Wondering about icons

[kerravonsen]

The tardis_icons challenge #18 is over, so I can now reveal what I entered:

This is what I entered in the "screencaps" section:
(free to take: credit and comment)
(free to take: credit and comment)

And this is what I entered in the "open" section, where the theme this time was "monochrome":



I caused myself stupid pain by looking at the poll results as they were happening, and noticing that nobody was voting for me. Though in the end, I think I got one vote in a couple of sections. And one person actually voted for my "Smug" doctor as their favourite monochrome, so I guess I should be sort of happy.

The thing that gets me is how ugly some of the favourite entries were! (Though fortunately, the nicer ones did win most sections) Am I wierd for liking things which have simplicity and line, not lots of busy boxes?
Maybe I should just give up trying to fathom the taste of iconeers, drop that community and forget it.

Doubly frustrating: the theme for the current open challenge is "emotions", and one of the monochrome ones I did for last time would fit it quite well (the Suki: Fear one) but I presume it's disqualified because it's already been posted in my LJ. (sigh)

Comments

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

I used to enter a weekly icon contest, and, yes, simplicity and line are not popular. What seemed to do well every week was something with a large number of Photoshop filters or macros, regardless of damage it did to the composition or colors. I think they view them as more complicated and hence better, even though Photoshop does most of the work, and it involves very little of the by-hand work that a GIMP user would do, and very little composition skill. I couldn't vote for my three favorites each week, because out of ten to fifteen entries, there weren't even three I liked or thought had merit. It got so bad that a friend of mine made some specially for that community, intentionally fucking up the design with as many gratuitous filters as possible, and they did much better.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I particularly don't like icons with text too small to read. I have seen complex icons that I like, but I prefer a simple, bold image, and yours are more likely to please me.

[kerravonsen]

It got so bad that a friend of mine made some specially for that community, intentionally fucking up the design with as many gratuitous filters as possible, and they did much better.

Ouch! Double-ouch!

Are there any icon communities where people have taste?

[kerravonsen]

Thanks.

I can see your taste in the above icon, which I like also for exactly the same reasons -- a simple, bold image (pretty pretty wolf!) and meaningful, readable text.

[kerravonsen]

Well, I've decided to give it another go (mainly because I got an interesting idea very soon after looking at the screencaps challenge), and while I shall try to keep in mind that "busy is better", I'm not sure I'll be able to bring myself to mess up a pretty design to cater to their taste. But I've spent this evening icon-working, and have made something that is at least less simple than my previous efforts. I probably didn't make the second one "interesting" enough because even though I deliberately set out to toss in filters and brushes and effects, I've probably wasted all that effort by using a pleasantly analogous colour scheme (sigh).

[kerravonsen]

Ah well, no sooner spoken, than emended. Not that hard to toss in another layer with a rainbow gradient to jazz things up a bit. (rolls eyes)

[lizamanynames.livejournal.com]

"Bronze Medal in Heroics" is just GENIUS!

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I wasn't fishing. I'm very much an amateur at this game, but I can't stop making them. Yours are much more cleverly composed.

[kerravonsen]

We're all amateurs at this game... unless people making icons for charity counts as "professional"... (the pedant strikes again!) Mind you, some of those people making icons for charity, I wouldn't want them making icons for me...

Yours are much more cleverly composed.
I dunno, the first step is just picking the right image...

[kerravonsen]

Thanks!

Of course the Doctor gets the Gold Medal. 8-)

It's free for use if you want.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I love that one too.

And you know, I downloaded the GIMP because I thought I needed to make my icons more interesting. Sigh. They're usually just simple images with readable text, and if they're not simple enough, I comic-ise them. I think I'll just stick with my own taste even though the filtered, colour-washed ones with teeny-tiny text used as decoration are much more popular.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Um, I was talking about the bronze medal one. :-P

[lizamanynames.livejournal.com]

Ah, sadly, I already have far more icons than icon space - but if I ever do, I will be sure to credit!

[kerravonsen]

Yes, I figured so. Thanks!

[kerravonsen]

Yes, but your text is so much more clever!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It's a bit heavy on the puns, but thank you! :-D I needed that. I am not having a good week at work.

[kerravonsen]

I've now given up on that particular icon. I think I'll have to start that again from scratch, or use a different screencap. But I am rather pleased with the first one I did. Whether it will be Kewl enough for the masses, I don't know. But the caption is amusing. 8-)

I revisited *Storm Crows* (full size this time)

[aizain.livejournal.com]

"I must say I find the age I'm living in to be quite enough of a business, without worrying about three ages to come and turn left at Thursday."

"You'll love it, they've got thirty-six kinds of icecream."

Re: I revisited *Storm Crows* (full size this time)

[kerravonsen]

(does doubletake) (thinks) (laughs)

But do they have Thursdays in Middle Earth?

Re: I revisited *Storm Crows* (full size this time)

[aizain.livejournal.com]

Buh...but they've got the 31st of March and the 5th of October! As memory serves. When it comes to familiar comforts of England, the Shire is ahead of its time.

Went to see _Serenity_ last night. *Huge* cardboard cutout in the lobby - Tilda Swinton as the White Queen in _The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_. Wow. Visually, it all looks tremendously well done.

Re: I revisited *Storm Crows* (full size this time)

[kerravonsen]

Have you seen "The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" yet?

Re: I revisited *Storm Crows* (full size this time)

[aizain.livejournal.com]

Not yet. It's a treat for when I finish my Starburst Galaxies project. Soon. "Serenity" was to break writer's block on a cold day. Worked, too.

Getting late. Seeya soon.

Re: I revisited *Storm Crows* (full size this time)

[kerravonsen]

See it with?