Signature of the Month Contest Generic Discussion Thread

[Simple1]

^^ maybe making from a pure render and make it with flashy effect could interest more people ^^

[Marina]

I prefer the cleaner style you used instead of using a "flashy style," but to each their own

I like the image a lot. Does this mean that (if Sephi decides to still do it) there will be both a contest banner and the theme banner?

[Ayame_]

I like the idea of a nice banner like that. Makes the intro look very sharp.

Maybe we change it every month to fit the theme, so that it does two things: Welcome you to the thread and displays the parameters of the next comp?

[Solace]

Originally Posted by Ice Climbers

Good idea to start using the banner for SOTM, now we can even have a competition for THAT too

Just kidding

The banner looks nice Solace, the "SOTM" font is great but change the other one imho

Oh god no, not another competition.

I'm glad you like the SOTM text, I was worried people would think it looked kinda generic. What kind of font would you recommend for the other part? Or was it the effect choices that don't make it look as good?

Originally Posted by Simple1

^^ maybe making from a pure render and make it with flashy effect could interest more people ^^

This is just a test run. Something flashier could be done, but I felt simple might work better for this one.

Originally Posted by Marina

I prefer the cleaner style you used instead of using a "flashy style," but to each their own

I like the image a lot. Does this mean that (if Sephi decides to still do it) there will be both a contest banner and the theme banner?

I'm not really sure if Sephi is interested in continuing the theme banners he made for the last two contests. But if he is, it's possible to run both banners or combine our efforts into one monthly banner.

Originally Posted by Ayame_

I like the idea of a nice banner like that. Makes the intro look very sharp.

Maybe we change it every month to fit the theme, so that it does two things: Welcome you to the thread and displays the parameters of the next comp?

Like I mentioned to Marina, it's possible to do something like that. The idea I was going for was a monthly generic banner, possibly even creating a few and using a rotating script. But combining the theme and banner into one is also an option.

[Sephi]

Originally Posted by Marina

I prefer the cleaner style you used instead of using a "flashy style," but to each their own

I like the image a lot. Does this mean that (if Sephi decides to still do it) there will be both a contest banner and the theme banner?

I would like to give the honor of doing that to the next SOTM winner to make the banners if they want to.

As for the banner. It comes over as big, everything feels very big... The size and render choice probably just amplifies that. Not necessary a bad thing though. But just my impression.

Best of luck with the future SOTM Solace. Unless i feel really called to it. I'll be honing my gfx skills for awhile somewhere.

[Shana]

*coughs* Ahem, well here goes me and my weird wonders, again XD

Let's say Member A and Member B make a sig-collab, and it wtf-ly fits the theme of Month A. So, what I want to ask is, are collabs allowed?

God, why do I think of things like this?

[Sephi]

Originally Posted by Shana

*coughs* Ahem, well here goes me and my weird wonders, again XD

Let's say Member A and Member B make a sig-collab, and it wtf-ly fits the theme of Month A. So, what I want to ask is, are collabs allowed?

God, why do I think of things like this?

Iirc it has been discussed. I think in case of a collab sig winning the two who did the collab can decide on the theme. Or i must have mistaken it for some other place. Or my imagination is a bit to lively.

In any case Solace should have the last word on it

[Marina]

A little late on the discussion about a new thread for showcasing winners, but instead of opening up an entirely new thread, why don't we just utilize the voting thread/submission thread? Solace seems to have a habit of saving up 2 reserved spots every time he organizes the thread, and usually the 2nd saved spot is left empty. Why not post the name of the winners and their sigs in that spot?

[Solace]

Originally Posted by Sephi

I would like to give the honor of doing that to the next SOTM winner to make the banners if they want to.

As for the banner. It comes over as big, everything feels very big... The size and render choice probably just amplifies that. Not necessary a bad thing though. But just my impression.

Best of luck with the future SOTM Solace. Unless i feel really called to it. I'll be honing my gfx skills for awhile somewhere.

Not a problem. If the winner isn't interested in creating a banner I'll just whip one up.

I was waiting for someone to mention the size. It didn't really seem so big when working on it, then it was posted and I was like hmmm.....future versions will be shrunk a bit. Don't really need a banner that takes up half the post.

I understand your feelings Sephi, and I might have done the same if only I wasn't also running the contest. Is this "somewhere" shareable? If so, pm me. I'm always looking for new places to learn gfx skills.

Originally Posted by Sephi

Iirc it has been discussed. I think in case of a collab sig winning the two who did the collab can decide on the theme. Or i must have mistaken it for some other place. Or my imagination is a bit to lively.

In any case Solace should have the last word on it

I don't recall it coming up before now, actually. But your suggestion is how I would have handled such an entry. I don't mind collab sigs. As long as all parties get equal credit for it.

