The Graphics Rating Thread [READ THE FIRST POST. D:<]

[SwampertTrainer]

I think you had this one up before, but I could be wrong. Anyways:
The opacity of the sparks should not have been lowered. It gives them an ugly color and feel that doesn't go with the rest of the image. The circles around the focal are a bit distracting to the focal itself and should either be moved to one side or the opacity on them should be lowered...
The small render in the bottom right looks a bit out of place, and so does the gloved finger- it looks utterly flat and a bit disfigured. Some dodge or burn tool could easily fix that. the black block in the top left irritates me for some reason, but overall excellent blending.

Not my best- I was trying out some lighting effects to see what happened. the images are a bit cluttered, but my client wanted all the pokes from his trainer card, so... =/

 

[Loki]

I think you had this one up before, but I could be wrong. Anyways:
The opacity of the sparks should not have been lowered. It gives them an ugly color and feel that doesn't go with the rest of the image. The circles around the focal are a bit distracting to the focal itself and should either be moved to one side or the opacity on them should be lowered...
The small render in the bottom right looks a bit out of place, and so does the gloved finger- it looks utterly flat and a bit disfigured. Some dodge or burn tool could easily fix that. the black block in the top left irritates me for some reason, but overall excellent blending.

Black block in the upper left...? You mean in the upper right, which would be his glove? xD;; And the sparks weren't lowered; They came that way, which was gross and weird, but I didn't have any other orange-ish glow orbs, and I was too lazy to color adjust other ones or make my own. :| [/bad me.]

There's no render at the bottom right, it's a texture. xD; But I could probably get rid of it, if I decide to edit it. And I can fix the orbs, and yeah... Although the glove/finger stays, and so do the circles; If I burn the glove, which isn't too close to the focal anyway, it'll look strange on the rest of his jacket. And I like the circles. :B [/shot!] But yeah, thanks for the rate. ;D

Original stock, which I rendered for this tag: https://i520.photobucket.com/albums/w326/zetsu-bou/Minitokyo_347593.jpg

^ You can see the finger and the other arm in the original more clearly, so it'll probably make more sense now?

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Anyway, your banner... The light effects are good, I think you generally pulled off the basic gist. But I really.... really don't suggest cramming in that many renders, if you can help it. xD; Because then you lose your focal, and it just gets really messy. The text is also kind of... Well, in general, I don't like the effects, (Like the bluish-white stuff inside of it) and it doesn't fit with the rest of the tag. It almost looks like someone pasted it on in paint. :| You should pay more attention to your color palette, like CME said awhile back. But text takes awhile to nail, so I'd just fiddle around with it for awhile. Er, and I don't suggest using the stroke effect unless you're making a vector tag. It usually looks pretty bad if it doesn't match the rest of the tag. xD;

The border is alright, and the background is a bit plain, but if I ignore the text, this one's not too bad on the eyes either. Of course, my ratings for you are a few notches down from stuff I'm really fond of, but I think it's a good practice tag for your level.

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Another tag, this one a request by someone from a different forum.

Stein! <_< Why are you so monocolored? [/dies]

 

[SwampertTrainer]

Love the text. The lines it's on are interesting, but fit.
Oops. Have to got o bed Rate tomorrow.

 

[Mukkamoto]

Well the blending was great, well according to me :P
and the web/wire like frames were really good especially putting the text on it,
and the text is hidden within the background so not giving too much attention to it, which i like doing =D
overall i liked it

Now to my one =D

this isnt my finished version,
there are some mistakes with this none like the black lines in the middle, and others which i have changed but yet not uploaded,
but its pretty much similar so ill let this be rated

 

[Conman]

Ok, most obvious point is too many subjects are places in the tag. Also they are pretty crammed together too. I personally dislike anymore than three subjects in one tag. Now lighting is pretty nice, but only good point I see in the tag. There are barely any sort of effects, especially the most needed area: Over the focal. Text isn't good either, I personally think the simplest font style is the best. BG is decent but like the rest of the tag, pretty boring.

