AOTM #20: Voting

[AOTM]

Theme: Make the AOTM account a new avatar & signature set!
Defined: Create both a new avatar and signature for the AOTM account. You must submit both.
Due Date: 31st December
Contest run by: Contra Fates, Kally and Lustre

Rules for Voting:

• Vote on your favorite entry based on graphical skill.
• Please post explaining your vote and why.
• Please provide helpful feedback on the entries.
• Do NOT post anything insulting or offensive about entries.
• Do NOT vote for your own entry.
• Do NOT tell others which entry is your own.
• Poll End Date: 13th November

Comment Template:

• Areas of Achievement:
• Areas of Opportunity:
• Consensus:

This is NOT mandatory. This is to promote thoughtful critiques for the artists who took the time to submit their entries. This is just another way to show our appreciation for them.

It is not necessary to place the comments and critiques within a hider.

Other Notes:

AOTM Contest Managers are allowed to read, review, and submit their own entries - but are NOT permitted to cast a vote. This is because they know who each author of these entries are, and the entries are no longer anonymous to them. WOTM Contest Managers, however, are allowed to vote - as the entries have remained anonymous to them.

We greatly appreciate those of you who participated, and especially those of you who vote. Without either of you this contest would not exist.

Remember, it is YOU who decides the winner, so you all hold the power. Use it well. (:

Also, seeing as this is a special occasion for the Guild Newsletter, we decided it would be better to have only one winner, so the voting threads have been joined to make it easier to vote, and to give more diverse choice! Have fun!

[Kagamine]

I voted for #2. It looks really... artsy, compared to the others, for lack of a better term. It appears to be hand-drawn, and I love that that's being made the focus of AOTM's set. #1 isn't very well put together. The stocks don't go together so great, and that's really all it looks like, anyway. Two stocks put together. Badly. So it's not getting my vote. #3 looked pretty good, actually, but it still lost to #2, which was more aesthetically pleasing and I think more fitting for an art contest.

[Rose Swan]

Um... The poll end date shouldn't be November 13th, just an FYI...

[Kagamine]

Um... The poll end date shouldn't be November 13th, just an FYI...

November? I see New Year's day.

[Rose Swan]

I had seen November 13. Now I see New Year's Eve.

[Kagamine]

This poll will close on 01-01-2013

New Year's Day.

[Rose Swan]

It's in the OP.

[Kagamine]

It's in the OP.

Well the one on the OP really doesn't matter, now does it? The poll will close when it says it will.

[Butter]

I voted for #2. It looks really... artsy, compared to the others, for lack of a better term. It appears to be hand-drawn, and I love that that's being made the focus of AOTM's set. #1 isn't very well put together. The stocks don't go together so great, and that's really all it looks like, anyway. Two stocks put together. Badly. So it's not getting my vote. #3 looked pretty good, actually, but it still lost to #2, which was more aesthetically pleasing and I think more fitting for an art contest.

Here is my full critique that I meant to type up at the beginning of the month, but decided not to because I didn't want people to read it and then my opinion become their own. I amquoting the above post because it is the most in depth, or rather only, critique of any sort and I just don't want to repeat any points. I also want to address a few things they said.

First off, here is my critique of each individual work, then I will respond to the above posters opinion:

#1: Kagamine said it best with what was said, although I won't say that "no" work was put into it and that it was just a render on top of a background. There is some coloring, via gradient map I'm assuming, to the background. The border is also nice, and I hope the artist won't mind me stealing it for the next time I decide to make something. I must say though, there is no blending between render and background, there is no flow, you did just put a render in the middle of a background. This could have actually turned out okay if you maybe added some flow, the text was better, and there was better blending. Maybe some effects also.

#2: I have to totally disagree with the above poster. Yes, it looks hand-drawn. So? This isn't a drawing focused theme, and you don't even know if the artist drew it. They could have just found it, and if that was the case it would literally be only text on top of a "stolen" render. There isn't even a border. I would have to see the render to judge this better, but without any prior knowledge I would have to rate it this way, because if this was the case it shouldn't win. Although I must say it is the most aesthetically pleasing out of the bunch.

#3: To me, this just looks god awful. While that it is true, it is the most technically sound. Border, coloring, gradient mapping, text, flow, blending. It's all there, I just disagree with the choice of text, and even the render bothers me. The artist made her look like a humpback, which as you can tell by the icon isn't the case. The potential of the image was so great, it just looks rushed. Although, it is the most technically sound as such, it is the one that "technically" should win, as that is the focus of AOTM, not how pleasing it is. I could tear this apart so much more, and compliment it so much more also, I just don't want to bore you all.

Final Remark: Here is where I want to address something Kagamine said.

I think more fitting for an art contest.

You say that it is hand drawn, and that makes it more artsy and more fit for an art contest. That simply is not the case. This is an internet art contest, and AOTM on most other sites are purely signature editting and gfx, no drawing at all, in which case entry #2 would be laughed out of the contest. Beyond that, you don't even know for sure if it was even drawn by the artist. While I cannot deny it is the most aethsetically pleasing, to me this is the most off ones in terms of the current theme of AOTM. If this was a drawing AOTM this month, then yes, assuming the artist drew it, they would deserve to win. Though it's not.

When all is said and done, despite everything I said, I voted for #2 because while #3 should win due to it's technicality and the specific theme of this AOTM, the actual coloring and errors bother me too much, so I voted for #2. Although, I still would like to know if the artist for #2 drew it, or just plopped text on someone else's drawing. If they did just plop text on, and win, I will give up hope and this will be the first and last AOTM I ever look at.

Furthermore, I hope the AOTM won't actually use any of these. None of these are "good", and none of them are a good representation of the best of the best gfxers on RPG. I can name three better off the top of my head: Genkai, Chibi, and Rocketfox. Even I could do better then these. So I really hope the AOTM account won't use any of them, and instead should either keep what they have or allow the winner to make a new one for AOTM to use.

[Herzinth]

#1: You can see the edge between figure and background. The background has the sun setting, behind and from below. While the lighting on the figure is from in front and above. Also, the figure has this whole rose texture thing going on? Which clashes with the background. Text doesn't fit in well; too glaring.

#2: Bloopity Doop (Sorry Butter, sad to see you go). It even comes with those horizontal lines. So... you added two or three swooshy lines, and text? Okay. It's pretty visually appealing, but doesn't look like much was put into it.

#3: My favourite. Perhaps a bit helter-skelter, but overall I found it the most visually appealing, and it actually shows effort put into it. Though, perhaps some kind of faded AOTM would've been nice in the avatar?