1. Does your work have a focal point?
Anything except a gfx collage, MUST have a focal point. To have this, do not use multiple pictures. But unless you really want to have two pictures, make one picture stand out a lot more than the other, and the other blend more. Lighting can help this too, make the gfx that inst part of the focus really dark and the stuff that you want visible lighter. That will really help you build up to the focal point.

2. Does your graphic have a good color sceme?
I think that the best graphics have a over and over color sceme that is used throughout the the graphic. Whenever I get done with a graphic, I save it and then reopen the saved file in my photoshop so it is all 1 layer, that way I can put a color overlay over it all. So play around with the color overlay options until you get something that you really like and think fits well. To make your graphic seem more alive, if you save it and don't like the way it turned out, becuase photoshop file has more color than a jpg, open the jpg in photoshop and make the contrast and decrease the brightness, keep doing that until you are happy with what you have made.

3. Does your graphic have a good motion?
Motion is very hard to explain, but it might be easier if I tell you what motion isn't, lol. It's when your picture and text are placed randomly without thinking about it at all. Bad motion comes when you have multiple pictures in a peice and its not eye catching. It also comes with bad placed text. When you look at an art peice, there is something that always eye catching in a certain peice of the art. You want everything else in the graphic to show you to the build up to the focal point, think of it as support. For example, you can try making the parts of your graphic that you don't want your eyes to draw to a very boring color, or even try using the blur tool. Like in photography, when you see photos, sometimes the surroundings are really blurry and the focal point is really really focused.

4. Does your work look like art?
To yourself ask if this looks like art to you. Of course different graphics show different purposes but lets say you are making gfx just to improve your graphic skills. What many people miss with making graphics is, making a graphic shouldn't be any different than drawing a picture or painting. It's not about how many layers you used or what you found out in photoshop that other people don't know, it's that the idea that really counts. I'm sure there are some gfx artists that can make a sig that looks nice and professional using only 1 layer and rendering clouds.

5. Does your graphics have a theme?
I can not say how much it is important to stick to a theme when making a graphic. I've seen people add tech brushes to a grunge sig before, and I am just thinking, WHAT THE HELL are you doing? just becuase you have the power to use gfx doesn't mean you that should. It's hard to explain and use examples so I can pretty much say, when you pick a theme, you have to stick to it. If your making a grunge graphic, do everything in your power to make it looks like dirty, don't throw in a tech or abstract design to throw it off.


I hope you found this tut useful and that you have become a better gfx person


Credit to Keith K for writting most of this lol

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u write or bite that?

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Daubs MySpace

20 percent part write, 80 percent part bite lol

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k lmao, give credit where due though, get me. Nice tut though.

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Daubs MySpace

That is not a tut, thats friendly advice.

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.The Council.

^ ahahahaha ur so funny.. ur sig aint that good u know, star and text is choppy..

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nice advice for newbie cats