I like the overall style and construction of the tag. The text is ok, personally I don't like it though. I was never a fan of big text. The colors are cool, but I see bits of green. I feel you could have had more of it spread around. I noticed some nice particle effects under his face. I think you should have more in the tag, like in the top left area. Last thing I'd like to mention is that the lighting seems off to me, but IDK why.

Ewww...I hate pink, but I'll try to ignore that aspect of the tag. Lighting seems good, but I'd more the source a little more to the right. Just seems it would appear better there. Other than that, the tag looks kinda messy and unorganized. It has nice effects, but it's just not neat. Too many of the lines and butterflies coming from every direction. Other than that, another note worthy thing is that the right of her looks plain and really dark. Seems out of place.
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Here is tag I threw together while in Atlanta on my mom's laptop. So I didn't have as many resources as I usually do. Overall I think it's my best real life tag.​

 

[Loki]

Don't post if you don't have time to rate the post above you. :< Come back and post your banner when you have time to rate the banner above. (And if you didn't see that Conman had posted a banner to be rated, I suggest you spend more time looking over the posts above you. You can learn from other people's rates, not just your own, y'know.)

I've decided that I'm just going to start deleting posts that don't follow the rules as spam when I see 'em. It'll save a lot of confusion, and it'll make me feel better.

<3 Just a heads up, if y'all wonder why your posts disappear from now on.


Conman: Even though this is technically a mod post, I'll rate it anyway.

First of all, love the colors, love the depth, love the stock. The white on his shoulder and shirt could really be toned down a little, that way it'll look less pixelly, since that always irks me, but it might be a personal preference. The red c4d's (probably...) look amazing, they fit and mesh really well, and I admit, this is my favorite color combination for RL people stocks. Red and Gray. |D But I hate the text. :| It's not so much the text itself than the fact that it looks really hard, and a little bit out of place. Otherwise, as usual, this is one of my favorite-est tags ever. You really have a knack at making banners that I absolutely adore. |D

 

[SwampertTrainer]

I did see he had posted something for rate, but when I posted mine, I had to go all of a sudden.
I guess since you didn't post anything after, here's mine again, now a legal post :)

And here's another one (not much activity here these days...)
I can't say this is my best, but I kinda liked the effects on the eyes. I might do a little bit more with it later...

https://attachments.wetpaintserv.us/pR0YSEpbixN9jz7+rc8OuQ==1768624

It's a bit big, so I just put the link

 

[Loki]

I guess since you didn't post anything after, here's mine again, now a legal post :)

My god.

With that attitude, you have absolutely no right whatsoever to be fishing for longer, better rates.

You realize that I rated Conman's banner because you failed to do so? And then you go and use my post as a free ticket out of rating his banner? Wow, that is about as rude and irritating as it gets. Just thought I'd let you know. Course, since your post is "legal", I won't delete it. I'm just here to tell you that you're treading thin ice dude.

Seriously, keep pushing my buttons, and neither of us will be happy customers.

I've had it up to here with this thread, guys. Basic forum etiquette. I suggest you pound it into your brains, because I'm this close to blowing a fuse. And if you thought I'd been blowing fuses, then you better hope to god I don't really get pissed.

 

[melod.ii ous demyx~♪]

Permission to rate one, Loki? <33 ^^;
I just hate jumping in the middle of the action. ;x

Buut! Heh, I want to critique all your work <3

[first rates here, but I view them enough, so permission to shoot me if I've done something wrong]

Another tag, this one a request by someone from a different forum.

Stein! <_< Why are you so monocolored? [/dies]

I'll rate this one, since I love the text so much~ I think the placing's really nice, and the griddy wire gives the scene a nice touch. The stormy background, and the render's color go hand in hand really, so I don't think it's fair to call it "too" monotone. It's a nice fit. Great blending, like always. The blotch of bluish on Stein's coat at the bottom-- ^^" near the center -- See it? Ah, it seems out of place, because that's where my eyes went to first.

But it's a gorgeous banner! Wonderful work~

^^" This one's really hard to compliment (or critisize) actually. It's awfully busy. I guess I like the position of the pokemon though, and the background's fairly simple which is a wonderful choice, considering all the renders you've got <3
I like the sliced text, but the color throws it off~
It's a nice team banner though!

