Dave's Showcase

[The Doctor]

I really like this sig and it all came about when I decided that I would go back to my roots in sig-making. I added the render and then smudged it. I then added it again before duplicating it and messing around with the layer effects. I added some more lighting and then my border and text... Very simple but very effective.

Hmmm.

I'm not entirely sure what to think of this sig, or indeed of your recent work (Though I did see you rocking some fantastic Triple H sigs recently). It seems that all of your recent sigs are very well-made, and have nice concepts to them, but when I look at them there is always something that just doesn't quite click, to me.

For example, this one. Very good colors, nice concept and subject, but I feel the text is a funny shape and perhaps a taller font would have been better. Or perhaps it could have been moved closer to Dolph. Also, my eyes keep getting drawn to the blank space to the left of him that could have benefited with some texture or a blended-in image.

I mean, that's not to say it's bad - quite the contrary. As I said, with your recent sigs you have some great ideas and techniques, but they just haven't been quite clicking with me.

Maybe it's just me.

You still get an A-, but with a little something, it could have been an A+. I'm just not quite sure what that something is.

 

[Dave]

Hmmm.

I'm not entirely sure what to think of this sig, or indeed of your recent work (Though I did see you rocking some fantastic Triple H sigs recently). It seems that all of your recent sigs are very well-made, and have nice concepts to them, but when I look at them there is always something that just doesn't quite click, to me.

For example, this one. Very good colors, nice concept and subject, but I feel the text is a funny shape and perhaps a taller font would have been better. Or perhaps it could have been moved closer to Dolph. Also, my eyes keep getting drawn to the blank space to the left of him that could have benefited with some texture or a blended-in image.

I mean, that's not to say it's bad - quite the contrary. As I said, with your recent sigs you have some great ideas and techniques, but they just haven't been quite clicking with me.

Maybe it's just me.

You still get an A-, but with a little something, it could have been an A+. I'm just not quite sure what that something is.

Truth be told, I see where you are coming from right away. Text has always been my main problem and I know that I get it wrong sometimes. I am creative but when it comes to text, I always fail to make it flow properly.

Guys like you and Theo manage to pull it off with ease and I was wondering if you could perhaps write up a tutorial for that. I have tried and tried to get it right but you are absolutely correct with the assumption that it is too over-bearing.

Thanks for the feedback anyway, guys.

 

[The People's Peep]

Truth be told, I see where you are coming from right away. Text has always been my main problem and I know that I get it wrong sometimes. I am creative but when it comes to text, I always fail to make it flow properly.

Guys like you and Theo manage to pull it off with ease and I was wondering if you could perhaps write up a tutorial for that. I have tried and tried to get it right but you are absolutely correct with the assumption that it is too over-bearing.

Thanks for the feedback anyway, guys.

I agree completely. I find that text is probably the hardest part and its difficult to do something creative. Theo is a mastermind at awesome text and a tutorial on how to make some good text would be great.

As for the Zig sig, I think its awesome now. I agree with Doc. The first edition was missing something. The colors and blending was perfect, but outside of that, it was lacking. Adding the two pictures behind the main render was exactly what was needed. I give it an A. I liked it so much, it inspired me to do something similar (in my showcase). I dont know how you do it, but its just another great Dave sig.

 

[Dave]

It was going to take a lot for me to remove my Dolph "Perfection" Ziggler signature but I have managed to make a signature worthy of replacing it at the bottom of my posts. This one took me well over an hour to make from start to finish but I am very pleased with how it turned out.

I messed with smudging and clipping masks before I went to work with some C4D effects. For the record, I hate C4D effects and try to avoid them as much as possible. That being said, I think this signature called for it and that is why I put them in. It tooke me a while to get the colours the way I wanted them but I managed ti using some gradient maps and some spotlights.

I love it!

 

[Ultra Awesome]

Another fantastic sig, man! I especially like the colors and the way they compare/contrast and relate to each other. From the right, it goes: Bright Pinkish yellow to Purple in the background; then to what it looks as if the light is reflecting off Rihanna's face; and finally, her head covers the back making to what can be interpreted as a black shadow. The Background and Rihanna really fit in well with each other.

The only real critique that I have is the text. I like the font, but I think it could be a bit brighter - it's a bit too dark for me and makes the text a bit too hard to see.

But otherwise, nicely done, man.

9.5/10



On a final note, I'll end my post with putting up my favorite song of hers:

[youtube]uelHwf8o7_U[/youtube]

 

[Dave]

No way! Another Rihanna signature?

