March Contest

[AJ]

Just a quick update...

I've got scores from myself and another judge. I've asked two further people and they should have scores back to me soon so I can get the results (and next month's contest) up before I leave on Monday.

However if there's anyone reading this who wants to put their own scores in, PM me scores out of 10 (.5 decimals allowed) and I guess if you look qualified enough I'll use your scores instead if it means getting the results out quicker.

[The Mask of Norro]

You'll be getting my scores today, AJ

Edited April 6, 2007 by The Mask of Norro

[K]

Come on judges.. we're already a week late for the next contest >_<

[Cactus Drags]

This is why I don't normally partake in contests.

[The Mask of Norro]

Mine's been in, who else are we waiting on?

[K]

Umm.. please..

[The Mask of Norro]

If AJ doesn't, I'll have the April contest up later today to get this month started anyway. Someone needs to get in touch with him though, we *should* have enough judges' scores in...

EDIT: Bollocks to that, I'll just whip one up now.

Edited April 11, 2007 by The Mask of Norro

[Cactus Drags]

Ugh, next time, have judges pre-selected.

[The Mask of Norro]

I still have no clue who we're waiting on for this one...

In fact, anyone who sent their scores to AJ, send them to me, and I'll try to throw together some results. I saved my judgements (I even gave reasons and suggestions)... it's just I can't well have my votes decide the whole of the contest.

Edited April 13, 2007 by The Mask of Norro

[alldaws1]

AJ said he's away until today, so I should think the scores will be up sometime over the weekend.

[AJ]

Yeah sorry, I'm back now.

I didn't get any scores back from Fourstarfizzle but Anothername was kind enough to send me his scores so I'll hammer together the results and get them posted up tonight or tomorrow.

[AJ]

Here are your March Contest results. They may not show up at the moment because there seems to be a problem with viewing attachments (or maybe it's just me).

I've included Norris' and Anothername's comments underneath since they sent some with their scores.

<img src="/junky/contests/march/marchscores.gif%22">http://www.ewbattleground.com/junky/contests/march/marchscores.gif" />

Anothername's Comments:

Gene Kiniski

Simple concept, with the blood, the gun, the text, but it does work and it does make you think of war at first glance. If the text were to actually have some character or be placed more meaningfully, it’d be as good a graphic as it possibly could be given the simple concept.

6.5/10

Dochappy

Suits the theme of war as well as any graphic could. Technically it’s well done, with the top and bottom halves blending well together. Text is also suitable, matching the “worn” feel of the rest of the graphic. It’s all it needs to be to be a good graphic but it’s not got anything outstanding about it to grant it extra credit.

7.5/10

Legend_Killer33

Poor/non-existent blending, with the soldiers, Bush and the smoke each separated by the black background between them. Also, the plainness of the text and not having a border takes away from the graphic further. What is done well is that it represents war better than some other entries do.

4.5/10

Jimmy the Exploder

I don’t understand why the cards are red, but nonetheless it still serves its purpose of highlighting a certain part of the graphic. The text is the best part of the graphic, both suitably-placed and with a font that looks good.

7/10

Flowzen King

I saw some of your graphics on Bullsh!t a few years ago, and I have to say that this is a little bit disappointing. Harry is stretched vertically slightly and the overall blending isn’t done particularly well. Also, I’m not feeling the whole grayscale and highlighted text thing that this graphic is basically about.

5.5/10

God-Awful

A really good graphic, but ruined by a few things. Firstly, the song lyrics placed over everything stands out the most and looks decent. Also, the crying kid works well as the main feature of the picture. Unfortunately, the bright green layer on top of everything just looks bad. The other thing that doesn’t fit with the graphic is the text. I’d just prefer a small line of plain text going along the bottom, rather than the white grungey font with the black stroke thing that’s currently there.

7.5/10

Keith

The best graphic in the contest for various reasons. Firstly, you’re clearly the best at EWB for manipulating pictures, as that’s extremely clever to have turned that stock into the ship. Aside from that though, it also fits the war theme well. The obvious choices to base a war graphic around are soldiers, guns and also medieval war ala Doc’s graphic, yet you chose to use a futuristic war theme, with a router ship attacking Earth. Thirdly, it just looks professional and well-done.