Good work~

Now to my one =D

n_n I really like this one~ Because well, it's pink and frilly, and it all fits together so nicely. It's just really pretty to look at. I like the butterflies in the background, along with all the floral. And the render's placed gorgeously. I think I'm wrong on who the character is though~ ^w^'
My favorite thing is the border! It's just really unique, and I think the cross lines give it a great perspective. Anyways, it's very serene~

Awe, I think Ash looks good in green. Then again, I'd admire him in blue, pink, and yellow too. But the recolor looks great~ Ah, I dislike the splotchy-ness below his elboy though, and May's hair, although pretty, sticks out much too much. The text is a cute font, but placed a bit awkwardly, I think it should be lower or more centered. But that's just my opinion. But the colors do fit. It looks like a forest~ <3

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I don't know how to rate the second one. It's interesting though. The color of the eyes are mighty beautiful~ They make me think of vampires. The target circles around the left eye (right eye? O-o) are a nice trinket. I think the whole canvas is too wide though~

​

Here is tag I threw together while in Atlanta on my mom's laptop. So I didn't have as many resources as I usually do. Overall I think it's my best real life tag.​

Out of Order!

Sorry about it. ^^;

I love this tag though. The colors are so beautiful. I think the background's blurred really well, and everything just comes together so nicely. The bubbles are my favorite part, It'd be cool to throw a bit of red on them too? The text is a great color, but, it looks too, plain or blocky. Just not-so-"stunning". Ah, I think Loki mentioned that already tho.
Ah, but I really like it, that I do~ It really it a stunning piece of work~ <3



~~~~~~~~~~~~

^^; Ah, that's all I have to say for now. Sorry they're all so short! They didn't feel short... D:
Eh... I wasn't going to burden you all with putting up a tag.
But here.

It was my first GIMP banner. It's not very good, but that's okay. Photoshop I no longer have available~ but aw well~
I know it's yaoi, sorrysorry ='<
n_n

 

[Zebra Thunderhead]

@Loki (Gino tag) - The banner looks pretty nice, but there are some obvious flaws. For one, the white circle brushes you have are throwing off all the flow you created. For future reference, circle brushes really only look best in icons (see here. Icon credit to me. xD). Flow in a \/ or \ pattern would be best for this tag. You have light sources all over the place which is throwing the balance off. I'd like to see the opacity on those light textures up'd and I'd also like to see some more blues in the tag more than greens. Blue + yellow = complimentary colors, which are key. : D I'd also like to see more of a foreground and more depth added as well.

@Swampert (bajillion Pokemon tag) - Where do I even begin with that text. .-. It sticks out so much. Black stroke + pattern overlay = crap, never do it again. The line through the text looks equally crappy. If you want to try cutting the stock with an overlay effect on it, look at this:

Tag credit to me.

The multiple stocks also poses a big problem. If you want to have multiple stocks, that's fine, but you better know how to pull it off, and this is not the way. You could have one stand out in the center and blur the other ones (at about 30%) to create a sense of depth and also create a focal point. In this tag, there's many focal points and my eyes are going everywhere. Depth is also another issue. I posted a tutorial made from Ray at KHI on depth, and I suggest you look at it. It will help a lot.

@Loki (Broken tag) - It isn't that painful to color in manga scans. xD I do it frequently enough with my icons to get the hang of it. This one isn't so bad, but I'd get rid of that border ASAP. The border wouldn't be so bad if you didn't have those light textures on the bottom that sharply cut off with that border. If you got rid of the border, that problem would be solved (dur) and you would have much more flow. The colors aren't so bad, but the stock's hand that's on the right gets lost and it looks like it blends right into the background. The render that comes off of him looks funny at the opacity it's at, only because you have it in front of the stock. If you reordered that layer to behind the stock, it would definitely look better. Tag looks washed out too, crank up the Saturation on it to about +30. +30 usually gives me the results I'm looking for.

