Title Critique Request
As an excercise in layer masking in Photoshop, and a time-killer, I made the above title for the Vision Dev debate fora (link in sig).
[essay]
The ideas behind it are:
Contrast - red & blue symbolise two viewpoints. I wanted to avoid black and white, and these were my next two choices. The alternation represents the process of taking turns in argument.
Issues - the series of photos are (in order) an Israeli soldier, a terrorist (possibly Palestinian), Bible and Cross, Trilobite (fossil), constellation (I forgot which ), Hippocrates ("father" of medicinal ethics), artist's rendition of double-helix DNA strand, A. Einstein, Melting Clocks by Dali, Carlos Santana playing the guitar, Earth, Coffee. The images represent different issues that were touched on in some of the debates.
Shape - the "bent" shape of the cells is supposed to lead the eye in two directions, forward and back, to show how a debate can swing. I know that the "forward" (to the right) leads are smaller than the converse, but that's justified in that the "left" lead is actually flat and only appears as an opposition to the rightways movement.
I used a font called Institution, because it's pretty narrow and could fit within the width constraints but still remained readable. It's slightly curvaceous but appears neutral.
The white borders are just to make the whole thing easier to see.
[/essay]
So what do you think? This is the first time I actually put some deep thought into a design. Also the first time I tried to use slightly bolder colours.
Critique away... all comments and suggestions welcome.
taff posted this at 13:15 — 19th November 2002.
They have: 956 posts
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hmmm. I actually wish that I had looked at the image before reading what each photo was. I think that some of them are tough to identify. I'm not seeing Carlos at all and I suspect that I would have had more trouble had I not known what to look for.
Mind you, I'm viewing at high res with aging eyes. I'm going to have to do something about one of the two sometime soon
I like the colours and I like the concept. I'm not sure if I like the method used for transitioning between the images.
Oh and the text is a little fuzzy.. or is that my ey- err, my computer?
.....
Abhishek Reddy posted this at 13:22 — 19th November 2002.
He has: 3,348 posts
Joined: Jul 2001
Thanks for the reply.
Yes, some of those images are unclear... I'm working with free stock photos here.
I'm still on the lookout for better ones. Any suggestions?
It's also a very confined area, I guess. I think I may drop a few photos and open it up a little.
Don't know about the text. All appears clear for me. I'll have a play with anti-aliasing some. I'm on 1280x1024, BTW.
And could you elaborate a bit on the transition thing? Is it too sharp/quick or too confusing or...? I was trying to make it difficult to focus on regions of the whole image, so that you could only look at each cell one at a time. Or take an overview of the whole thing without getting a full understanding of the components.
Thanks again.
Megan posted this at 13:53 — 19th November 2002.
She has: 11,421 posts
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I think it looks good. I agree about some of those photos being a little unclear though. Where have you been to get stock photos? I know that it is very difficult to get good shots on specific topics.
The only criticism I have is that there's too much line spacing between the words in "Developing the minds of tomorrow". That shold be closer togehter so that the words can sort of nestle into the shape there.
Megan
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taff posted this at 14:33 — 19th November 2002.
They have: 956 posts
Joined: Jun 2001
Yeah but you're a punk kid - just wait
I'll try but I'm not sure I've got my finger on it myself. Perhaps it is the shape/angles or the white padding... It really could just be me.
You know, if you reversed the effect they would look like D's. Work the V in somehow and it would really work with the name.
The pics that I needed to know to recognize look to be: terrorist, trilobyte, and Dali. Looking really hard I can now make out what looks to be a guitar in the Santana pic.
.....
The Webmistress posted this at 15:02 — 19th November 2002.
She has: 5,586 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
I think that with the Ds going the other way it might flow better as the shape would then draw the eye across left to right. The only ones I had trouble recognising before reading your explaination were Dali, Santana (my husband likes them) and the earth. Do you need the white between them? The only text that is a wee bit blurry for me is that part on the right (oldish eyes on 1152x864). Will be interested in how you build the rest of the site around it.
Julia - if life was meant to be easy Michael Angelo would have painted the floor....
Busy posted this at 21:29 — 19th November 2002.
He has: 6,151 posts
Joined: May 2001
There is a lot going on in there but at the same time simple
maybe swap the red and blue ends to white and use the colour it is now for text, and make the white dividers just a little sharper.
What color is the pages background going to be?
Also swap some of the images around, keep all the people in the red and "things" in blue or vise versa
Renegade posted this at 21:33 — 19th November 2002.
He has: 3,022 posts
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looks good to me, execpt for the wrting on the right like every one else has sed, when i look at it, it seems as if the red is "popping" out of the screen while the purple is going back in to it, (i stared at it for 24 hours straight)
just looking at the site, i come to wonder how the colours are gonna fit in :S
Abhishek Reddy posted this at 22:27 — 19th November 2002.
He has: 3,348 posts
Joined: Jul 2001
Thanks for the comments.
I'll try to tone it down a bit. But I'm thinking it's because more of the images in blue have more depth than the ones in red. I'll try to swap them around or find new pics.