10/10

nufan

The theme is war, not weaponry. You’ve obviously pointed out how the soldiers with their guns going into Iraq is the real weapon and I get all that, but are the details of the AK-47 necessary for this piece? Aside from that though, the graphic just looks quite poorly done, with the bright red background behind the bright green text. Also, the gradient border doesn’t look good.

4/10

LBTN

Similar to God-Awful’s graphic, obviously because of the background text. Fortunately though, this graphic isn’t ruined by a green layer on top of everything, like God-Awful’s. Overall though, it just looks like it needs more, the background being plain and the text not being particularly well-placed.

7.5/10

Nefarious

Good manipulation, with the war pictures being placed inside the guitar. Overall though, it’s simply too plain of a graphic to warrant a rating higher than 6.5.

6.5/10

Dragsy

Not sure what happened with this? I’m sure you know it, but the text, cuts and background are all bad in their own way. The ONLY redeeming part of the graphic is that the pigs and army-related cuts have been placed together moderately well.

3.5/10

AD

It undoubtedly looks the best out of all entries, but it doesn’t beat Keith’s for one main reason. The graphic barely represents or resembles the state of war. A plane, plus fire, doesn’t equal war. Aside from that problem though, it all looks very well-done, as all your graphics do. It’s one of the two graphics in the contest that looks professionally-done.

9/10

Norris' Comments:

Gene Kiniski: 5.5/10

Reason: The text really doesn't seem to fit the feel of the piece that I think he was trying to portray, and that really let things down. The stroke on the text, rather than helping it, seemed to make it worse. I would suggest picking a different text and, instead of a stroke, use a very soft dropshadow to make the text stand out. Also, it seems he's used a luminosity layer effect on the bloodspots... you can tell, because it strangely transitions from red to black and white. I don't suggest using that layer effect... rarely ever turns out well, and this isn't an exception. Overall... it's an average piece.

Dochappy: 7/10

Reason: I love this, the collage is beautiful and the colors work nicely... I just have to say that as usual however, Dochappy's text choice has let me down. I love his designs, but he can never quite seem to get the text just right for the piece. When I look at this, I almost expect to see a sans-serif font... or at least a serif font that contrasts the graphic well enough, you know? This seems more like a default computer font, and the placement is a bit awkward. Like I said: great design... but Doc really needs to work on his typography.

Legend_Killer33: 6/10

Reason: It's a good concept, but there's a number of issues wrong with the execution: the font, for example, feels bland compaired to the rest of the graphic, and doesn't seem to fit the feeling the graphic portrays very well. Then, the cut of President Bush is very rough on the right, where his sleeve hangs over the smoke. Not only is that wrong with Bush, but he has far too much contrast to the image up above. I understand it could have been done purposefully to add to the graphic, but it wasn't done that well. Finally, the graphic is really, really dark, and that makes the white smoke at the bottom right stand out far too much. When you look at the graphic that's the first thing your eyes are drawn to, and not in a good way.

Jimmy the Exploder: 9/10

Reason: I started to give this an 8.5, but decided it really deserves a 9 after looking over it once more. The colors, the cards, hell the typography is even beautifully done. This piece really captures your attention, and the use of red with the sepia tone works very well as a contrast. There's clear symbolism here, yet the way it's subtley portrayed is just awesome. I really don't have anything bad to say about this piece... it's just a great work overall. I didn't give it a 9.5 or a 10 because I don't think it's *perfect*, but it's by far the best I've seen yet.

Flowzen King: 7.5/10

Reason: I like this, I really do. The contrast of the colors and the black and white is actually nicely done, yet... I don't know. Type is okay-- though I'm not too fond of the white stroke on it to be honest, but I could understand why it was brought in-- and I *do* like the placement of it. I don't know though, maybe it's the fact that all the images are so clear at the bottom and yet smudged up top, or maybe because I can see the blurred line where the images intersect behind the text... something about this graphic just keeps it from getting a great score from me. I like it, but there's parts to it that just irk me for some reason.

God-Awful: 6/10

Reason: The color choice is a bit awkward with the way it's been used here, to be honest. I like the transition between the images though, they're very smooth for the ones on the right and the rough transition to the child actually works pretty well. However, besides just the way the colors are used, there's also the text: the overlaying text on the child doesn't add to the piece unfortunately, it seems to detract from it, and the font choice and lack of effects (aside from the stroke) used for the primary text just doesn't fit with the rest of the graphic either. It's a decent graphic, but it certainly could have been done better.