@Mukkamoto - So much pink! ;o; Gradient maps, FTW! Really though, throw in some gradient map adjustment layers on that puppy and selective color a lot of that pink out. Either that, or because pink is so hard to match and compliment, you can keep the stock the same and just have a black and white background. Green and pink do go well together though, so green, pink, black, and white would be your best bets. Although, since you have yellow in the tag, yellow and pink also work. But I would stay away from that since both are bright colors. The effects are out of this world too, and not in a good way. There's so much going on here. Take away most of those effects, and add a foreground. Depth is needed, as well. And were you trying to make it look so that the tag is raised? Because instead of having two borders for that (which is ugly), there's a nifty Bevel and Emboss feature if you go to Layer > Layer Style or something. Gets the same effect and you can have as much or as little as you want. As a positive though, your light source was dead-on, which is hard to do! So kudos!

@Conman - Cinematic borders FTL! This tag is pretty good and you definitely know what you're doing. Depth is good. I think you having that red light line on the left is unnecessary and it throws the tag off. So get rid of that one and keep the one on the right. That big bubble that's around the two smaller ones in the bottom right hand corner caught my eye right away. Rid the tag of that, please. The text is good, but I don't like how the "G" lands on that dark building and the contrast kills me. I'd move that over so all the text is on the light gray and is easy to read and easy on the eyes.

@Swampert (Amazon tag) - The stock's quality makes me QQ. Looks like too much Unsharp Mask. The low opacity text looks bad and the font isn't all that great either. The splatter brushes stick out like a sore thumb. I really only think splatter looks good when it's clone stamp'd and set to Linear Dodge. Try it. It will most likely look better than what's there. And low opacity stuff rarely ever looks good. Stop dimming them and straining my eyes, I need them. And, TOO MUCH GREEN! Green tags NEVER look good. NEVER EVER EVER. Don't use green unless it's an accent color. Green as a primary color in a tag always looks bad. Always.

@Swampert (Eye banner) - What's with you and eyes. -_- The tech theme is an interesting approach but you used bad brushes to try and pull it off. Custom made vectors (ie your own) are usually best for tech stuff because you can get what you want. And, answer me this: When the left side of the face is darkened so much, why is that eye almost as bright as the one in the light? Sure you see it in movies but it looks funny and unrealistic. It makes it seem like the light is hitting that eye, which it is not. The stuff around the eye would be good if it was thinner and had more rotations, kind of like an atom model. Some kind of tech stuff like -------- coming out of the eye would be nice, kind of like:

By me.

It's an icon, but the same type of thing. Also, since the eyes are so bright, saturated, and contrasted, it would only be fair to do the same to the rest of the image. If it's too much yellow, change the color of the eyes.

@melo.dii - The banner is interesting, to say the least. I don't approve of using fan art in tags, so you're lucky to even be getting a rate out of me. But everything about this tag is low quality. And, where did that guy's arm go??? ): The flow is everywhere. You have spirals on the right and lines going ) on both sides. Not okay. ): The little circle bits of the tag aren't too hot either, especially since they're off in the middle of space and they're rainbow. I know it's yaoi but come on. ): If you're going to have bits of the tag hanging out, that's fine, but have the border be solid and have it match the colors in the tag. I usually like to have a hot pink (hex #ff005a is my favorite) soft brush, brush once on the copy, and set it to lighten to set it apart and make it stand out, but subtly. Colors are all over the place as well. Stick to a basic color scheme if you're just starting out.

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Guess what? I don't even have a tag to be rated.

 

[Motsuko Live]

This defintely isn't one of the best banners I've seen. No offense or anything... it's just that I don't really like it. The C4D's kind of distract me, and the render itself is a little distorted (Got a little trigger happy with the Transform tool, did we?). Try holding the shift down the next time you resize your images. It will keep the render 100% proportioned.

The border is... not good. :x It just doesn't go well with the tag. That's as plain as I can put it.

Overall, I think you might need a little practice, Feerce_Kitty. 3/10.

Haven't seen an anime render from you in a long time, Loki. (maybe 'cause I haven't been hanging around the GRT much anymore, meh, but whatever). I like this, though. A lot of people seem to be using that circle thing; it looks good, but only in certain "situations". I find it looks better when there is some type of action going on, as it gives off a vibrating type of feel, nawmsain? (<-- sound it out, Lokez). The character in this tag is posing. It doesn't get much less active than that. :/

