I've said it many times in the Signature Chit-Chat thread and in other threads, but I'm seeing a repetative style in this forum and it's getting to the point where the attitude of "we're true graphic artists" is subtle, but not enough to where it can't be noticed. It seems that to be a good sig maker, your sigs have to look like the same signature you made the last time with layers of filters, senseless abstract c4ds, and copyright images all in order to get a good 3-second "wow" effect. After the praise and critique, you make another signature or art piece in the same manner, only throw in some different colors and lighting effects in order to pass it off as something real. This vicious cycle goes on for however long it takes and I think it has to stop somewhere. Now sounds good enough.
Sig making is an introduction to graphic arts, because it shows you the basics of the program. Despite what I said in my last paragraph, I'm not saying that anybody that makes your average cookie-cutter sig is bad, it's just that they're wasting their potential on making an improvement in what they do and decide to follow a tutorial in order to appease to the seething masses. This in turn, builds up a sense of false accomplishment like you really have mastered the use of Photoshop when in fact, you only made something that is only a fraction of the actual size of most graphic art pieces and only scrathed the surface of graphic arts. We're talking resolutions beginning at 500 X 500 and going on from there. A sig is very easy to make, especially one that has so many bland effects applied to it like the ones I'm criticizing. Try and make something like
this on a 500 X 500 background. It's not easy as it sounds, hell try making that on a background that is the same size as a piece of standard paper and not use any other images or c4ds, just the original stock image and some minor filters. Not so easy to do, because this is what graphic artists do either freelancing or for a living.
All in all, try some new styles. Don't throw away the basics of art in the process though, such basics being light, color, tone, and what the image is supposed to portray. This will lead you on a road of false accomplishment and repetative styles. Try using radically new techniques in your sig making and from there, make something abstract without any stock images that are copyrighted. The results could be good if done right.