James Leopold's sigs

[James Leopold]

As recommended by Polaris (A while ago, I'm sorry its taken me so long to actually make this thread) I'm putting up a few signatures that I created. I am a real rookie at this though, so my sigs aren't very good at all. I hope that with some help and advice from you guys, that I can become better.

Firstly, here are my first three sigs, they are really old. I made them when I first got photoshop elements 2.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/somethingiscoming.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Sig2.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Prototypecopy2.jpg

I then got Photoshop 7 and decided to start doing sigs again about 2 months ago. I did these two...

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/JamesLeopold.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/JamesLeopold2.jpg

More recently, I tried to do different styles for my sigs...

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Funkycopy.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Irvcent.jpg


Please tell me what you think. If you want to see different things by me, here is my photobucket account...

thecm_93 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting (http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/)

[Polaris]

Mr. Davies :bigsmile: (lol it seems like I'm talking to Stoner :exdee: )
I visited your photobucket and I like your abstract stuff way better than the ones with the images! It's all so funky and colourful :D
You should use different types of fonts within the same text ;) So teh sig gets different too! ;)

Nice work!

[James Leopold]

Thank you Polaris!

[daggertrepe]

They are interesting, but they don't pop. The colors in a few of them are a bit monochromatic.

What system do you use? If you use GIMP I can teach ya some tips.

[atlanteay]

your abstract sigs are a lot more attractive than the ones with characters in them. You should try some more tuts and challenges to improve. Now, join the sigmakers challenge (http://forums.eyesonff.com/graphic-design-forum/103490-new-sigmakers-challenge.html).

[James Leopold]

I've made a new sig. It's a different style then my previous ones. I used a lot more brushes. I got the idea mainly from a tutorial I went on. Hopefully I can develop from here.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/NEWSTYLE5-1.jpg

Also with the same sig, I put an image in to see how it would turn out.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/NEWSTYLE4-1.jpg

I would gladly appreciate opinions.

Edit: I put an image of Sephiroth in which I think suits it.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/NEWSTYLE6.jpg

[f f freak]

I prefer the one without Vincent. The one without Vincent looks pretty amazing.

[daggertrepe]

I agree. It's gorgeous.

[Kanshisha]

As recommended by Polaris (A while ago, I'm sorry its taken me so long to actually make this thread) I'm putting up a few signatures that I created. I am a real rookie at this though, so my sigs aren't very good at all. I hope that with some help and advice from you guys, that I can become better.

Firstly, here are my first three sigs, they are really old. I made them when I first got photoshop elements 2.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/somethingiscoming.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Sig2.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Prototypecopy2.jpg

I then got Photoshop 7 and decided to start doing sigs again about 2 months ago. I did these two...

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/JamesLeopold.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/JamesLeopold2.jpg

More recently, I tried to do different styles for my sigs...

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Funkycopy.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Irvcent.jpg


Please tell me what you think. If you want to see different things by me, here is my photobucket account...

thecm_93 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting (http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/)
Hello, your sigs ain't bad.. if you see my thread:

http://forums.eyesonff.com/graphic-design-forum/99942-squall-leonhart-s-sigs.html

Ha! see when I started?! very bad eh? well look further down onto the recent, and you see the improvements..

Ok, Hints and tips time:

Firstly.. The last old sig that you made, it's a great one! try keep that as a momentum..

Secondly on the large cloud sig, that looks like a large thumbnail, try to not canvas it.. no offence but it didn't really suited in at that moment.. but, i guess, practice makes perfect! so don't give up, mistakes happen for the best of us to learn and gather information from it..

Pictures / Images:
the images you use are great, not sure about the Vincent ones but yeah! im impressed of your picture finds!

Also the final two hints and tips.. ( finally eh? )
How i started was look around at deviant art for pre-made sigs.. even look around in the forums for some! then you just cut them and put the images in your sigs! of course, only the ones you want.. But be sure to know what your looking for, do the sig before adding images!

Secondly everyone has their own style, don't let other peoples style ruin your momentum ( gosh i love that word! ) My style is just freestyle! yah, also look at other people's posts for ideas on improvements and techniques..

Well i hope these are plenty! Good luck with the future sigs

[James Leopold]

Cheers for the advice Squall.

[Polaris]

I like it! :) Text still needs some work! Maybe an outline ;)
And Sephiroth should be witha abit of red tones! So it matches:D Great sig though! DA is great for PS brushes! :)

[James Leopold]

I've made three new sigs. Please tell me what you think.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/flowery.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/blue2.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/greenery.jpg

I feel that I'm getting the hang of adding images to the sigs, but I'm still having trouble with text. I've tried to download better text from sites, but they it doesn't seem to be working.
Anyway, I hope you like the sigs.

