What makes a banner worthy... A few suggestions

[Sepuki]

My advice to the original poster is to stop asking for advice. Asking people how you want your art done is stupid and accomplishes nothing.

Now, play nice. :p.

You won't understand any of the advice people give untill you do it yourself and in the meantime your not being genuine. Instead you are trying to win and there is no "winning" in art.

I believe that the original poster already addressed this. In fact, he talked about this in his latest post. Again, :p!

I present to you the perfect banner:



Powerful. Memorable. Intriguing.

*SNORT*

Had I been drinking something, my keyboard would've been sopping wet.

[wurpess]

Well, I've come to the conclusion that I'm completely out of touch w/ what people here are into. I've done banners that I love and are really proud of that get something pitiful like 30 worthy votes, and i've had ones that i thought weren't that good (but I was silly and submitted them anyway.) that would get a lot more votes than the ones I fell in love w/. The same kinda goes for my AMV's. People like the ones I spent a few hours on that I think suck, but don't really like the ones I spend a long time on and are really proud of. So I just do everything for the fun of it and just do what I like. (Well, I did AMV's for the fun of it and the way I like anyway ) So yeah, that's all I have to say about that.

[shiraijunichi]

My advice to the original poster is to stop asking for advice.

I agree. Prior to your post, I had already decided to stop asking for advice. There is a time for hearing advice, and there is a time for applying what you learned from advice you've recieved. I have received advice, learned from it, and now it is time to apply it. Perhaps you were confused with my motives... My purpose was not to learn how to improve the singlular banner I've put up for display, but to learn how to improve all banners I ever create, through advice I recieve on that one banner.

Say your an artist. Your artistic skill is at X. Its up to you the artist to evolve past X on your own and see where you arrive. Anything that will interfer with that is to be avoided at all costs as it is insincere.

I only partially agree. Yes, it is important to use your own judgement, and artistic talent to improve. Having other people do stuff for you won't get you anywhere. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't have any help at all- that everything should be of your own devising. This reminds me of the saying, "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and feed him for a lifetime." I've been trying to learn how to "fish". Though, it seems you would add a tertiary part to the saying- "Give a man a stick and some string, and with enough perseverence, he might learn how to fish before he dies of starvation". To this, I disagree. Unless you're the best in the world, you shouldn't be too proud and stubborn to learn from others.

I present to you the perfect banner:

Powerful. Memorable. Intriguing.

I think that is utterly ridiculous. First of all, I find it offensive that you feel it is your gift to discern what constitutes perfection. When it comes to art, things will always be subjective- there isn't such a thing as perfection- only opinion. And while your opinion is that it is perfect, my opinion is that it is horrible. I think it is bad because it doesn't advertise the site at all. If it wasn't for the logo, I wouldn't have any clue it was advertising anything to do with anime, music videos, or anything on this site. And not only does it not advertise the site well, but, in my opinion, is completely negative. Many people think of abortion as an abomination- and don't want to be associated with it- yet alone visit a web site that seemingly advocates it. And for those who support women's choice, and abortion, I think the text is rendered in such a way as to give abortion a bad connotation. But whether you support abortion or not is irrelevant, because the simple fact remains that this website is about anime music videos, and not your political beliefs. All in all, I completely despise this banner. That is my opinion, and you are entitled to yours

I've done banners that I love and are really proud of that get something pitiful like 30 worthy votes, and i've had ones that i thought weren't that good (but I was silly and submitted them anyway.) that would get a lot more votes than the ones I fell in love w/.

It's strange, isn't it? Well, you love the ones you love. Just because it doesn't become worthy doesn't mean you have to like it less. The most important opinion in the world is your own. As long as you like it, what else is more important?

[SarahtheBoring]

shirai, is this topic about banners or is it about you? I think you need to back off a little if you're actually interested about other people's opinions, and not just filibustering your own opinion for days on end. Personally, I don't care about your banner, with all due respect. Asking for help on one particular banner is what chat is for.

To overlap what other people have said:
"What no opinion OMG" / "leave an opnion omg" == fail
Illiterate == fail (very...very...very common. very. fucking. common.)
Badly resized images, where it looks obviously stretched == fail
Overly pixellated (and I'm not all that picky usually) == fail
ANYTHING about banners themselves, except the VERY rare satire on how lame most of the banners are == fail
Regurgitating taglines from past banners, but with 1/10 the creativity == fail, and if I could reach through my phone line and slap you, I would
Reinforcing stupid stereotypes about anime fans, unless it's unusually creative (note: if you think you're unusually creative, you're probably not) == fail

Anything that actually mentions music, videos, or (GASP!!) anime music videos, without the above == pass
Originality, when it actually shows up, about once a lifetime == pass
Sincere attempts at doing what I think the banners are for, which is to represent the org and what it's here for (note: NOT BANNERS) == pass
I've actually gone so far as to pass many of the lame "girl with logo" ones these days, just because they are merely lame and not insultingly lame like the "omg opioanon plz" / "I onlly heer 2 do bannarz" ones.

People who are only here to do banners and make banners about making banners puzzle the hell out of me. On TV / in print, they don't generally make ads about ads, or ads about making ads. D'you see what I'm getting at? Not that this is exactly the same, but it makes no sense to me.

Please. Just stop being stupid. Spell-check (copy your line of text into a word-processing program and find the spell-check option. PLEASE.). Don't copy old banners; that's just as lame as copying someone else's video that was popular because you think it makes you popular too. Don't resize without keeping the proportions if you're stretching really far one way and not the other. (If you don't understand what that means, don't make banners.)

Stop being stupid. Please. That's all.

