' Wrote:If you have some previous works that you're dying to get someone to critique PM them to me and I'll give you my judgements.

' Wrote:This is my first signature for myself =D Critique?

• You have a theme thats for sure, minimalistic (somewhat) dark (definite).
  
• Very good color scheme, Black and Red blend together very nicely.
  
• I like the phototreatment you gave the Crysis side it makes it blend with the black and grey part.
  

• The thing that strikes me as not so good is the amount of "empty" space in the left hand portion. Its not overpowering due to the abstract pattern thing that occupies that side of the Sig (which is btw, really cool, I don't think I've ever seen that sort of thing before how'd you manage that, pm me if its a secret...I'm just curious), but it is still there...
  
• The bottom line of text is a little hard to read (mainly the S's and what I assume is the M in Hitman).
  
• The logo/emblem could be a bit bigger as it is rather hard to tell what it is at first, its two pistols next to each other with the buts in opposite directions right?
  

• When you have make sigs the very first step (after gathering the required stuff) is to gauge the size that the sig will be. If you have a lot of stuff to put in, you'll need a bigger sig, if there's not so much that needs to go in, it needs to be smaller. I'd have probably chosen a shorter size for this one, because of the emptiness on the left side. The Crysis part would then have to be more horizontal but with some work it would work.
  
• One element of good design is having everything in whatever you're designing to point at the middle. Its a little hard to figure with this one because the Crysis guy is turning from the back, But I would have maybe put him on the other side, so he was pointing in.
  
• Never compromise readability of text. I'll repeat that because it's important. NEVER compromise readability of text. There are very few exceptions to this, they being related to themes, but to be safe, NEVER compromise readiblity of text. You have to do whatever you can to make sure the reader doesn't have to stare at your signature for ten minutes to figure out what that word is... Make it bigger, use another font, do anything to ensure that the reader can read it.
  
• I tend to like using a different font for Text and subtext. Not too different but somewhat different. It seems to add a little to the sig if you use different things. However with this sig it might have been just as well that you used the same one.
  

' Wrote:Pardon my intrusion but most of the sigs presented have typography issues, not image issues.

' Wrote:It is not your expected size (because it is too big for in my opinion), but I think this is my proposal:

• You've found your favorite style and you can use it quite well.
  
• The Character you found is good, also has been cut out from whatever background he had very well
  
• The Blood Diamond Sort of graphical effect is brilliant... I'd never have thought of doing it like that.
  

• The Primary thing here I see wrong is that there is no Unifying theme or color scheme. Now mind you, the Firefly isn't the prettiest ship on the block but There could still have been a more unified color scheme. I think I'd have used red seeing as that's the color of the Blood diamonds.
  
• The Background isn't exactly what I had in mind when I said Space. Perhaps I could have been more clear and said solar systemish but... yeah. Rather than a starscape I was thinking more along the lines of a Space Scene w/ planets and nebulae, etc...
  
• The Text doesn't flow very well with the rest of the sig. For one thing its not in the best of places, being right in the middle and overlapping a bit on the ship. It also seems to be a font from a horror movie... Thats the Name, the quote text is what looks like the Freelancer Font, which is IMO extremely bland in all cases except when used in Freelancer.
  
• I guess what I don't like is the lack of unity in it. Nothing seems to blend together to live in harmony with everything else in the sig.
  

• Try as much as you can to Blend everything into one masterpiece. The main Idea behind a signature (or so i've been "taught") is that every element is supposed to act together to form a single graphic. Blending is the main word. Everything, the text, the colors, the border even needs to work together.
  
• This one is minor but still, I've found that drop shadows have the most effect when they goo off of two sides, rather than just one...
  
• Try finding some good space stock and generating your own space backgrounds for sigs. If you already do this then great! But I'd suggest using stock on DeviantArt.com. If you haven't got a deviantart account get one. I've even asked two stock artists if I could use their stock off of deviantart.com (just because I'm trying to get into the habit of doing things in a more legal fashion)
  
• Try to make more depth in these kinds of sigs, if you're going to have something pop out, make it pup out a lot. Not by a few pixels, it adds effect to the effect.
  

' Wrote:Pardon my intrusion but most of the sigs presented have typography issues, not image issues.

' Wrote:Serpentis -> Fonts, their applications are not fitting to the composition. They are either too "lost", too "shiny", too "front", too "back". Typography needs to be strong on sigs, its more important than the images, as sig ideas usually work around presenting the char and who he/she - what it is.