[Polaris]

You won't need new fonts! ;) You can use Condensed ones that comes with Microsoft!:D

Tips:

-Choose smaller images! Not in size but cut the body to focu on the image because like that we can't even see the image clearly!

- Use different brushes with different colours!

- Use an outline for the text in white for an example or in the blue one in light blue

:D Good luck mr. Davies

[daggertrepe]

The squinoa one is awesome!

Do you know there's a cereal called quinoa like (quistis/Rinoa) lol.

[Kanshisha]

Nice job with the latest sigs there friend! keep up the good work! we're always here to help if you need any that is

[James Leopold]

Thanks for the advice guys, its been really helpful.

[James Leopold]

Another sig. This time with the ever hyper Naruto.

I've done different colours for the brushes and put a light border on the text.
I hope you like it.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Rasengan.jpg

[Polaris]

Ah :D Now we can see his face perfectly! ;) I see you did a blur text :D weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Now for the critix ;) It's good... two advices:

- Change the brushes (make 3 sigs with a brush set then download others ^^")

- Don't make his face too sharped! Ask Lant if you don't have smth similar to Softglow (in GIMP)!

Other than that it's cool!

[Garnie]

i like yah sigs! look iv even tried doing one! well actully i drew a pic and put it with a transeparrent background!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y181/garnet123/siggy_Layer1.gif
noway near as good as your tho
:)

[James Leopold]

A new sig. I tried a different brush and tried to soften the image. I hope you like it.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Itachi-1.jpg

[Polaris]

I don't know why people have a fashionation for that font :(
The bg looks blury...appart from that and the small size of the text it's cool! :D

I try to remake the sig! Made it less blurry and with a bigger text! if u want I can tell u the steps and then u'll try to adapt to PS

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n13/Adeselna/Itachi-1.jpg

[James Leopold]

I really like it! No offence meant, but I feel that I prefer the original text. I think it suits the sig more. But still your version is cool!
I agree about the blur in the bg, but I couldn't find anyway to prevent it.

[Polaris]

No offence meant, but I feel that I prefer the original text. I think it suits the sig more.

LOL it didn't offend me! :D I thik u should try condensed fonts or even Arial but with different colours like

James Leopold and then add a bevel on the letters that are red:)

[Kanshisha]

Agreed, play around with the text! but as polaris said about the naruto pic, it's fine but naruto looks quiet sharp.. if you were looking for pics i suggest you use some from either sigs or wallpapers.. as they wouldn't need sharpening, good luck!

[Polaris]

I'll give you these two websites that have renders some you just have to open the image and it's ready you wont need to cut it :D

Planet Renders (http://www.planetrenders.net)
Render-World (http://www.render-world.com)

[Proxy]

Oh man! Thanks Polaris. I love Planet Renders. Great links.

[James Leopold]

Cheers guys! :)

[Garnie]

your sigs are awesome! wish i could do em but alas! i should stick with the paint :D

[James Leopold]

Thanks Garnie. May I say that your work on paint is brilliant and I love Clouds Modern Life! :D

Now I have a new sig, I got the render of Tifa from Render-World thanks to Polaris' link.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/crystal.jpg

[Polaris]

Wow wayyyy different from ur others and I must say this one is awsome! Text still needs some work but brushes and image is vey good :)

[frequency]

I've never given you my REAL opnion on these.

so here goes.

Pros.
+they're very different to everyone else's work
+for the amount of time you've been doing them, you've gotten very good ((largely thanks to me)) < / self gratification>

Cons.
+You need new fonts...badly Download fonts | dafont.com (http://www.dafont.com) download from here, open the .zip file and then put the file that has ".ttf" in the fonts folder in control panel.
+The renders you're using are very low quality GameRenders - Your Source For Free Gaming Renders (http://www.gamerenders.com)
look in the FORUMS there, not the option marked "renders"
+The best advice I can give you is to NOT use tutorials on how to make sigs, you need to teach yourself and in time, develop your own style.

don't mean to sound harsh but that's the best, most straightforward way of putting it.

keep going man...try and beat me ;).

[James Leopold]

Three new sigs. I downloaded different fonts for the sigs.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Cid1.2.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Orochimaru.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/red.jpg

[Polaris]

There is one problem in ur sigs and I feel like killing u! It's the bg! :( It doesn't match the images :( :whimper: You should search very long time for brushes! :( I take hours just to find a good brush set! Appart from that I thin it's perfect!

