

 

Entry sent

 

Can't be long now!

 

Voting thread is up!
http://forum.phun.org/showthread.php?p=2590633

 

I know everybody is already bored with so many suggestions, but now that I voted and seen all sigs from this week 3 it becomes clear that choosing only one is difficult.

I participate in another forum (a game forum) in which people make mods for the game and then vote for them in a manner similar to this one.
But with one difference, everybody gives points to their favourites: 3 points to the 1st place, 2 to the 2nd place, and 1 to the 3rd place.

In the end the points are added for each mod and the classification is made.

The advantage applying this to our sigs in future votings is that it is more likely that no sig is left without votes, and makes the voting itself easier. Just a bit more work to the one adding the points that's all.

What do you think?

 

I dunno, i like the simple fun of this way.

 

that was already discussed. while it's a cool idea, i think it's good as it is. but i also think a poll would be much better. i'm hoping it is sorted for next week.

 

As long as it continues every week I'm happy

Definitely. We can see from this week that some votes probably wouldn't have been the same if nobody knew the vote count before posting...

 

Did someone ask for the sig safehaven to be unstickied?

 

I've been having a good look at this week entries and i must say that i am really impressed with everything.

Apart from trying to guess who did what (this week was easier) i am very impressed with the range and styles on show.

 

The thing I'm missing is the guessing, because I know who sent me what picture. I'm still having enough fun tho .

But there's 1 thing that's bothering me a little. This week there are 4 entries that rise high above the other sigs graphics wise. (I'm not talking down on anyone, I just mean that from an artistic/designer point of view those 4 are best)

So I would expect the votes to be spread among those 4 sigs, but that's not the case. It seems that people vote for a sig because it has their favorite character, it doesn't matter if that character is blended in well or not.

It's all based on opinion offcourse, but I'd like it more if people payed more attention to the quality of the graphics work.

Oh and before people ask if I'm just frustrated that my own sig doesn't get the amount of votes that it should get. That's true a little . I run and enter the competition for fun, but I just can't get my head around sig 3 for example. Nothing against the maker, but when you start at the left side there's white, then there's a picture of newman with a background that's not realy white, then the background becomes white again. That's just not right... design-wise that's just not a good sig. Same with number 17. the right part is not the same shade of white as the part where the hand comes out. So how can they get votes over 17 other sigs that do not have these errors?

I'm just confused over what makes something a good sig... help me out, guys!

 

In my opinion, as quite the novice with regards to all things graphical, for some it's technical skill that stands out, while for others it's more of an emotional thing. With regards to the voting, every sig in the contest evokes some sort of emotion, and as a result of this people will vote for the sigs that appeal to them. Manson for example is indeed as toolz said, "a fucked up villain", which again will have played a part in some people choosing #14. Newman raises a smile, which will no doubt have influenced some to choose sig #3, while you have to also wonder if the two background colours that you profess a dislike for, are in fact intentional, and while you don't like it, the original artist might.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you hit the nail on the head when you said...

Which means making a sig that appeals to everyone is nigh on impossible. I also think that if the emphasis of the contest was more towards techincal skill, I'm sure some would be hesitant to enter - there are some superb artists out there! Just my thoughts on the matter - the contest is a brilliant idea though, really glad it's going so well!

 

You're absolutely right.

I look at a sig and think: wow, everything blends in perfectly, the color scheme fits the subject, the texting is perfect. While someone else thinks: cool, newman, what an interesting choice for a villain. Choosing newman also shows creativity.

I'm fanatic tho. I make sigs for fun, but I also always try to win. That's just my nature.
So I'm trying to learn to understand what people base their choice on. So that I can steer people towards my sig in the future

 

The same thing happens with all that's related to art.

Take for example a museum. If you're an expert in art, you check the sculptures, paintings, etc, noticing the strokes, the colour scheme, the theme, how it all blends together.
Someone who doesn't care/know about any of that will just see things as they are and end up liking those who have some meaning to them, or give them some emotional link that others don't.

And almost everytime an expert's opinion of what piece of art is best differs from that of an amateur. But that doesn't mean that the amateurs opinion isn't valid. Amateurs are by far in more number, and if you don't please them your work probably won't "sell".

Edit: Concerning the voting for SOTW, for me the biggest issue is the fact that the votes are public, they should be in a closed poll. The only thing that shouldn't justify picking a sig is: "I'm voting for this one because it can't end up without any vote"...

 

well, for me a contest with sigs is a little "different".
a sig is supposed to be a signature, a statement, an expressed mood - somehow signing a post. how should anyone be able to grade that?
so in fact the idea to have a weekly "theme" was a good one.

and i hope this "guessing who did that sig" doesn´t affect the voting too much

 

no idea why increasing the numbers of options didn´t work the first time, maybe we need to find some secret switches in vbulletin... working on that.

 

For me, the amount of work that went into a sigf, while very impressive on some cases has no bearing whatsoever on my choosing of a favourite.

If a sig is a crop of a phenomenal image perfectly used then it will do more for me than one that has had a ton of p/shop work done to it.

For me its about the impression you get when you see the sig. I love that most of you guys can really pull out the editing stops on here but skills isn't (and shouldn't be the most important factor in voting)

The way to pick a good sig is the same with a good piece of photography.

 

Good to hear that it's being worked on. Hope it's done before week 4