Rion's Artwork (Accepting Logo Requests), Hooray, art! Options

[RionZT]

Currently accepting requests.

Note this is a free service.

As of now, I'm taking logo requests for anybody who is interested.
Just note I have a few guidelines that I'd appreciate very much if you followed.

1) Please do not spam me with requests, and please limit your requests to one at a time. I would also appreciate not being rushed, I will work as fast as I can, I'm still rather new to Photoshop and the like.

2) I would ask that you be VERY specific with what you want. Colors, gradients, etc. As for designs, I lack the skill to hand-draw them (I use brushes to make the designs, hehe...)
So if you request something I don't have, I will try to look for it, if I cannot find it, then I apologize, and you'll have to either change your request, or, if you can locate brushes that are what you're looking for and link them to me, that would be fine as well.

3) Please, please, PLEASE, do not expect some unbelievable masterpiece. As I stated before, I'm not very experienced, so making something as good as others here can do is not something that comes easily to me. On the flip side, if I do something wrong, please do not hesitate to tell me. I would hate to mess something up and have someone not tell me because they do not want to irritate me or something.

Onto examples, these are the best ones that I've done so far. (According to the kind people who have helped me along the way. )
Note: Please do not re-use any logos other than the ones you request without permission from myself (if it isn't made for someone else) or the requester (if I made it for said requester). Thanks.

[Show/Hide] The Shinora Chronicles Final Logo

[Show/Hide] The Shinora Chronicles-Alternate

[Show/Hide] Project EXodus Logo V2

[Show/Hide] The Surcease War

[Show/Hide] Soul Slayer: Embracing Chaos

[Show/Hide] The Shinora Chronicles 2: The Perfect Light

Again, if you want to request something, ask of course. But remember to be specific, I can't read minds.


vvvvvvv Old Stuff vvvvvvv______________________________________________________vvvvvvv Old Stuff vvvvvvv

I'm pretty new to Photoshop, but I whipped up a couple of logos.
Here's one I made for a game idea I had:


And this is the new (non-lame online text generator logo) and improved logo for The Shinora Chronicles:


The only problems I have with these personally is I feel like the spacing between the words is off. I may redo them later, but since school started back up for me, it's going to have to take a back-seat for now.

~RionTarokai

This post has been edited by RionTarokai: Mar 31 2012, 05:33 PM

[Darkblade]

I like the second one, but its a little difficult to just read at first glance.
Spacing out each letter a bit more would be very benificial I think.
Or just reducing some of the hangy wispy bits.
Overall a nice title image.

The first one looks fine, maybe tinker with the 'project' part though.

[X-M-O]

I think you're using Photoshop quite well, though I would argue that you need to look into making your logos more readable.
I can hardly tell what they say.
Despite not being able to read what they say, I think they look cool. =]

Work on readability and I think you'll do fine.

[RionZT]

@Darkblade
Looking it at now, the C is really hard to read...Don't ever remember it like that but...wierd. Maybe it was just me. Also, tinker with the "project" part how?

@X-M-O
I can agree the second is hard to read, what with the little wispy bits flying off of it all over the place, but I think the first one is a lot easier to read, at least, it is for me. Perhaps it's just the "Project" part that's less readable?

In anycase, thanks for the feedback, I'll take that to heart for next time.

~RionTarokai

[Darkblade]

I just think the project part could be given some more attention.
Maybe make it a bit larger and alter the 'J'.

[RionZT]

@Darkblade
...Yes...And now for whatever reason the J looks like an I or a lowercase L to me. It's like when I first made the logo for The Shinora Chronicles. I could read it fine, then I made this thread, you replied to it, and all of a sudden I could also hardly make it out. My eyes are messing with me. @_@

Okay...So...bigger...and the J actually needs to look like a J. Got it, thanks.

~RionTarokai

[RionZT]

Alright, I've updated the first two, and made one as a request from a friend for his game (he's not a user on here, though.)

First up, the new "Shinora Chronicles" logo. Hopefully it's an easier read.



And the new "Project Exodus" logo.



Finally, "The Surcease War" logo.


Friend I made it for is pleased with the end result, so I guess that's all that counts. ^^

~RionTarokai

[X-M-O]

Much better! =]

I would like to say that a few more edits are needed though. The colours work better in terms of readability, and the first two lines of the "Shinora Chronicles" logo seem to look all right, but the last line, "chronicles", needs a bit more love.
The letters are close together in some places and far apart in others, in the graphic art community we would call this "improper kerning". It makes it difficult to read because the eye expects a new word to begin after a space that is longer than the previous spaces between characters. Thus it is read as "c hro n ic l e s" instead of "chronicles". To fix this, you could add spaces between the letters that are closer together (instead of trying to force the larger characters on top of each other). Spacing the characters further apart isn't necessarily a bad thing either, as it will increase readability and you can even add more details/flavour to them upon doing so (for example the letters "hro" could be as fancy as the letters "c", "e", and "s" without making it look awkward). =]

I love what you've done with the Project Exodus logo this time around; far better and much easier to read.