Try these brushes
Shiny-Abstract by ~reflux-es on deviantART (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/22197459/?qo=94&q=Abstract+Photoshop+brushes&qh=boost%3Apopular+age_sigma%3A24h+age_scale%3A5)
Abstract Flow by ~AD-Hero on deviantART (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/24397075/?qo=142&q=Abstract+Photoshop+brushes&qh=boost%3Apopular+age_sigma%3A24h+age_scale%3A5)
Flames Fire Photoshop Brushes by *redheadstock on deviantART (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/17721488/?qo=0&q=Fire+Photoshop+brushes&qh=boost%3Apopular+age_sigma%3A24h+age_scale%3A5)
Dark Rider Grunge brushes by ~dovs-Dark-Rider on deviantART (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/23613633/?qo=18&q=Dark+Photoshop+brushes&qh=boost%3Apopular+age_sigma%3A24h+age_scale%3A5)

Mixing these brushes on the different sig (also with smaller size like 450*150) You should have a really cool result!

[James Leopold]

Please dont kill me! XD! Ok, cheers for the links, I'll try them out ASAP.

[James Leopold]

Thank you again for the links Polaris. Using the dark rider grunge brushes I was able to make this army sig.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Army.jpg

[Polaris]

Oh wow :eek: :eek: :eek: I'm speachless! That's awsome :eek: Really awsome! :eek: Oh wait *faints with some awsome*

[James Leopold]

:D Cheers Polaris! It's because of you I was able to make it

[frequency]

I'll give it to you...that's much better.

still a way to go, though.

[Kanshisha]

An advise aswell, your learning way too fast! make some borders in your work, it'll help.. im sure of it ^^

[James Leopold]

Ta for the advice, but I'm not sure how to use borders that way. I do use borders, as you can see, but I don't know how to actually put them into the sig.

[Kanshisha]

Well, I mostly use the marquee tool for borders! though sometimes i use some brushes aswell as the marquee tool.. D-L it from DeviantArt, just type in borders..

But which i also recommend you get some more renders and brushes.. Happy sig making!

[Polaris]

Here

Grungey Lines by *meth on deviantART (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/55240032/?qo=90&q=border+Photoshop+brushes&qh=boost%3Apopular+age_sigma%3A24h+age_scale%3A5)

Tech-VPDesigns Brush Set 1 by ~psbrushes on deviantART (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/17753970/?qo=25&q=tech+Photoshop+brushes&qh=boost%3Apopular+age_sigma%3A24h+age_scale%3A5)

Vector-VPDesigns Brush Set 1 by ~psbrushes on deviantART (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/17754020/?qo=21&q=vector+Photoshop+brushes&qh=boost%3Apopular+age_sigma%3A24h+age_scale%3A5)

Vector Set 1 by ~Cloud4ever on deviantART (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/43322712/?qo=139&q=vector+Photoshop+brushes&qh=boost%3Apopular+age_sigma%3A24h+age_scale%3A5)

Hope these will help! ;) Some have cool borders oters are just to match the borders:D

[James Leopold]

Oh I see, they're brushes. Well I didn't know that, thanks.

I did this before I downloaded the border brushes

My 20th sig!

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/angel.jpg

[Polaris]

Its' pretty cool! The render is a bit blury but appart from that it's nice ;)

[Kanshisha]

Not bad, getting better though i'll hand you that.. I can already see your style of work!!

[XandrewX]

Well..I've got to say that the Uchiha Itachi one is better than this Riku one..it's abit noisy and kinda..confusing the background..oh and..maybe it's just your style but you could put your name anywhere and not just the bottom left hand corner right?:)Just a suggestion..anyway..your size could differ to make your sigs more exciting..just my thoughts anyway my standards are far behind yours so..I should just shut up.Anyway Good Luck.

[James Leopold]

Well I've tried to take the advice on board and have come up with two more sigs.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/darkknight.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/girlcopy-1.jpg

Hints/Critique welcome

[frequency]

These two new ones aren't nearly as good as the Riku, Itachi or Army Warefare one.

Couple of tips.
+Try making them smaller
+Look up different blending techniques rather than just making the render the same colour as the sig.

[James Leopold]

Well I've done another sig and tried doing it a different way. I used three brushes to see how it would turn out. Here's the result....

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Indian.jpg

[Kanshisha]

This one isn't acctually quiet that bad.. i can see the image ( which is good ) But try making the sigs a bit smaller.. the work is great but the width and the height is a bit large in size..

Try a 400x120 pixels, good luck!

[frequency]

Well, it's not too bad but the picture choice is awful...sorry, I'm just being honest :).

[James Leopold]

well I've made a smaller sig and to a bit of advice from frequency I was able to come up with this.

