Perfect Dark

I consider this to be an important point on these forums, so take time to read, and if you don't like it, then that's fine. to be honest i don't care. And before i start i want people to know that i am not going to be personal in anything i say, and don't want people to think i'm trying o flame them. Feeling strongly and putting across a point of view is not considered flaming. Atleast not to me....
so i'd appreciate it if everyone can take what i say seriously, and hopefully can learn from what i'm telling you.




first off, let me say that i know that there are people that don't take graphic/sig design seriously, and i know that this is not a graphics forum in particular, but i am serious. Very. And i fear that if i do not ut my point across now, i may one day break and start flaming everyone and get banned. So here goes:

Variety. The spice of life, they say. Of course it is. If we were all the same, life would be, to put it lightly, conplete and utter ****. But we seem to have a problem. And not only here. I see evidence of it wherever i go. To me, it looks as is this forum has almost completely lost any trace off the spice of life, which i consider pretty important.
Graphics is all about originality, creativity, producing something new to make you stand out from the rest. But, ( and again, i'm not personalising this at all) in general, alot of the artists we have here seem to lack. Mostly in the creativity department. After quickly looking through only the past 5 or so pages of the sig makers lounge, i have found alot of sigs by different people, that look almost exactly the same...
now, like i said, this isn't a flame war. I just feel that people need to know that creavity is the most important thing about graphics, and art in general, really... now what really brought this to my attention was the forum GameRenders. Now, if you take a look at their tutorial section, you can find ahell of a lot of basic full sig tuts, which is what people here seem to love. These tut's are good. They are useful. They serve as a learning objective for sig makers. But what you begin to find, while browsing through the many tuts out there, is that people seem to take things too literally.

Take maths as an example. At school, you may learn the Quadratic Formula. So you learn that absolutely fine and you go and sit an exam. In one question, you notice an equation that uses the very same formula to be solved. But, you don't know one of the values needed. You know that all it requires is a simple rearranging of the formula, but you panic. All you know is the basic formula. You learned it, and learned it, and learned it again, until it is almost physically engraved in you brain. But you can't rearrange it, becasue the basics are all you know. Therefore you lose major marks for that exam.

Graphics and sig making is just like that: take things too literally and you can find yourself producing the exact same result over and over again, and ones that are the exact same as other peoples. Using a tutorial is not just about doing exactly what it says. They are guidelines to be used to help produce something original. Sure, the style may be similar, but adding your own twists can be the difference between an exact duplicate, and a completely original piece of art.

Let's have a look at some examples. Here are two results using a tutorial that i wrote (i won't post a link for the very reason i'm writing this)

result 1:

relsult 2:

do you see the difference?? the colours are the same, but really, that's about it. And here's another one

result 1: (sig by AE Vadnur at gamerenders)

result 2: (sig by Miso at gamerenders)

see??


Basically, what i'm trying to show here is that i know alot of people here do have necessary creativity to create brilliant pieces of art, but the problem is being too close to the lines and taking every word literally. No wonder they call it the spice of life. It makes things interesting....so many times i've seen people asking for a render used in a tut, just so their outcome can be exactly the same as the tut's. I've seen people say they can't do/going to even try the tut because they don't have a certain brush set. It really is rediculous. Break out of the box. Make something different. And i can assure you that you will imrpove alot faster.
Now, despite what i said in the past, a part of me is glad that F34R introduced the forum to the tux. This is the perfect chance to be original. To be creative. And to creat something that you can really be proud of. I know that not one of you want everyone to be creating that same sigs as everyone else, but taking tutorials literally like alot of you do has that effect.


So next time you read or use a tutorial, just rmember; use your own twists. Experiment. Be different. And put the spice back into graphics at pspf.





thank you

steveie uk

MASSIVE EDIT: ok i looked back at what i put and thought it was a bit harsh. I dont think anyone on this forum realy takes gfx seriously i dont for sure. I only make a signature when im realy bored just pass the time. I agree with your point tho but it comes across as your like ramming your opnion down our throats im sure you dont mean that but its just how it seems. Props for writing it tho but we are all realy amatures on these forums so i cant see it realy making much of an impact

Perfect Dark

i don't consider my post to have anything to do with what you are saying. I felt the need to write this because of the people who do take it seriously. And the people who want to improve. And i feel that it is not possible to improve without being original.