The Surcease War logo looks nice, but it is a little too blurry. Just barely though.
I would recommend either using a font that has more space between the letters (and its own curves), or you could decrease the shadow's size and increase its contour. Go with "Half Round" contour on the drop shadow, and increase the opacity to about 85%.
(Of course, you don't have to follow those instructions exactly, but it will help move you in the right direction for that shadow being less blurry.)
It also looks as if you are using Satin, and I'd recommend making a change to that contour instead (if you don't want to make the above changes suggested).

Looking great, and you seem to have a good idea as to what you want in the logos. =D

[RionZT]

Fair enough, I actually agree there. The spacing is pretty odd, but quite honestly, so is the font. The last "s" in "Chronicles" is actually lower case. The first "s" in "Shinora" being uppercase. I'm not sure of the reason as to why the uppercase "s" does not have the same, if not more of that fancy little effect the lowercase "s" has going on there. Though, I've tested this and most of the uppercase letters in the font (Angelic War) have the same properties. Less or no wisp-like effects on the uppercase letters, and more on the lowercase ones. Trying to find the right balance is difficult for me, as I don't want it to look bland, but I also don't want the image to lose its readability, because at that point it virtually serves no purpose. (Other than to look cool, I suppose.)

I wish I had a scanner, though. That way, I could scan my drawings that I do. (Believe me though, I'm not too good at it though. I'm trying to learn how to do proportions and stuff better, but it just doesn't work out for me. My hand(s) do not cooperate with what I have in mind. :c)
About the only other kind of art I do other than this (which is recent, I'm still learning.) is editing sprites. Though, to be honest, my range of which sprites I edit is fairly limited. (Mostly edited Pokemon Trainer sprites. I'd like to learn to make my own from scratch but...I've tried. And I truly do not want anyone to bear witness to the horrors that have arose from my experiments.)

Also, X-M-O, I've been meaning to ask. Why and how does your avatar continuously change whenever I refresh the page/come back to it/etc.?
I've been wondering that for a while, but I never remembered to ask.
Oh yeah, and I'll work on "The Shinora Chronicle"'s logo again in a bit, going to have dinner soon, though. In any case, thanks for the feedback, it's been very helpful to me, and I appreciate it.

EDIT: I totally missed the bottom half of your comment, my bad. I was just skimming through since I was a tad busy while reading.
Glad to hear you like the Project Exodus logo. To be honest, I like it much better than the first one myself.
As with the Surcease War logo, I don't remember if I used satin. The drop shadow does look a bit blurry actually, dunno how I didn't notice that before, honestly. Either way, thanks a lot.

~RionTarokai

This post has been edited by RionTarokai: Jan 11 2012, 04:15 PM

[RionZT]

Alright, here's the newly updated "Shinora Chronicles" logo. I tried spacing each individual letter as evenly as possible. Hopefully you all like this better than the previous versions. ^^

[X-M-O]

Fair enough, I actually agree there. The spacing is pretty odd, but quite honestly, so is the font. The last "s" in "Chronicles" is actually lower case. The first "s" in "Shinora" being uppercase. I'm not sure of the reason as to why the uppercase "s" does not have the same, if not more of that fancy little effect the lowercase "s" has going on there. Though, I've tested this and most of the uppercase letters in the font (Angelic War) have the same properties. Less or no wisp-like effects on the uppercase letters, and more on the lowercase ones. Trying to find the right balance is difficult for me, as I don't want it to look bland, but I also don't want the image to lose its readability, because at that point it virtually serves no purpose. (Other than to look cool, I suppose.)

Yeah, I completely understand the difficulty with fonts... but that's why I'm helping you along, eh? :3

I wish I had a scanner, though. That way, I could scan my drawings that I do. (Believe me though, I'm not too good at it though. I'm trying to learn how to do proportions and stuff better, but it just doesn't work out for me. My hand(s) do not cooperate with what I have in mind. :c)
About the only other kind of art I do other than this (which is recent, I'm still learning.) is editing sprites. Though, to be honest, my range of which sprites I edit is fairly limited. (Mostly edited Pokemon Trainer sprites. I'd like to learn to make my own from scratch but...I've tried. And I truly do not want anyone to bear witness to the horrors that have arose from my experiments.)

I'd love to see some of your artwork. You could even take a camera and snap some shots just to show them off until you have a scanner.

Pixel-art is sometimes rather difficult and sometimes rather simple; it depends on what you're working on. Characters that look more realistic or less realistic could make a huge difference on the complexity of the artwork. Practice will help with that though, and there are tutorials to assist you in working on sprites. I can supply a few tutorials, if you would like. =]
(Many can be found in the pinned resource topic in this art forum.)