Megan, correction: they aren't all stock photos. The Bible is from deviantart.com; The soldier and terrorist are from worldphotos.com; trilobyte, constellation, Einstein, DNA are from science-related sites. Hiippocrates and Dali from two different catalogues; Santana is from a fan site, and coffee from freefoto.com.
I'll go back and try out all the suggestions, and post up a new version soon.
Not sure how the site will look. I haven't got to that stage yet. Like I said, this was just an excercise in Photoshop. I wanted to play with layer masks - never did get my around them 'til now.
If the admin there decides he likes this, then I may have to start thinking about whole page styles.
Renegade posted this at 07:30 — 20th November 2002.
He has: 3,022 posts
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o good, cause i was wondering how it was gonna fit in with the site :S now i know
Mark Hensler posted this at 08:06 — 20th November 2002.
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Joined: Aug 2000
You've got Einstein in there, so I'll give it a thumbs up.
FYI, the "Albert" in my alias... I stole from Albert Einstein.
disaster-master posted this at 08:09 — 20th November 2002.
She has: 2,154 posts
Joined: May 2001
You put some thought into that one. I like things that have meaning.
Nice work abhi.
Abhishek Reddy posted this at 09:18 — 20th November 2002.
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Joined: Jul 2001
Thanks.
Now that I have some more concepts to try, I'm gonna redo the whole thing...
Renegade posted this at 09:48 — 20th November 2002.
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the WHOLE thing? o ok... lol
Abhishek Reddy posted this at 23:07 — 26th November 2002.
He has: 3,348 posts
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Well, ok, not the *whole* thing. I just revised the same image... (god bless Masking)
Flipped the shape of the cells, order or colours, made the bg black, added new image of guitar, and changed the font for the smaller text.
I've managed to get the "D" like taff suggested, but I'm net certain of how to incorporate a V. I could use an image of an eye somehow... but I wanted to avoid using eyes 'cos they're overused, IMO. Although, it would tie in with the name...
Swapped the red and blue so that I'd get the Earth at the end. Works quite well, I think.
I chose black because it worked with the "space" thing, and it's neutral.
Text should be clearer now with a better font (?)
The left area is a little messy - that picture of the terrorist doesn't quite work where it is. I've left it for now because that's about where I might add the eye, or whatever, to make a "V".
Also worked on the images themselves. Tried to make them a little clearer and shuffled them around a bit to make them more coherent (hopefully).
I'm still looking out for better pictures for some of them, but I think this is making some progress...
Whaddya think?
taff posted this at 23:17 — 26th November 2002.
They have: 956 posts
Joined: Jun 2001
Hey, lookin' good! I've got no ideas right now on a "V" but I'll give it some thought.
Yeesh. Been to *my* site?
.....
Abhishek Reddy posted this at 23:44 — 26th November 2002.
He has: 3,348 posts
Joined: Jul 2001
Thanks.
LOL!
Renegade posted this at 01:24 — 27th November 2002.
He has: 3,022 posts
Joined: Oct 2002
LMAO!!!
well i like how the earth is used at the end, it sorta makes it "smoother" trasition to the words at end
as for the eyes, i think you could put it behind the text of "vision developement..." <-- don't worry it's just ONE eye compared to 13 eyes on taffs sites hehe
but for the "v" bit i don't know,
Busy posted this at 04:23 — 27th November 2002.
He has: 6,151 posts
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I like it how it is now, font looks a little white/grey thou
good work, wanna do one for me
Abhishek Reddy posted this at 05:19 — 27th November 2002.
He has: 3,348 posts
Joined: Jul 2001
Sorry, I don't understand... are you saying it's too white? Or too gray? Or...? Just got out of a chem exam... I think I fused the ol' lightbulb - if you know what I mean.
hehe
If you're serious, why not? I have a few months of holiday ahead of me. A small project on the side is welcome.
Renegade, yeah, just one eye is what I had in mind. I'm going to have a toy with it.
Busy posted this at 06:25 — 27th November 2002.
He has: 6,151 posts
Joined: May 2001
grey/white its kinda of like using a bad "chrome" effect that sometimes get, it could just be the font thou kind of like has shadows on some parts but not others. tell you want, if this makes no sense and no one else says anything just ignore this
**I'm not going mad I tell you, I'm not**
I was kidding about the graphic,
thanks thou, am actually working on some graphic-less sites at the moment .
maybe you could make up a tutorial or two on how you made it
Abhishek Reddy posted this at 07:04 — 27th November 2002.
He has: 3,348 posts
Joined: Jul 2001
Hmm, I think I see what you're saying about the text. Could just be the anti-aliasing. I'll try the other options, maybe another font...
A tutorial? Nice idea. I think I will do that. Thanks for suggesting.
The Webmistress posted this at 08:08 — 27th November 2002.
She has: 5,586 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
I think this one is much better but IMO anything behind the text would spoil it! I would leave it as it is now, well maybe sort out the text as I agree with the greyishness of the white, and you then incorporate the D & V into the rest of the page layout.
Julia - if life was meant to be easy Michael Angelo would have painted the floor....
Renegade posted this at 08:33 — 27th November 2002.
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Joined: Oct 2002
gbccukindia posted this at 09:24 — 30th November 2013.
They have: 1 posts
Joined: Nov 2013
I have been looking for something like this.
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