Anyway, those patterns behind him are awesome! I love the way they kind of fly in, then zoom off. Good job.

Next, the colors. Perfect, as usual. Even consulted my color-wheel. :B

So, in conclusion, this is a pretty good banner! I'm going to give it a 8.2/10.

Umm... yeah. >_>
It's a litte ironic how you're so eeger to post new banners that you barely take time to read the feedback everyone is giving you.
First things first, bud; backgrounds.

You really need to stop using stocks or whatever as backgrounds, and I don't care if you took the photo yourself or not. It makes the background way to plain. Why don't you try looking at a few tutorials or something online. That's where I figured out how to do most of the backgrounds I use.

Next will be the text. Yeah... no. That just sticks out waaay to much. Stroke and solid colors rarely ever look nice on text, and you've just combined them both into on. :/ I do rather like that split you added through the center, though. Nice work on that bit.

The lighting is alright. I can definitely tell where the light source is, but look closely at the shadows and highlights of the Pokemon. See how it doesn't exactly match? That's something you should always pay attention to.

With that all out of the way, I can finally give you a rating... I think 5.2/10 is fair.

I really like this one, Loki. Perfect lighting, perfect text, perfect placement. The only things I have a tiny, little beef with are those shapes to the right of the render. They're a little repetetive if you ask me. But aside from the, this banner is perfect! 9.2/10.

It's too crowded. >.>
You have the render on the right side, and from then on we have butterflies, twirls, flowers, fractals, florals, some scarf thing, scanlines and more. It just seems like there's a bit too much going on.

The scanlines around the border can go, too. Just a friendly suggestion. :D 4/10.

Now this is a good banner. I'm a sucker for B&W tags with colors from C4Ds... if that made any sense at all. Anyway, I really like the overall theme of this one. It kind of reminds me of a woman standing on a building... and yeah. Just chillin' there, kinda.

The C4D gives it excellent flow, and the only thing I don't really like is the text. It's just kind of... floating there. But good job, Conman. 8/10.

Again, you used some type of stock as a background, but at least this one looks half decent. :x That came out a lot ruder than it was meant. :/

Anyway, I sorta like this one. You payed attention to the lighting which is always a good thing. Might a suggest you make the light source a little more noticable, though? It's hard to notice unless you actually try to find it. I definitely having some serious issues with those splatters. They throw the sig of center, if you will, and distract me from the render.

Speaking of distracting, you should change up the text a little, too. For starters, a different font would be amazing. A different color would help a lot, and possibly a different layer style? I don't know, though. I can't tell exactly what it would look like.

So, all in all, I'm giving this banner a 7.5/10. An improvement from your last one.

I kind of see what you were going for, but you didn't quite nail it. :x
First of, the 'feel' doesn't quite match the message, if you know what I mean. It that background, we have what appears to be some type of grunge-ish background that kind of gives off a dark/grumpy kind of mood, while what's happening with the render itself gives off more of a romantic/fantasy type feeling. The smudging around the render makes it stand out too much. It looks as if it's popping off the tag.

Last but not least, the text. It's not horribly by any means... it's just not great, either. I can barely make out the word 'first', and the font for 'Kiss' is not very attractive.

I'm going to go easy on you though, seeing as it's your first Gimp banner. I'll give you a 7/10.

Oh, and the circle things are waaay to distracting. I'd take those out if I were you.

/end of totally biased rates. :O
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Wow :| Those rates become more and more crappy towards the end. Sorry, 'yall. It's like, 9:30 here, and I'm exaughsted.

Haven't made anything for a while, but I'm slowly creeping back into the graphics community. Made this from a stock I found on dA. Suggestions?

 

[Loki]

Suggestions?

Well one would be the problem that I had to sweep my eyes over the entire thing before I finally figured out what was face, what was body, and that "body" was more or less "shoulder". Basically, your render looks like your background, which of course, isn't good. To fix this, I'd suggest sizing down your guy. The colors are a little washed out compared to the red on the right, and I think you should switch it around, so that your stock pops out more. :< The font is not.... agreeing with me. xD Effects are good, but "Alright" is hard to read, and the right-align makes me cringeeeee. D:

And it looks like marvel art, which is disapprove of. Dx I do like the blood-like splatters around the middle though; those are sweet, because they really have movement and action, with the blurs and stuff. Maybe blur a little on his lower shoulder/chest, for more depth? I dunno, this isn't my fave from you, for sure. ;<

~

I did a different Gino tag, and I think I'm going to submit this one for the competition instead, since I'm way more solid with this style than the one I used on the other Gino tag.

Better than the other one? :O


edit: After some comments from Useless...

I kinda like the wireframe, I just think it's a little too... POP. Maybe turn down the opacity a bit...

 

[Gabri]

Loki: I think this one is better than the other Gino one (Don't exactly know why, maybe because I love green), but yes, you could lower the opacity of the wireframe to some, uh, maybe 70-80%s? I don't know O.o. But it would look somewhat better that way.
And, you added a fractal or whatever in the sides, right? The first one looked a bit empty on there. I love the background and the effects you added to it. Also, you did a good job on blending the Gino render with it. I give it a 8.7/10 (I'd give a 9 or more if the wireframe had a bit less opacity).

A'ight, here's mine.

Smudge ftw. :D

 

[SwampertTrainer]

@Katalyst: Wow. Too much blue. Hurts...eyes...
Anyway. I love the render. it's a bit hard to tell what she's holding in her hand, but everywhere else the glow is beautiful. Good light source. I don't really like the font too much- I'm guessing it's one of those monospaced pixel fonts, which don't look good... at all. The style of the font is good, so maybe try to find a similar, but higher-qual font. the background is nice and simple, and everything draws your eyes directly to the focal. Excellent job.

This one I made to try to get Pokemon Epiphany to use as a theme, but so far I haven't gotten any responses...

[image shown at smaller scale]

 

[-Sonic~Boom-]

7/10
Everything blends into the banner very nicely, giving it an overall firey effect. Nice. ^.^
I thought the text could have had a bit more effect. Maybe a glow or shadowing... But that's just my begginer opinion, but I hope it helps. (I sound like a complete know-it-all... >.<)

Here is one I tried my best on:

 

[SwampertTrainer]

7/10

@Super~Sonic: Ok, I'll try to be nice :)
The fir looks chopped out badly- if you want to extract fire, use the eraser tool with an airbrush effect brush. Chaos Sonic is good, but the black line is really choppy, just take a normal paintbrush eraser to erase a little bit from around the edge. The anti-alias will made it much smoother. The text is fairly unreadable, especially with the glow. I'll tell you early- glow only works well on text once every about 1000 years. I like the background- it's not too complex or distracting, but the colors kind of clash. if you don't already know what Ctrl+U does, it's really handy.

 

[Nell]

Suggestions?

Well one would be the problem that I had to sweep my eyes over the entire thing before I finally figured out what was face, what was body, and that "body" was more or less "shoulder". Basically, your render looks like your background, which of course, isn't good. To fix this, I'd suggest sizing down your guy. The colors are a little washed out compared to the red on the right, and I think you should switch it around, so that your stock pops out more. :< The font is not.... agreeing with me. xD Effects are good, but "Alright" is hard to read, and the right-align makes me cringeeeee. D:

And it looks like marvel art, which is disapprove of. Dx I do like the blood-like splatters around the middle though; those are sweet, because they really have movement and action, with the blurs and stuff. Maybe blur a little on his lower shoulder/chest, for more depth? I dunno, this isn't my fave from you, for sure. ;<

~

I did a different Gino tag, and I think I'm going to submit this one for the competition instead, since I'm way more solid with this style than the one I used on the other Gino tag.

Better than the other one? :O


edit: After some comments from Useless...

I kinda like the wireframe, I just think it's a little too... POP. Maybe turn down the opacity a bit...

Hmmm. Do be perfectly honest with you, I think this one is a bit lacking in comparison with your other works~ firstly, the effects don't blend in too well because of the transition, it needs to be smoother; the artwork is too acrylic to go with such soft effects immediately, you need to use more foreground stuff~ The wireframe looks pretty good on the left, you just need to work with it~ burn, smudge, erase, blending mode changing, etc~ I don't approve of it being on the right side quite as much though :/ Perhaps you should change its positioning or general nature? -shrug- Lastly, with this one the light source looks quite like a detached/random ball of light D: Perhaps you should extend it and soften the opacity, adding more spread in terms of color, or add some rays to emphasize the flow even more. Overall, it seems to need a bit more attention :3 not bad though, not bad at all~