Also, X-M-O, I've been meaning to ask. Why and how does your avatar continuously change whenever I refresh the page/come back to it/etc.?
I've been wondering that for a while, but I never remembered to ask.

No problem. I get that question rather often. ^^
I use signavatar.com to get my images to randomly appear as they do. =]

Oh yeah, and I'll work on "The Shinora Chronicle"'s logo again in a bit, going to have dinner soon, though. In any case, thanks for the feedback, it's been very helpful to me, and I appreciate it.

Enjoy your dinner! :3
You're welcome, I do what little I can to support artists.

EDIT: I totally missed the bottom half of your comment, my bad. I was just skimming through since I was a tad busy while reading.
Glad to hear you like the Project Exodus logo. To be honest, I like it much better than the first one myself.
As with the Surcease War logo, I don't remember if I used satin. The drop shadow does look a bit blurry actually, dunno how I didn't notice that before, honestly. Either way, thanks a lot.

~RionTarokai

No worries, lol. That happens a lot when I type (I put too much into posts at times, lol).

Yeah, the Project Exodus logo has been much more improved upon than the previous version. ^^

You're welcome. =]

Alright, here's the newly updated "Shinora Chronicles" logo. I tried spacing each individual letter as evenly as possible. Hopefully you all like this better than the previous versions. ^^

Beautiful!
The only thing I'd do now, is run through a few different colour themes (rainbow is great, but I'm just giving you a suggestion for your own personal research in colour schemes). Try light blues and then go to dark greens, and perhaps even some bold colours like you did originally; just to test things out a bit (even go grey-scale for the sake of it). =D

Either way, it already looks great and you've done a nice job with it!

[Darkblade]

Yowza, they are so much better than before.
Loving the new Project Exodus logo.
Excellent !

[RionZT]

@X-M-O
Yeah, I appreciate the assistance, the stuff I've done looks a lot better now because of the input you've all been giving me. Thanks much.
Used the site you linked, works perfectly for me, thanks. Canneverhavetoomuchpony.
Looking through my snapshots with the old-ish Logitech webcam I have, I do still have some of my old pictures. (Pretty old, let me tell ya.)
If you want, I can post some of my sprite edits. (I actually have one where I have the original sprite and then basically 2-3 other sprites showing how I changed it to the final result, the final sprite, and a picture that I used for references and colors.)
As for different color schemes, I agree. I didn't save the project at all (only the image...) but I could possibly just put different styles over it. Possibly.

@Darkblade
Thanks a lot, glad you like them. You and X-M-O have been a great help, I appreciate it you guys.


Let me know if you want to see any of my sprite edits/drawings, or possibly more logos or something.

~RionTarokai

[X-M-O]

I'd love to see more of your work; drawings, sprite edits, more logos - everything!

You have a natural eye for art, from what I can tell. =]


Oh, and if you want to simply take the "Shinora Chronicles" logo and change its colour (without the PSD file) just load it into Photoshop and press "CTRL+U" or "CTRL+B" to change its colour to something you'd like (just experiment with those tools, if you haven't already) and if you want to change lighting press "CTRL+L" for the Levels tool. =]

[RionZT]

Alright, I'll start posting that tomorrow. EST time zone, so it's about 11:40 right now, and since I have school...YeahIneedsleep
Natural eye for art?...Hm..I dunno...I'm not that good. Maybe I'm just getting a lucky break?

Well, that's good to know...Although before I read this I already made a new project file for it. (Obviously, it's not exactly the same. I couldn't replicate the effect on the "the" in the logo, which is disappointing to me, considering I liked how it was. Oh well. I think I spaced/organized the letters better this time anyway. I've made quite a few color schemes, and I'll make more tomorrow.)

Also, before I go, I'll just throw this on this post.

One of my many trainer sprite edits. Edited it from Gary Oak to my character, Rion Tarokai (for whom my avatar is named.)
Sprite is from Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver.
A little bit about him:

Age: Seventeen
Birthday: May Twenty-Fifth, Nineteen-Ninety-Four
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Purple
Originally from a story I began writing, but never completed, titled "The Perfect Light" as the main character.
He's generally quiet, but is very serious when he fights. From when he was ten up until fourteen he was captured as a prisoner of war by Kaoli Occupation Forces. (Yeah, KOF (assuming you read the story/etc. on The Shinora Chronicles, you'd notice they're in it.) are originally from The Perfect Light. I will probably change that, since I planned for "The Shinora Chronicles" to potentially lead into the events of "The Perfect Light".)
He lost his parents the day he was captured. However, his two siblings survived. His younger brother, Kamron, who presently is nine years old, and his older sister, Cerise, who is presently nineteen years old.

