New Forum, Perhaps?

I'm sure this has been mentioned here and there in the past, but why not create a specific forum or sub-forum dedicated to signature making, judging, tutorials, and the graphic arts in general?

Yes, I'm quite aware of the Signature Shop sub-forum that already exists, but this would serve many more purposes. Why not make a graphic forum including sub-forums such as "Signature Shops", "Judging", "Tuts", etc etc. There could be general challenges such as "sig of the week" or personal challenges (one member challenges another member to compete in a "sig battle" of sorts--A topic would be chosen by the challenger along with a set of guidelines.) Members could post a signature or piece of art they are working on and ask for advice/tips. Ratings could be given, polls could be tallied; to me, this seems like a lot of fun. Let me restate that: It is a lot of fun; I’ve been to several message boards that do this kind of stuff and I was really wowed by its depth. The possibilities are seemingly endless if you think about it.

With so many up and coming artists looking to improve their skills, why not give them a place hone their skills, as well as learn from experienced artists? I would be more than willing to assist in any preparations that would need to be taken in creating a forum such as this. I understand that signature judging can become rather spammy at times, but it's nothing strict moderation couldn't handle. There’ll be plenty of: "great sig. cool colors 9/10". Sorry, not good enough. Delete. With proper enforcement, a graphic art/signature forum could be extremely useful.

This is only a brief explanation of what I’d like to see, so I’d be happy to go more in-depth if need be. I hope you at least take this idea into consideration. Not only could this draw in additional members equip with a diversified crowd, but it would reward the currently active graphic artists with something new and fresh as well. ‘Tis an idea.

Thanks
-Ian

Wouldn't the sig shop section of the board serve this very purpose of judging? Well, not formally, but enough to serve nearly the same function as you are proposing. I mean, there are people commenting on other people's sig making abilities, etc. Just wondering about that.

Originally Posted by Solarian Wolf

Wouldn't the sig shop section of the board serve this very purpose of judging? Well, not formally, but enough to serve nearly the same function as you are proposing. I mean, there are people commenting on other people's sig making abilities, etc. Just wondering about that.

The signature shop section is meant for members to create shops for other members to request in, obviously. What I'm suggesting is we add sub-forums where members could post specific signatures that they created and ask others what they can do to improve on them. Say I was working on a signature for hours on end but something just didn't seem right. I could create a thread in this proposed forum asking what others thought of it. Members would then post tips, advice, suggestions, etc. They could even take the signature that I was working on, tweak it a bit, and present what they feel would look good.

Again, this is only one of the many possibilites that could be constructed.

Originally Posted by Solarian Wolf

Wouldn't the sig shop section of the board serve this very purpose of judging? Well, not formally, but enough to serve nearly the same function as you are proposing. I mean, there are people commenting on other people's sig making abilities, etc. Just wondering about that.

Most of the times I see people create threads like that, a moderator closes them and says there is no sig discussing allowed If it does go through, its usually at the beginning of a sig shop, and thats not needed. People write and draw in the artwork section and people just criticize, but it seems like mods don't allow that in the signature shop forum. We should have this forum, or allow sig discussing in the current forum.

*edit* Going to find this right now.
Photoshop this picture!!! Its sweet!!1

I know there are more. They must've been moved to the Staff Forums or something. I know Mad Cucco asked for feedback on a sig he made and it was closed.

I love the idea. At the very least, I think they could allow signature judging (or graphics art in general) in the artwork forum.

I really don't see a reason not to, actually.

Then the question becomes: "is the demand for this big enough to create a new forum?"

I'm neutral to all this. Although I've seen only a certain few that are actually into the sig-making and creation. The rest are here for a short period of time to make a sig for others and then they lose interest.

I think, and I might be mistaken, that there might be a reluctance because of previous Signature Discussion threads and how ugly they got. From what I've seen, the level of flaming and arguing got too much to handle, so the whole dealie was shutdown. You probably know the story already, but it doesn't hurt to re-mention it, though.

I still like the idea of a forum, though. I don't think I'd use it, personally, since sig-making's not really my thing, but I'm sure other people would. As for the flaming... Well, there were problems with having a Serious Discussion forum before and that was eventually brought back...

Originally Posted by Solarian Wolf

Then the question becomes: "is the demand for this big enough to create a new forum?"

I'm neutral to all this. Although I've seen only a certain few that are actually into the sig-making and creation. The rest are here for a short period of time to make a sig for others and then they lose interest.

