Now that I've participated twice and have gotten a glimpse at how "true" graphic artists work I can understand the sentiments here. I don't think it clearly matches with the initial description of the contest, though. For all of you who put a lot of effort into designing signatures, the contest really is about skill. To people like me, it's just about designing a signature. Whether it's a crop or whether it involves massive manipulation, a signature is a signature and we're just going based off of that.
If you want it to be skill-based, the way that the submission process occurs needs to be changed. I may have an untrained eye for graphics, but I am
highly doubtful that even the best among us can determine what effects were done without seeing the source for themselves. Even seeing the source can't give a full appreciation for the amount of work that went into it. Only by seeing something like
this can you really get a sense of appreciation for what was done.
If you make showing the innards of your project a requirement, you're shifting the focus of the competition. The graphic artists who appreciate the effort and technique will be swayed by more complex projects; the new/non-artists will still be looking at the end product. Since
Solace is largely the one running it, it's up to him.
If I were going based off of technique, the animated signatures would probably always be getting my votes because they require a lot of work. Even I know that, and thus I can understand
KiNa's frustration. On the other hand, my own idea of what a signature is - something pretty to look at that contains a message - is virtually unseen on these forums (these signatures never have a message in text). The effort that goes into my style is different from the effort that goes into an animated signature or a heavy manipulation, but this is where it gets tricky. I understand that crops are looked down upon by people who spend more time, but by expecting everyone to be doing a certain thing (whether animations, C4D, or manipulations) you're requesting style conformity.
I came to that realization when I had the thought that maybe I'd better not enter next time, because people are getting upset that effort isn't being rewarded and that "cheap" signatures are even being entered at all. I don't have the time or skill to do what you all do, and to be frank, my style is completely different from the usual on these forums (even though my entry for this month was heavily warped and catered more toward the style I see here). I spend my time choosing fonts, adjusting text placement, altering font effects, and so on. There's nothing wrong with the fact that my style is different, either... but I'm pointing it out to show that it's not as easy as saying "crops + slapped on text = cheap, bad" (even if it's true in most cases
).
I'm not upset about anything I've stated above, either. If you ban crops or if people get testy about them, I'd still vote and enjoy the contest even if I couldn't enter. I think the premise behind the contest is very worthwhile and has resulted in some fantastic works, including many that have inspired me. As graphic designers, this is your contest. If you want it to be open to everyone and to varying styles, be careful with what you exclude. If you want this to be about technique as you all know it, then you know what you have to do.