I also don't expect people to hang off my words. All i ask is that people consider what i am sayting. If they don't want to, then that's perfectly alright. I'm not responsible for the feelings of other people.

your line " will sue my brushes when i want and how i want there isnt any rules to tell me i cant." is exactly what i'm trying to put across. People that take tuts too seriously believe that the way shown in the tut is tha only way. I just want people to be creative so as to better themselves in the long run...

EDIT to your edit: you said it won't make much of an impact to amatures. That's exactly who i'm aiming this to

steveie uk

ha i looked at my post again and re wrote it i had my angry cap on sorry


Edit to your EDIT im an amature and it hasnt made an impact on me. 2bh if you posted this on a graphics site id realy agree with you but this is just a psp site were graphics is just a past time

FucangLong

Stevie does have a point. This is a PSP site, not a Gfx site. If we were a Gfx site however, I would expect people to be more creative. In most Gfx sites though, people don't use sigs created from tutorials as their own sigs, they just make them to show results. Honestly, I can only say I've made one "real" sig from scratch, with no tutorials, no custom brushes or fonts, and that was my landscaping one. People who follow tuts step by step and trend can say they are Gfx artists, but it doesn't matter. If you are a true Gfx artist, you don't do it for the fame or the prizes. You do it for the art. Therefore, you know you are good and everyone else knows you are good. What other people say and what other people do don't matter.

Nero

my 2p.
i dissagree although its a psp site its the lounge and graphic artists that keep me here more than the psp news (i got a 2.7 fcs) and downloads.
what perfect dark wrote needed to be said somewhere round here, there is a whole lot of sigs with the same backgrounds in different colours and such!
ive never looked at a tut for sigs (perhaps it shows), i just love creating graphics and have for years now, the only tutorials ive ever sought out was how to make brushes.
but i was feeling the graphics were getting a bit generic, part of the reason ive started doing animated sigs for people, just to try and switch it up a bit!
inspiration and creativity are gifts though, and if your feeling either it will show through your work!
the whole tux thing is doing my head in really, its a really cool tutorial which gets great crystal effects from quite basic ideas, but the technique could be applyed to so many other things than a ****in penguin!

*but well done perfect dark for writing a thought provoking piece.
it was a joy to read and should get everyone thinking!

Perfect Dark

Thank you nero. I'm glad you understand what i'm trying to say. i hoped that more people would care, but....maybe i was mistaken in thinking that the graphics artists here took what they did here seriously....nvm, even if only one person understands and respects what i'm saying, that's fine by me. It means i'm not completely talking out of my arse...

FucangLong

Ouch... Did you read my post? If you are truly a Gfx artist, you don't have to care about what all the noobz that do tuts step by step do. You are in it for you. They can go around saying they are awesome sig makers, but you know and everyone else knows they aren't.

Nero

Your welcome mate keep up the good work!
now there was a thread about an ex-member slagging this site, if more members could reach this deep into there mind and post articles that provoke thought and comment like this we would all enjoy a better forum :D



and it was after reading and relpying to this thread that i desided to switch my sig to some other type of style and level, ive got big ideas comming :lol:

Perfect Dark

i do agree to some extent, however the levels this kind of thing can reach mean that eventually it will concern those who do keep themselves to themselves. For instance i'm had people, on this very site as well as others, begging me for stocks, for C4D, for tips, tutorials and all that. And if i was someone who was in it just for me, like you say, then to be honest i wouldn't appreciate that kind of stuff at all. All i'm asking is for people to branch out, find their own styles, and try to avoid clinging on to other peoples work, because it will not help them improve...and definatly will not be well recieved by the person they're clinging to...

but i do appreciate what you say