[shiraijunichi]

shirai, is this topic about banners or is it about you? I think you need to back off a little if you're actually interested about other people's opinions, and not just filibustering your own opinion for days on end.

This topic is about banners, not about me. I'd like to note that I've only offered opinions about banners twice in this topic- once when I was explicitly asked.

Personally, I don't care about your banner, with all due respect.

That's fine- everyone is entitled to their own opinion. However, I'd like to point out that you are in the minority in that respect. Having excluded myself, out of 150 people, 91 people thought it was worthy. Also, I don't understand why you say you don't like my banner, but fail to give any reasons. This topic isn't about giving unfounded opinions. If I don't know what's wrong with it, how can I, or anyone else for that matter, improve?

Asking for help on one particular banner is what chat is for

Apparently you haven't read all of my posts. As I have before stated, my motive was to learn how to improve all banners I make by getting advice on a singular banner I created. Also, by doing this in the forums, I can make the advice I recieve available to anyone who wants to improve. Everyone talks about how tired they are of recieving banners about opinions or other stuff- but how do you expect them to stop being created if you don't post those opinions for all to see. If everyone on the site read this topic, I'm sure banners about opinions would practically disappear, as almost everyone has stated that such banners instantly fail the worthiness test.

Sarah: Thankyou for your suggestions on banner creation. I concur, and I think lots of people will find your post informative- thankyou

[Arigatomina]

Personally, I don't care about your banner, with all due respect.

That's fine- everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

I think you misunderstand. She doesn't care. That doesn't mean she dislikes it or thinks it's unworthy, it means she doesn't care. Most people on this site don't particularly care about banners. We come because of amvs, not banners. Don't take it as an insult if other people don't care about banners as much as you do.

I only have one problem with your focus in this thread -

It's another reason why there are so many horrible banners- people don't spend the time they should. You might say, "But they got worthied", and I reply, "So what?"

Your response to Sarah:

However, I'd like to point out that you are in the minority in that respect. Having excluded myself, out of 150 people, 91 people thought it was worthy.

To which I reply, "So what?"

Your position here switches sides depending on whether you're talking about *your* banners or banners made by people who "are not you."

Also, by doing this in the forums, I can make the advice I recieve available to anyone who wants to improve.

This would be true but for the fact the banners you keep pushing were made by only you - the criticism of your specific banners isn't general enough to apply to outsiders reading this thread. All the helpful tips are the repeated "Don't do this, this, this, or this, or it's an automatic fail" posts people are making. That's not a discussion, they're just answering a poll. If someone did that asking why people dislike DBZ, it would be locked for being pointless. We all know what people dislike about that anime. And most of us know what people dislike about banners. Why have everyone and his brother post the exact same list?

This seems more like a political campaign. You invite discussion under the pretense that you want to mold your banners to fit what people want. But you spend the entire time arguing that people should accept what you do and vote it worthy because for you to change it would be to conform your 'art' to fit them. You keep saying it doesn't matter what other people think. How can you make a thread asking their opinions with a straight face when your response is "so what? It appears you think the opinions of others are more important than your own."

I don't see why you made this thread. Either you're compromising yourself (suddenly you *do* think opinions are more important than your own), or you're trying to bring attention to your banner in hopes of more votes the next time you submit it. If it's the latter, you lost one more vote.

My "automatic fail list":

1. If the creator begs for people to vote it worthy in his journal = fail.
2. If the creator pimps it over the forum or chatrooms = fail.

There's a reason we don't have a "Banner Announcement" forum.

[inthesto]

Am I the only one who just doesn't care about them?

[Arigatomina]

Just so I don't give the wrong impression.

So, here's the old image-

I liked this - the original banner. The more it was conformed and changed to fit the complaints, the more I disliked it. The original was *original*. The following versions were leaning more and more toward the expected.

The only reason I wouldn't vote the original worthy is because I didn't get the characters shown - I don't get the catch phrase. "Bringing fans together?" What fans? Am I supposed to know who those pictures are of? Are you saying amvs will give your boyfriends? Or are they both boys in that picture and you're saying you'll find soul mates with similar hobbies? I don't get it. So I didn't vote it.

Artistically, I liked the original one - the others got increasingly gaudy to look at.

[Poetic_Kaos]

The only reason I wouldn't vote the original worthy is because I didn't get the characters shown - I don't get the catch phrase. "Bringing fans together?" What fans? Am I supposed to know who those pictures are of? Are you saying amvs will give your boyfriends? Or are they both boys in that picture and you're saying you'll find soul mates with similar hobbies? I don't get it. So I didn't vote it

You are completly over analyzing the material/situation at hand.

My "automatic fail list":

1. If the creator begs for people to vote it worthy in his journal = fail.
2. If the creator pimps it over the forum or chatrooms = fail.

Ouch, seems a bit vengeful. I see why you have a problem with publizing banners on the forum, but if its done in a journal/chatroom its far less annoying.

[Arigatomina]

You are completly over analyzing the material/situation at hand.

Probably. ^_^

I do the same thing with the 'pretty girl' pics. If they aren't characters I see in amvs (and I've watched a *lot* of amvs), then why are they on the banner? They don't reflect anything on this site. If I don't get it, I don't vote it.

Ouch, seems a bit vengeful. I see why you have a problem with publizing banners on the forum, but if its done in a journal/chatroom its far less annoying.

True. I guess I've seen too many journals in the last month of people doing nothing but complaining or begging about banners. We used to have people do that with amvs, but with banners...it's really a pet peeve.

Could be worse. I could vote 'no' to anything featuring an anime female. That would reflect my likes and discount 98% of the banners submitted. ;p