[Solace]

Originally Posted by Marina

A little late on the discussion about a new thread for showcasing winners, but instead of opening up an entirely new thread, why don't we just utilize the voting thread/submission thread? Solace seems to have a habit of saving up 2 reserved spots every time he organizes the thread, and usually the 2nd saved spot is left empty. Why not post the name of the winners and their sigs in that spot?

It's pretty easy to spot the winner of each contest by checking out the last few posts of the voting thread. The tons of congrats posts are a pretty good sign of who the winner is. Also I make it a point of saying who the previous winner is right at the beginning of the next months entry thread.

For now, no matter what, people are going to have a do a light search.

[Solace]

**Contest Rules Revision: Version 1.0**
Formatting is minimal and used for basic outlining
Revised Voting Rules will be outlined after Entry Rules have been worked on
Theme Creation/Explanation under Review

---

~(Welcome Banner/Theme Banner(s) here)~
Congratulations to Winner of Previous Month here
Explanation of this month's Theme here


About the SOTM:

The Signature Of The Month contest is open to all members of the Animesuki Forums. The goal of the contest is to provide a fun and competitive way of showing off and improving the signatures and personal skills of contestants. The winner of each months contest is given the privilege of choosing the theme for the next month.

The contest begins on the first of each month and consists of roughly two weeks of entry creation/submission, one week of voting, and one week off. The entry and voting periods may be extended or shortened slightly as needed.

About the SOTM Theme:

Each month prospective contestants are given a theme to base their entries on. This theme is decided by the winner of the previous contest. The theme can be anything, as long as it does not break forum rules regarding inappropriate material. At the end of the month, voters choose which entries they liked best out of all submitted entries and a new winner is decided. Themes cannot be used twice in a row.

The Rules of the SOTM:

1. Contestants are allowed to create, work on, and submit their entry from the start of the contest until two weeks from the start date. This period of time is specified by the organizer every month. Once the entry period expires, all submitted entries are gathered up and sent to the Voting Thread.

2. Contestants must submit original works. This means you cannot simply cut a picture out, slap your name on it, and call it your own. Claiming someone else's work as your own is also not allowed, nor is reusing one of your older contest signatures. Anyone caught doing this will have their entries removed from the contest.

3. Contestants are allowed to create as many entries as they wish, but are only allowed to enter one. To submit an entry officially, the contestant must mark the post in the Offical Entry Thread containing that entry with the words "Final Entry", or they can submit the signature to the contest organizer using the private message function.

4. Contestants who wish to keep their entries private until after the submission period can private message the contest organizer with their entry. The entry will not be displayed until submissions are closed, unless the contestant displays that entry publicly.

5. Entries must comply with Animesuki rules regarding signature size. This means each entry can be no larger than 500 x 160, and must be less than 50,000 bytes.

About the SOTM Entry Process:

Every month, a new entry thread is created. Each month's entry thread is a central spot meant to give contestants a chance to create and improve their entries as well as their skills, in addition to providing them a place to post their official submissions.

The thread is solely about helping contestants with entries, and as such these things will not be tolerated:

1. Nonconstructive and negative criticism (if you truly dislike something about an entry, be polite and helpful)

2. Comments, questions, or complaints about General SOTM affairs

3. Flaming, trolling, and other uncivil behavior that breaks Forum Rules

Anyone disrupting the thread will be asked to take it privately, to the SOTM generic discussion thread, or if the offense is severe enough - reported to the moderators.

This Month's Entry Period:

This months entry period officially starts Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 and lasts until Friday, April 18th, 2008. Entries will be gathered and put up for voting on Sunday, April 20th, 2008. Voting will end on the following Sunday.

The due date ends at 11:59 (midnight basically) UTC/GMT. The polling will be up one day later after 11:59 (again, midnight). I will try to be as lenient as I can with last minute submissions but only slightly.

It is up to you as a contestant to know what your time zone is in relation to UTC/GMT. I cannot do this for you. Here is a site that can help you figure that out: http://www.worldtimeserver.com/convert_time_in_UTC.aspx

---

Please let me know what you think.

[Solace]

Originally Posted by kayos

Maybe you should highlight/bold some of the key phrases, like size of entry, writing "Final Entry", etc... just for the lazy people that prefer to take a glimse at it. They would be able to catch the main points to SOTM without having to read every word in between.

Overall it looks good, very professional but...

It's a draft. I didn't want to spend lots of time formatting stuff until the basic draft was given outside consideration. Later versions will have better formatting, the stuff you see now is just to give some form to the mass of text.

What's wrong with trolling?

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who posts controversial and usually irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, with the intention of baiting other users into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.

That's what's wrong.

[BearShare]

We need a rule on no using fan-art from deviantart.

[Ice Climbers]

Originally Posted by BearShare

We need a rule on no using fan-art from deviantart.

Hmm, I thought if notified such fan art usage is okay

[Solace]

Originally Posted by BearShare

We need a rule on no using fan-art from deviantart.

Any reason why deviantart is the exception to rule in regards to using images for stuff like this?