Big difference though, I did this on PS CS2

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/jamesmakesrubbishsigs2copy.jpg

[XandrewX]

Erm..The red indian one..honestly..isn't that good...not because of the size..but you can see it clearly that the red indian's nose one to three pixel are missing maybe due to your rendering.Well still the BG is interesting.The latest one however..the image look like failed to blend into the BG.Just my thoughts anyway..although both are purple..still it feels kinda strange abit..Anyway don't mind my stupid comments.Your doing great and Good Luck.

Oh ya...you might want to add caption or other words other than your name..it sometimes make a sig looks nicer.

[James Leopold]

Well I've finally got back into sig making after a months absence. So here's my result.......

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Naruto2copy-1.jpg

[Kanshisha]

OMG! you're really getting the hang of this..! i wish i had PS CS2.. i've only got 7.0 and my choices are limited, but i try my best^^, i love your second last one. But the recent one, Naruto's a bit dark, which suits the sig well, but try adding a light flare effect to the top right corner, make sure it's not to dense , just very lightly will do.. or even just add the lighting effects from renders!. You've improved so much in such little time.

Good luck with further sigs!

[James Leopold]

I only have 7.0 too, its just I was on a friends computer when I did the purple one.

Cheers for the advice, I think I'll give it a try.

[Polaris]

I saw your latest one (the request) and I thought it was pretty cool! Yous houdl explore more PS bushes and patterns not just stick to the grunge ones!;) but your banners are cool :kewl:

[XandrewX]

Yeah really nice the latest one.Your better than me :)

[James Leopold]

Wow, I am honoured!

Here's the Naruto sig again, just with Naruto a little lighter, as Squall recommended. I couldn't make the bg lighter.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Naruto2copy-2.jpg

and here's the one I did for Ultima, The High Seraph

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Ultimacopy2-1.jpg

[Kanshisha]

Well the Naruto sig seems clearer now! But the ultima sig, it's really well made, the text suited it as well.

[James Leopold]

Well I tried for something different and came up with this...

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/sephycopy.jpg

I tried to add text, but nothing suited it

[James Leopold]

Polaris inspired me into doing graphics for the lessons that I'll be doing in college. So here's what I came up with...

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Historycopy.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Geographycopy.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/GovernmentandPoliticscopy.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/Englishcopy.jpg

:cool:

[demondude]

Awesome really great I especially love the geography one. :)

Polaris and squall may have competition on their hands. ;)

[Polaris]

The Geography one is nice! ;) They're all good! But I won't give my thrown that easily ;) Neither if u're Stoner's twin brother :bigsmile:

[James Leopold]

LOL, I wouldn't dream of throwing yours away Polaris.

demondude, thank you so much, your comment is much appreciated.

[Lawr]

Hey, James Leopold!

I liked the third and second ones the most, cause I like dark colors.
And a comment on your Ultima one, IT KICKS ASS.

[Kanshisha]

I dunno.. i like the english one.. and demon, there's no competition there's SURVIVAL lol anyway your doing great james keep it up and you may do better than all of the sig makers here

[demondude]

Its a shame I don't have photoshop I'd have loved to do this stuff. :p

I took the boring route of poetry. :(

[James Leopold]

A new batch of sigs:-

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/bentswordcopy.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/graffiticopy.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/cloudycopy.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/angelcopy.jpg

This is the same sig, but in a different colour...

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/thecm_93/angel2copy.jpg

Hints/Critique welcome.

[Kanshisha]

Whoa.. nice stuff there friend! i liked the first, the third and the last sigs! you find really good images! good job

[Lawr]

Even though I like dark colors, I think the angel with the Yellow looks better. :tongue:

[James Leopold]

yeah....you're right *goes to change sig asap

[XandrewX]

I like the text in the Bleach sig..

[Polaris]

All you need to do now is change your banners size:D Appart from that cool!;)

[James Leopold]

I've got PS 7 back, so I can finally do banners again! WOOT! Anyway, no time now, but expect to see some here soon.
Watch this space....

[Timster]

i really like your sigs... the colors are erall nice and bgs as well...

looking forwad to some new work from you now that you're back to sigmaking!

EDIT: oh maaan... i'm so slow i didn't realize this thread was so old... yeah it was in my subscriptions and i posted withoput looking at the date... sorry ^^"... hope it wasn't TOO old...

[James Leopold]

Doesn't matter, my friend. I intended to make more sigs but my computer messed up, erasing everything a few months ago. Since then I've been kept out of anything other than accessing the internet, so I haven't had the chance to start again.

I hope to do sigs again someday :)

[Polaris]

Yes you will :D You're pretty good ^^ Once you dominate the glow you'll be brilliant!