Yes, that's right!

I, honestly, think I am in love with this signature and it was created by me from top to bottom. It may look really simple but this signature has taken me a couple of days and I only just got it the way I want it. I started using some C4D's but then decided I hated what it looked like and deleted about an hours work because I wanted to get this one right. As you may know, I fucking hate C4D's... More often that not, it makes your sig look awful and I try and steer away from them as much as possible. I think this signature shows that you can make interesting signatures without having to bow to the C4D effect.

Either way, it took me forever and was likely around 3-4 hours work. I started by making the background and accomplished it with some great grunge brushes I found. Then I did the render. I found what I wanted and added a hue/saturation layer to it before erasing over the mouth to make the red pop. I then did the splatter brushes on scatter and ended up doing 4 or 5 layers of brushing, some of which I was unhappy with and started it again. I then started smudging some of the brushing I did so that it looked rough. I was going for an edgy type of signature and I think I accomplished it. I then added my own special layer effects and other things to get the signature just right before adding a texture that I was happy with.

So, what do you think?​

 

[The Doctor]

What do I think?

WHAT DO I THINK??

I think...that this sig is one of your best EVER. I absolutely adore it! The black and red grungy style is actually one of my favorite styles, though I've only made one sig out of it. I've always loved contrasts and simplicity. I think that black and white can often make a stronger statement than a large amount of colors, and it's no different in this sig.

The text is damn gorgeous, honestly. I love the duplicated and blended "Rihanna" in the background. It really makes the text pop. The brushes used are just awesome. The placement of the red and black around the render of Rihanna highlights her as your subject brilliantly. You always have had great ideas with style, and with this sig your innovation and work shows.

I want to point out to everyone the fact that you didn't scrap the sig when it wasn't working out, and that you kept at it. Sometimes, these things happen, and redoing things can often lead to something that gets better and better with each modification. Being a sig-maker can mean a lot of work, especially if you have a vision you want to achieve.

The only thing I would suggest to improve the sig, and I don't even know how effective it would be, would be to grunge up Rihanna a bit. Maybe add a bit of a grungy filter on her, or blend her sides with smudging or brushing. She seems a bit too...shiny? Clean? compared to the rest of the sig.

But other than that, fantastic work.

 

[Dave]

What do I think?

WHAT DO I THINK??

I think...that this sig is one of your best EVER. I absolutely adore it! The black and red grungy style is actually one of my favorite styles, though I've only made one sig out of it. I've always loved contrasts and simplicity. I think that black and white can often make a stronger statement than a large amount of colors, and it's no different in this sig.

The text is damn gorgeous, honestly. I love the duplicated and blended "Rihanna" in the background. It really makes the text pop. The brushes used are just awesome. The placement of the red and black around the render of Rihanna highlights her as your subject brilliantly. You always have had great ideas with style, and with this sig your innovation and work shows.

I want to point out to everyone the fact that you didn't scrap the sig when it wasn't working out, and that you kept at it. Sometimes, these things happen, and redoing things can often lead to something that gets better and better with each modification. Being a sig-maker can mean a lot of work, especially if you have a vision you want to achieve.

The only thing I would suggest to improve the sig, and I don't even know how effective it would be, would be to grunge up Rihanna a bit. Maybe add a bit of a grungy filter on her, or blend her sides with smudging or brushing. She seems a bit too...shiny? Clean? compared to the rest of the sig.

But other than that, fantastic work.

Why, thanks, mate! I really worked hard on this one and I am glad that you liked it for the most part. I am only just trying to get onto the same level as some of the other guys around here though. We finally have a lot of awesome sig-makers coming through and I think it is catching on in the main forums. I guess you should get some congratulations for that, buddy!

Anyway, it is funny that you talk about the grunge effect over Rihanna. Truth be told, I actually made two versions of this signature. The first one is the one you see attached to the bottom of my posts. However, I created an alternative that I wanted to decide on and it had some grunge effects over the main focal. It was also a little more monochromatic, with the exception of some red brushes and her lips. In the end though, I decided that it looked too “dirty”, if that makes any sense at all.

The main reason I went for this one, out with the colour balance and the way it all came together was that Rihanna was a “cleaner” render than in the other one. I didn't save that version but I might give it a quick touch-up so that you can see what I am talking about. I messed with it for a while but couldn't get it right. I like that Rihanna seems to be removed from the chaos behind her in this one, I think it adds more to it than brushing over her a little.

But thank you for the support and feedback, man. I really appreciate your words.