That's about it, anyways, I need to go to bed now, it's almost 12:00. Hoo boy.

~RionTarokai

[X-M-O]

Yeah, one thing I always do is save PSD files of anything I plan on using.
It's a good habit to keep them. ^^

Your sprite looks pretty good, and the background character information is always neat to have. =D

[RionZT]

I have a PSD now, of course. Glad you like the sprite, and his background information underwent much planning and changing before I finally decided on what it was actually going to be.

So...

[Show/Hide]

...I drew on my homework.
...
'Nuff said.
(P.S. I know, my drawing skills need major improvement. I also apologize for the fade. My mom's scanner decided to work finally, however it seems to have faded a lot of the lines. What a prick. :C)

~RionTarokai

[X-M-O]

I'm fairly certain that you can edit the settings on the scanner to capture the image better; though I don't know what settings might exist on your specific software connected with your scanner.

Taking a French class? =]

Anyway, I don't think your anatomy is far from what it should be - and I like the style you're going with. =]

[RionZT]

Well, the scanner is connected to my mom's computer, and she usually doesn't let me mess with it. (She believes I will cause issues with it, though sometimes I feel like I know more about it than she does, but..what're you gunna do?)

Yes, I do take French. Though, I forgot most of it over Summer and Winter Break.

Anatomy is one of the many things I have problems with. I feel like I'm only good with the hair, to be honest. I'm sure you noticed her bangs cover her other eye, that's more or less laziness on my part, because I can't normally draw both eyes. I just have issues with getting the second eye to look right. Most times, it ends up ridiculously larger than the other one. I'm also bad with hands and feet. Also terrible at shading, hence why the character was more or less not shaded whatsoever, haha...I've tried looking at tutorials as well, but I still can't seem to get anything right. I dunno, maybe I am getting it right(ish) and I'm being paranoid about it.

You like the style? Well...Thanks. I'm not too good (I've seen artists who draw anime/manga-style as well, and my drawings look like ugly stick figures compared to their works. Although, I know one of them personally and she's a huge braggart about it. Yelled at me when I told her neko characters don't have human ears, that's what the cat ears are for. She went off on how I needed to "get to her level" before I could "say shit" about her art. )

Anyways, thanks, anddd..here's one of my older-ish ones, I took a snapshot of it with my webcam a while back:

[Show/Hide]

Here's something more recent, when I first ever attempted drawing ponies:

[Show/Hide]

And then, I went into Photoshop and messed with it (first time using Photoshop):

[Show/Hide]

I've drawn more since then but, I don't believe I have any very recent photos. I could do some salvaging later today, if I can find time.

~RionTarokai

EDIT: Almost forgot, here's the new Shinora Chronicles logo(s)!

[Show/Hide] Rainbow

[Show/Hide] Green

[Show/Hide] Pink

[Show/Hide] Light

[Show/Hide] Light 2

This post has been edited by RionTarokai: Jan 12 2012, 04:59 PM

[X-M-O]

Yeah, mums are that way sometimes.

You easily forget things you've learned about a foreign language when you don't practice it often (and I mean daily, lol).
I used to speak Spanish quite well, and I knew a bit of French and Italian as well; now I can hardly remember the pronunciation rules of any of the languages except Spanish (because in Texas I hear Spanish at least once every few days, lol).

In relation to anatomy, and your problem with drawing eyes that match, something you should always do (chiefly at this stage of learning) is draw guides first (geometrical shapes that will determine the distance and location of your character before getting into the details of shape and body parts and hair). =]

On to your images:
First one: Looks really cool, nice idea and overall design. ^^

Pony pictures: Nicely done, and very colourful. Good work converting it to a digital version, by the way. =]
Using Photoshop, you can get much more straight lines if you use the pen tool to redraw the edges, then you'd just convert the vector to a selection and fill it with the appropriate colour(s). Having each piece redrawn using vectors, also allows you to manage each part individually and allows you to apply specific effects to each section (not always practical, but sometimes you might want this). Always save that work in a PSD so you can go back and change things at a later date, if you want to. =]

To the logos:
First version looks really great; glad you were able to recreate it without much difficulty. ^^
Second version is my favourite; almost has a Matrix theme going on there, but it is clearly readable and even gives it a dark forest-themed appearance.
Third version is too blurry, and this is because (unlike with the way green works with black) you have an inner shadow of the same colour as the outer shadow. This can work in some cases (for example, the logo in my signature uses this technique to feint a blur), but when dealing directly with a font, you can get a better effect if you do a Stroke at size 1 with the position set at inside and remove the inner glow or inner shadow (whichever you used). This should work to remove the blur and get the font to look better. =]
The colour is great, just need to be sure it isn't too blurry.
Fourth version looks all right, not my preference, but it seems to work fine.
Last version seems a bit overkill with special effects, but it is still readable. =]