[KasumiGirl]

Originally Posted by Solace

Any reason why deviantart is the exception to rule in regards to using images for stuff like this?

I think what BearShare is trying to say, is that what images we use now are original art, but if you use something from somewhere like Deviantart, it's fan made and you should contact the artist if you want to use it. I used to go on DA very often and find messages like "please ask permission before using it first".

But I don't know, Solace. It's up to you.
The rule wouldn't really effect me, anyways.

[KiNA]

2. Contestants must submit original works. This means you cannot simply cut a picture out, slap your name on it, and call it your own. Claiming someone else's work as your own is also not allowed, nor is reusing one of your older signatures. Anyone caught doing this will have their entries removed from the contest.

After a discouraging wallpaper cropped signature leading this month (not every leading signature), I fully agree with this ( I feel its a lame and disrespectful to others that made their own) but I''m not totally sure on the bold part.. I think, as long as thats your work, it should be okay to submit it.

We need a rule on no using fan-art from deviantart.

Whats so special about DA that demands an exception. The signature are not use for profit.. And art from DA is no different then other doujinshi/fanart found on imageboards..

And I proposed providing source renders for signature too for submissions (<- maybe going too far - at least demandable on suspected crop work) but some peoples use cropped wallpapers as signature submission just pissed me off more then losing twice to Sephi!

[KasumiGirl]

Originally Posted by KiNA

And I proposed providing source renders for signature too for submissions (<- maybe going too far - at least demandable on suspected crop work) but some peoples use cropped wallpapers as signature submission just pissed me off more then losing twice to Sephi!

I think i'm going to have to agree with KiNA here. I don't particularly have a problem with cropped signatures, but I would like all the sources.
I mean - it's basically ripping. For example, if I took one of KiNA's wallies, cropped it, and maybe added some text, i'm pretty sure KiNA would hit me in the head. That requires no skill, or even...no effort. AND I would have a sore head.

[Solace]

Originally Posted by KasumiGirl

I think what BearShare is trying to say, is that what images we use now are original art, but if you use something from somewhere like Deviantart, it's fan made and you should contact the artist if you want to use it. I used to go on DA very often and find messages like "please ask permission before using it first".

But I don't know, Solace. It's up to you.
The rule wouldn't really effect me, anyways.

It's understandable, but unpreventable. Once it's public, people are going to use it for whatever they wish and there really isn't much one can do about it....unless you are a major company with an army of lawyers sending.....angry letters. *shudder*

As an example, the only time I'd be bothered if someone used my signatures was if they were trying to use them on the same forum I was on and claiming that they did it. If they were simply using it, meh, if it makes them happy then great. But if they were impersonating me then I would be bothered by it. An example on our own forums would be Kisara (and if she's to be believed, Geki, though I doubt that one).

But in the end it's a big moral cluster. If we're going to say it's ok for people to use a recognizable anime character in a signature, we can't say one source is ok but another is not. As for completely original anime characters? I feel a headache starting just thinking about the moral issues from that. ><

Originally Posted by KiNA

After a discouraging wallpaper cropped signature leading this month (not every leading signature), I fully agree with this ( I feel its a lame and disrespectful to others that made their own) but I''m not totally sure on the bold part.. I think, as long as thats your work, it should be okay to submit it.

I suppose the rule can be adjusted to say "no reusing old contest signatures" instead.

just pissed me off more then losing twice to Sephi!

I giggled.

On a more serious note - I'll let the community hash out the crop vs effort issue before I put my two cents in. I've already let KiNa know some of my feelings on the matter, but I'd ask that he keep them private for now. I would like to hear more input from everyone first.

Just keep it civil. I don't like preparing novel sized owned posts.

[Skyfall]

Originally Posted by Solace

On a more serious note - I'll let the ommunity hash out the crop vs effort issue before I put my two cents in. I've already let KiNa know some of my feelings on the matter, but I'd ask that he keep them private for now. I would like to hear more input from everyone first.

My take on the "crop VS effort" issue after giving it some thought is very simple - i don't think it should be taken much in to consideration, nor should it have much affect on the voting. Now, i fully understand someone might feel unhappy to see his X hours of work being beaten by X/5 hour work, but that is really besides the point.

Apologies for going to sound blunt, and i mean no disrespect here, but when i step in to a gallery i am there to see the paintings, not to analyze how much time was spent on each of them. The theme is after all "Rate this signature", not "rate the effort and time spent", nor is the later likely to get my approval as a judging basis for viability.

Now don't get me wrong - i fully appreciate the time everyone puts in to their entries and everyone deserves praise for the effort, but i am not about to condone using that as a yardstick to measure one's viability as an entry, never mind using it as argument to discredit the entries of others. (And i must say i am quite saddened to see it already surfacing every now and then.)

To sum it up: i wouldn't condone a contest where subjective staple like "effort" is used a yardstick for viability.