I'd say so. I mean look at all the different shops that are up and running. Sure, most of them are pretty bad, but that's where this forum could come in. With plenty of time and effort, improvement is a sure thing. I can assure you that there are a good deal of members floating around ZU who're looking to build upon their skills in the sig-making department.

Originally Posted by Jims

I think, and I might be mistaken, that there might be a reluctance because of previous Signature Discussion threads and how ugly they got. From what I've seen, the level of flaming and arguing got too much to handle, so the whole dealie was shutdown. You probably know the story already, but it doesn't hurt to re-mention it, though.

I still like the idea of a forum, though. I don't think I'd use it, personally, since sig-making's not really my thing, but I'm sure other people would. As for the flaming... Well, there were problems with having a Serious Discussion forum before and that was eventually brought back...

I understand how difficult it would be to keep an eye on all the obvious problems, but like I mentioned in my first post, it's nothing strict moderation couldn't handle. Rules and Guidelines would be set, if members chose to ignore them then posts would be deleted. I would love for something like this to be created even if that meant strict rules and what have you. I wish I could show you this one forum that did this oh-so perfectly. The entire concept was set up in such an organized manner; everything fell right into place. The only problem however, was the spam. Again, this can be taken care of.

Have you heard of the Signature Chit Chat or something like that? Well, yea, that's a thread where we posted our latest work, and got comments on it. We used to. Until it got way too spammy and flammy, and it was closed for good. I doubt they'll bring it back

I, for one, love the signature chit chat. I really used it to help better myself with photoshop. Since it's been gone, I've stopped using the forum section all together, and indirectly it has added to my demise in the program.

I is a p00r spellar.

http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/...play.php?f=110

Where the hell is Lem.

Anyway, in Farore there is a somewhat inactive graphics chat. Get your clans to start something, and if it isn't extremely spammy, then I'll go ahead and direct something to a higher staff member.

Originally Posted by Genesis

Have you heard of the Signature Chit Chat or something like that? Well, yea, that's a thread where we posted our latest work, and got comments on it. We used to. Until it got way too spammy and flammy, and it was closed for good. I doubt they'll bring it back

Yes, I remember that. And as like you mentioned, it was taken away because of spam and flaming. With some halfway decent moderation, getting rid of this problem would be fairly simple.

Originally Posted by Mess

I, for one, love the signature chit chat. I really used it to help better myself with photoshop. Since it's been gone, I've stopped using the forum section all together, and indirectly it has added to my demise in the program.

I is a p00r spellar.

See, here's a perfect example. Someone who actually benefited from having a signature chit chat. I'm sure there are plenty others who are in the same situation that Mess is.

Though I hate the site itself, Gamerenders has a pretty good setup when it graphics/signatures/etc.

We could have a basic graphics discussion like so: http://www.gamerenders.com/forum/index.php?showforum=88

Weekly sig contests, like so: http://www.gamerenders.com/forum/index.php?showforum=15

You may have to be a member to visit the links provided. My apologies if that's the truth.

Originally Posted by Yami

http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/...play.php?f=110

Where the hell is Lem.

Yeah. The sig of the month around here is pretty much dead. There was motivation at the start, but over the last weeks it seems to have faded away.

I'm all for starting up a Sig of the week competion if this forum did just so happen to be created. Again, if anyone would like more specifics about the topic at hand, feel free to ask. I have this awesome picture in my mind of how everything would come together, and I've only explained the basic starting points. This has potential.

I was thinking of starting a Signature Of The Week thread somewhere on ZU, but then the SotM board went up, so I didn't really bother.

If you ask me, the less glorification signature making gets, the better.

Originally Posted by F3

If you ask me, the less glorification signature making gets, the better.

That is a very narrow and constricted view if you think that sig makers are just working on their "siggies".

Sig making is a way to test out and advance graphic art skills. In fact .. sig making increases the likelihood of that because the designer would have a lot of limitations in the size and such that they become more able with time.

I. for one, would love it if there was a designated place for the graphic designers here to get their own designated place where they can help each other by critiqing, offering each other help, hints, tutorials and such. Mess backs that point up for me.

... well as much as I really dislike signatures *points out his own magic invisible one* I feel that if a person is willing to put time and effort into their making then that action should be appretiated.

A board where sig makers can go and show off their works, see the work of others and generally get to know their 'craft' better would be a great idea.

Although at the same time it would need to be fairly active and have as little spam as possible, because the potential is there for it to be as dead as a graveyard and as spammy as a Forum Games board.