Keith: 9/10

Reason: And here I was thinking no-one was going to throw Jimmy off his throne, and I find someone who can at least match him. Where Jimmy's graphic was potent and definately created a feeling about it, Keith's graphic adds a much needed light-hearted touch to the whole thing. Looking at the stock image, it's hard to believe that he came up with what he did... beautifully done. I love the typography and placement for this piece as well, everything is just wonderfully done. Was incredibly hard to choose between Keith and Jimmy... I wound up having to tie them both, because I just couldn't choose between them.

nufan: 4/10

Reason: The idea is pretty good, but my God, why neon green for the text? That's a horrible contrast to the deep red background you have, and the effect on the background... I don't know. It's good in some areas, rough in others. I like the stock of the AK-47, but I hate that he added the yellow glow to it. The bevel, however, is surprisingly well pulled off. The text at the top (AK-47) really fits, but the effects on it (or lack thereof) don't really fit. Then again, if he'd have made it bright green like the rest, it would have made things even worse.

LBTN: 8/10

Reason: The colors, the flow of the graphic, I'm really liking what he's done with this one. The type color and placement are good too, I like that... but I'm not sure about the font choice. It... it fits, but it's kind-of awkward. It's a commonly used font that works with alot of things, but for some reason there's something about it on this graphic that isn't working for me. Other then that I can't say much bad about the graphic as a whole-- it's nothing spectacular, but it IS good.

Nefarious: 7/10

Reason: The idea is excellent, and the stock used is good too.. but the images used on the guitar show far too much image corrosion. Really, the whole thing would benefit from higher-quality images... that could knock the grade up a whole point or two, actually. Also, I noticed how a few of the strings on the guitar seem to be *above* the overlaying gradient, whereas the first four on the left are beneath it. I don't know if that was intentional, but it seems a bit strange to me is all.

Dragsy 7-0: 5.5/10

Reason: Bwahahahahaha, I think the idea is hilarious. This seems like it was a really fun piece to make, but unfortunately the turn-out just isn't anything spectacular. To be honest though, I think that lends a benefit to the feel of the graphic. If this was some professional piece it just wouldn't fit the feel of it as well, you know? There's alot I could critique about this piece, from the text to the cut quality to the overly rough background... but honestly I don't think you should change a thing. As a whole, against the others, this rates pretty low sure... but by itself it's a fantastically fun piece. And as an aside, I hope all of that made sense, because it did in my head >_>

AD: 8.5/10

Reason: Wow. This came dangerously close to making my scores a three-way tie for first. The idea is great... I was actually surprised no-one else had thought to make a graphic of that song in the first place actually. The text seperation between the two images is well-done, the colors are nice (peaceful up top... "before the battle", and then gritty and dark on the bottom... "after the battle", so to speak), and the typography is excellent. I especially love the text at the bottom, however I do admit the text beneath "WAR" was a bit of a let-down. I know it's tough to make dark text stand out on a dark background, but I just don't like the way the stroke is used here. The rest of the text is hard-edged, and then that's more soft-edged thanks to the stroke... and it doesn't seem to work that well. Overall it's a great concept with good execution, but I just can't rank it alongside of Jimmy and Keith's pieces. It comes close though, I really did like this.

[AJ]

Managed to get into the FTP today, wasn't working either yesterday.

So you should see the scores table in my last post.

Congrats to Keith , AD and Jimmy .

Now I need to figure out how to add a new field to the user info so you can have them displayed proudly underneath your username =)

[Legend_Killer33]

Fuck. I don't seem to do to well in these sorts of contests. Well for the next one I am going to try extra hard and not rush it. Well done to Keith, AD and Jimmy. You all deserve a congratulations. My personal favourite was AD.

[GA!]

Middle of the table, not bad. Unfortunately with my graphic, I had the idea in my head, but I got worried halfway through and just butchered the fuck out of it with the green. April's contest looks awesome so expect an entry from me soon.

[AJ]

Unpinning this now, just putting a post in it so it's at the top for now in case someone's missed it.