Preserved Topic: Wallpeper

Hey, guys. I'd like your input on a wallpaper I just made. I didn't really put a lot of time into it but I think it came out kinda neat. What do you think? Any suggestions on how I could improve it? Thanks!



Big

Wallpeper? I mean Wallpaper.

I think it looks great!

You think so? Thanks! Almost reminds me of a new Final Fantasy monster.

I'm liking it. Good job.

Yeah, I'll get grief for this, I'm sure "damned elitist DG"...but here we go.

What does it mean?

I mean why did you make the image, what are you trying to convey? Without meaning it seems a bit...well, hollow.

Ah..but before the whiners come out to play, let's go with this:
IF it's just an image, meant for aesthetics only...JUST a wallpaper for people to use, then let's break it down. (Keep in mind, you asked for opinions, so saying 'well I don't care what blah blah, or blah blah does, it's for me' won't wash...heh)

The wind filter at the edges is distracting. The desaturation and lowlight of that area completely draws away from the pink-ish central imagery.

The letterboxing (breaking into thirds) of the wallpaper itself gets worked against by having no appreciable change to the top and bottom area. Perhaps overlaying a letterboxed black layer with low opacity would achieve more of a differential, and in turn draw the eye where you want it to go...which brings up the next point.

If you're using this for a wallpaper, then the tiny central "eye" item is also distracting. With it being as small as it is compared to the wallpaper, yet as bold on the pink bg, the article itself draws your eye directly to the middle of it. Nice idea if that's what you want, but taking your sight away from your desktop icons and links, and driving it to that little eye might be a little foolhardy.

The cog pieces in the bg aren't bad, however the blurriness of them all overlayed will cause the viewer to subconsiously try and focus (since everything is center aligned, and out of focus) which is never a good thing, as it will draw the eye even tighter inside.

One bit of advice on top of all that. Think of the classic "Rule Of Three". Give your viewer three different areas, or articles to look at in your design. Building these three in an asymmetrical triangle usually keeps the excitement in a visual. IE: Use the cog pieces...but offset them from center, and either tighten them up (sharpen) or blur them out a bit and fade them more. Then take the eye piece and make it more integrated (the off-blue tones make it clash with the pink) and settle it as your main focus. Now introduce a third shape, or text, title etc. and make it your third focus...a little less bold, less opaque, less intrusive.

That rule of three will help you more than you know...especially when you learn what elements can actually be used to achieve it well.

The process looks nice, but it says little more than "look what I did in PS without direction" right now.

I've mentioned some pluses, but most people won't read those...so flame away.

heh

I do hope you continue on this and keep making wallpapers getting better and better. Practice really does do better than most mentors (or backpatters) ever will.


Peter



Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate

Thanks for taking the time to help me with this, I really appreciate it. You're absolutely correct, this is the result of playing around in Photoshop. I had no direction when I started, this just happened to be the result. I've never heard of the Rule of Three before but I'll take it into account from now on. It makes sense. About the "centralizing" in wallpapers, you're right and I never really thought about that. Thanks again! hope to churn out something better next time. Ciao!

quote:

---

I didn't really put a lot of time into it but I think it came out kinda neat. What do you think? Any suggestions on how I could improve it? Thanks!

---

Put more time into it.

To go along with DG's points, whats the purpose of it?

IMO it looks like you added random effects to your workspace and called it a wallpaper. The objects in your wallpaper have little relation to each other. Also, the objects have little to no detail. Re-evaluate what it is you are creating and work from there. Try to assemble a scene where the images fit together nicely.

To me it seems odd that you have the outline of cogs, a vague drawing of an eyeball at the center, and tenticles running through the center. To top it off the wind filter on the sides.

Too light for a wallpaper in my opinion.

-Jestah
Cell 277

That bad, eh? ;p I thought it looked at least -REMOTELY- cool, directionless or not. I think the randomness and lack of reality is really what makes it what it is. I'm not trying to emulate anything in real life, it's just a design. As for it being too light - I would imagine a light wallpaper wouldn't distract you like a darker one would, in the case of this image at least. Just a neat looking background ambiance.. like visual chamber music for your desktop.

Oh well. *keeps working*

Thanks for your opinion.

you have a great attitude Kine DG made some exellent points and gives superb advice!

The more work you put into PS, the better and better you will become and that will be reflected in your future works.

It a tough road, but for the enthusiastic PS'er the rewards of creating imagery that is unique and a one off is indescribeable

Keep at Kine ~Vp~

Thanks very much. I've been practicing religiously (obsessively sometimes) for the past six months or so since I started using Photoshop. I notice improvements but then I'll go through a period where I actually think I'm going backwards - I stop using techniques I've learned, my images look sloppy, I lack any kind of creativity or original concept, etc.. It's kind of scary, kind of like my subconscious is telling me I'm more than capable of learning more, but my talent has hit its peak. I hope this kind of thing is common.

nope, I think that is very common (well at least for me it is). I often go through periods where I just sit and stare at my comp screens and just dont feel inspired to create anything (am in the middle of a slump right now actually)

I think it just happens to everyone once in a while. At that point it is good to get up and do something else for a while. Frustrating as hell , but what can one do!

Is this any better? I followed your advice.



Big'un

I think that is definately a great improvement.

The added crispness, the deeper contrast, the added texture and the added continuity of color and tone all help a great deal to add the focus DG advised.

The only real detriment I see is that it is all still very blatantly centered on the page, which is a personal pet peeve of mine as well as a standard compositional 'no no'.

A huge step in the right direction overall.



[This message has been edited by DL-44 (edited 06-10-2002).]