Loki: I think this one is better than the other Gino one (Don't exactly know why, maybe because I love green), but yes, you could lower the opacity of the wireframe to some, uh, maybe 70-80%s? I don't know O.o. But it would look somewhat better that way.
And, you added a fractal or whatever in the sides, right? The first one looked a bit empty on there. I love the background and the effects you added to it. Also, you did a good job on blending the Gino render with it. I give it a 8.7/10 (I'd give a 9 or more if the wireframe had a bit less opacity).

A'ight, here's mine.

Smudge ftw. :D

Eh.... I'm not sure about this one. Technically, you seem to have quite a bit of potential~ but the smudge is too hard, and the whites are overpowering. Also, it should be more sparse, and dark elements of the background should be incorporated into the foreground, and vice-versa. You're currently being a bit one-sided, and that results in overcontrasting~ Also, sticking to such a constricted colour scheme will mean that your focal has less emphasis, you should use both bold and soft colors to highlight your render. The text is hardly legible, and the blending styles don't seem to work very well here~ For this particular tag, I would suggest moving the text inwards, keeping the font, but making them all capitals, changing the style to a simple uniform white, then setting the blending mode to softlight, with a drop shadow. :3

@Katalyst: Wow. Too much blue. Hurts...eyes...
Anyway. I love the render. it's a bit hard to tell what she's holding in her hand, but everywhere else the glow is beautiful. Good light source. I don't really like the font too much- I'm guessing it's one of those monospaced pixel fonts, which don't look good... at all. The style of the font is good, so maybe try to find a similar, but higher-qual font. the background is nice and simple, and everything draws your eyes directly to the focal. Excellent job.

This one I made to try to get Pokemon Epiphany to use as a theme, but so far I haven't gotten any responses...

[image shown at smaller scale]

Gah, the burning and darkening is failing here D: You should reverse the colours so that Ho-oh is the focal and is surrounded by the lighter elements of the colour scheme, and so that the text is not fighting for attention in the tag. Trust me, it won't mean people aren't going to read it. XD; Also, slash off some of that negative space on the right. As for the text itself, hmm. Shrink, choose a font with sherifs, leave subtext in lower case. The transparent-wing effect thingies are alright, but they need to be more discrete on Ho-oh's right. Your main problem, is ultimately focalisation.

EDIT: whoops, sorry Super Sonic, didn't see your post, but I'm kinda too tired to edit my post~ D: sorry again x_x;

 

[SwampertTrainer]

EDIT: whoops, sorry Super Sonic, didn't see your post, but I'm kinda too tired to edit my post~ D: sorry again x_x;

That's ok, I got him for you:)

 

[Michael Allison Is Not I]

7/10
Everything blends into the banner very nicely, giving it an overall firey effect. Nice. ^.^
I thought the text could have had a bit more effect. Maybe a glow or shadowing... But that's just my begginer opinion, but I hope it helps. (I sound like a complete know-it-all... >.<)

Here is one I tried my best on:

It shows a lot of potential, in my opinion. I really think you should work on text first, and then the rest. Your text is the worst part of the signature, no offense- it's hard to read, and it's overly simple. Be creative with your text. Use brushing to accentuate it, and play with it until it looks more interesting than just... text! Since we're having a typography theme this week, check out the Signature of the Week topics for some inspiration. Also, look for some tutorials in deviantART, that's where I get a lot of general ideas.

I'm torn. Is this good, or junk?

 

[SwampertTrainer]

I'm torn. Is this good, or junk?

No offense, but the second one. It looks like something a first-grader produced. The one neat thing is how the boarder is actually text that says "boarder," which is very creative. The epic hax tag is very grainy, but the & tag is nice. Is you changed the background, it would be somewhat presentable. I do like the concept, but not the quality. If you added some effects and changed the rainbow so it actually looked like a rainbow, and the sun, so it actually looks like a sun... etc.

And here's mine. A bit plain- I was experimenting with the pen tool a little and some tutorials...