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Profiles --> Design |
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With my newfound popularity, I decided to do something worthwhile o.O Here is a bit of a tutorial and some tips on creating he basic design of a profile. Later I will have pictures and more of a walkthrough on it. As of right now text should do fine.
[Note: This is aimed specifically to people who create their own graphics]
Intro
While browsing through profiles, I find that some severely lack eye-catching graphics, or that 'pull factor'. There are many good journal entries and threads around Gaia on basic coding for profiles, however I have yet to see one thats based upon the biggest factor on how your profile holds up against others; Design.
So yes, the overall look has a huge part in your profiles attractiveness. Thats common sense really. You could have some of the best coding on Gaia, but it wont get you very far without the other half of the rainbow blaugh
Personality in Graphics
The pictures you put up are an extension of you *Laughs at that comment*
Really though, when someone enters a profile and sees the main image, they should get a small idea of you, your likes and dislikes, and of course, your skill and dedication.
When I created the 'Intelligence is just a click away' profile, I was working towards a technical, clean cut profile that went out of the usual Anime, 2-dimensional designs. I feel the finished product does me justice (Or at least in person, no way in hell does it reflect my room xD).
Its all a matter of opinion though, and in profiles, it is your opinion that matters the most. Create a profile for you, not something that everyone else is doing, or something that looks cool.
Art in Profiles
Now, some of the best profiles I have seen contain Avi-art, or a drawing of some sort within the profile. Off the top of my head I can name Chisa, Lull, and TriskDaemon as some of the more recognized users that sucessfully incorporate art into their profiles. Now how the hell do they do it so great you may ask? Its not as easy as some find, but its a far cry from complicated. Colors, positioning and size all have a great deal to do with it.
&s**t sorry about that, my bunny took off with my mango and I had to chase him down sweatdrop &
So Ill take Chisa's profile as the example here.
I chose to point out her profile s the artwork and profile are not the same, yet she manages to make it look great on her profile.
So looking at Chisa's profile, we are immediately struck by 2 images and some lovely background colors. The main image is the one of herself, sitting on the left-hand site with a paintbrush in hand. The second, more humble image is the outline of 'chi-garden' and is used more of a background/header. Focusing on the Chisa's drawing we can deduct that its.. really good =P
Now for seriousness, the positioning is rather intriguing. Notice how areas of the character stick out of the borders of her profile? This simplicity in design adds another dimension to a profile, or any piece of work in general. Keep this in mind.. Sticking out (To a certain degree) = Good!
Now what has always bunked me on her profile is how she managed to make a picture with vibrant colors like that stick in with the rest of her profile. Then I realized it was not the actual picture, rather the rest of the profile that made the picture at home.
Her profile is mainly shades of blue, or at least te background, however in the forground she has quite a few other colors. Take a look at the links to the right for example, those images aurely are not blue. Also, whether she had this in mind or not, the drawing allows her to use actual wishlist icons, which are quite often restrained from customized CSS profiles as they look out of place.
Lets compare her profile to mine, designwise (Naturally mine is better *runs from chisa weilding her paintbrush giggling*)
I would never be able to throw in just any image onto my profile and have it look in place. Say for example I took her links (The ones to the right of her profile) and aligned them correctly to my profile, it would most definately look terrible.
Also, notice how I had to change my wishlist icons to look proper on my profile? Not a problem for chisa.
What I am trying to say is, you can fit images into profiles without having to re-color wither your profile or your image. The important part is to allow the rest of your profile to excel in color.
Oh, and avoid putting in a code to tint the colors of all things on your profile, that looks horrible in my opinion wink
<More Coming>
 InstanceOddity · Thu Jul 27, 2006 @ 03:39pm · 12 Comments |
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