Thankyou to everyone who has taken part. We've seen some brilliant artwork, some great designs, and a really spectacular effort.
The following entrants all did a great job, submitting great pieces, but where sadly just missed a place in the top 4. The following runner-ups recieve 2 million credits each, and a hearty pat-on-the-back.
(in no particular order)
MDmakaan (credits sent)
This one had a very unique shape, a striking red background, and lots of well rendered facets. However, it was let down by matters of layout so diddn't make it to the top 4. However, it still deserves a runner-up prize.
Snapp (credits sent to Harvester_18)
This one was the creator's first attempt at a sig, and was certainly impressive considering. I particularly liked how the Benitez medallion was integrated into the character's render; around his neck. Sadly, this one was let down by a low quality "grainy" texture possibly due to the file-save format or the upload of the file, so sadly diddn't make it into the top 4. A great first try though, and worthy of a runner up prize.
Entry C (credits sent)
This was a nicely shaped sig, with all the requested elements nicely arranged with a good background, but sadly wasn't saved in a .gif or .png format so the shapes were lost in a white background. I also felt the font was a little plain. However, it was a great effort, and easily worth a runner up prize.
AlexBG
Probably the closest to qualifying for a top-4 position, the submission by AlexBG was perfect; all the elements expertly rendered and arranged, with a striking shine on the Benitez medallian and a crisp outline on the character render. It also had an irregular smudged shape which must have taken allot of time. The only aspect I felt could be improved was that the embossing clashed slightly with the smudge effect. Still, a sig anyone would be proud to use.
Recoil9000 (credits sent)
Another striking red background, rounded shape and with every element requested and more besides, this one had everything. The plain-ness of the text box was the only thing that let this down, but would nevertheless be a sig to be proud of.
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Now, the top 4. These are all sigs I'd be happy to use, and with the creators permission, would like to use in future for various forums. These could easily compete with some of the best on the server. They all contained elements I'd asked for, following the specification to the letter, but all had unique quirks and subtleties that made them interesting to view, and breathtakingly impressive to look at. They were all well balanced, well arranged, thought out AND importantly, not too busy. Each of the following designers will be receiving, at minimum, a 10 mill prize each.
The following are in no particular order.
Dopamino
Dopamino's first submission was amazing. All elements in place, perfect choice of background, nice shape, and a beutiful engine-trail that I think gave everyone else ideas too.;)I thought it couldn't be improved on, but Dopamino proved me wrong by submitting a second. Most elements were the same, but the green nebula of the background was replaced by an intricate and eyecatching skull-and-cross-bones design that's really hard to describe. (so I'm not going to. Just look below and save me the effort). Sadly, this new version lacked the striking blue engine trail, but I recognised that it was a matter of "drawing the eye". If a blue engine trail had have remained, it would have detracted from the impact of the centre design. My only main criticism was that it was rather large, though with little effort, I was able to minimize it and see what it would look like beneath a post.- spectacular, as expected.
Incindre
Incindre's design involved all the requested elements, was well arranged, and, as seems to be his "style", had a frosted glass-style two-tone transparrent box over the top of the sig that broke up the image, thereby making it more eyecatching by increasing tonal variation. The render used for the Benitez medallion was also very impressive; it had a very striking shine to it. One criticism I had was the text and bulls head, which I felt diddn't blend as well (with the shadows and glow applied) as it otherwise might have (they seemed to be oversharp).
Oddly, I actually preferred incindre's first submission to his second, as the second submission sacrificed the medallion I liked, and the colour bands. Therefore, this is all about his first submission, rather than his second.
A really great, professional sig, which anyone would be proud to use.
Yue Fei
Yue's sig was great from the start; a deep red and black feel with a background not immediatly identifiable. The almost "burned on" feel of the medallion looked great, and integrated perfectly with the rest of the image, every element perfectly balanced to complement eachother. One element I particularly liked was the faint bulls-head symbol behind the character render, which is not immediately visible except with close scrutiny. This gave the feeling that, when you looked closer at the sig, you might see new things. However, this sadly wasn't included in the final version. A truly epic sig.
Overload
A long time in the making, but well worth the wait. This sig immediatly stood out for it's sharpness; even the old, tired freelancer character render found new life with the added contrast and definition on this sig. Balance between dark greens and greys with the light green lettering and bull symbol worked beautifully, and the unique engine trail of the Titan is just spectacular. I don't think there's much in particular to criticise this one for, so I'll go with "I would have liked the word "Don" before the name." Really though, that's being pedantic. Like the other 3, this is a truly spectacular sig.
I said the competition is closed, and it is. However, the sigs are so damned good I need more time to decide which should be the winner. Because of this, I'm leaving the window open for the top-4 designers to submit revised versions if they wish, and I'll try and decide on a winner as soon as possible.
lol, thanks for the pat-on-the-back. I thought I would give it a try, but once people such as Yue and Overload get involved, the competition is over for us with lesser experience. Thanks again for the runner's up recognition though. (would you send the creds to SS.Eclipse please:))
I'll see if I can play with it a bit more. I'm not sure I like how some of the elements are blending in with the background right now; maybe changing the window color in Photoshop will give me a more realistic view of how it'll seem on the forum's color scheme.
EDIT: Didn't want to double-post, as the small amount of change doesn't really make it worth doing so anyway. Added in the Don title, and I tweaked some coloring that seemed off in the background.
EDIT2: Hm...
THEY TOLD ME I COULD BE ANYTHING SO I BECAME A SIGNATURE PLS HLP