gaining drive
Unless you're the type of person that can make incredible graphics with little effort, you probably need some form of inspiration or motivation to pull you through the finish line. There are many ways to get inspiration, although not everybody may share the same methods. Me, for example...I have to get jealous or competetive to get serious on making graphics. Other times it only takes a slight obsession with an anime/manga/game/jdrama/etc. Reading fanfictions, listenening to songs, or even looking at other people's graphics can usually do the trick. How you're inspired can usually affect/influence the result of your graphics style.
The images you can find on the internet (or off) are endless in numbers. That's why there're countless ways to make your graphics. The basis of everything should be the image itself; it should be eye-catching somewhat. That doesn't necessarily mean it has to be flashy; simple images can often carry a strong impression. After choosing the right image, you should try to stick to a theme...and with that theme apply colors and effects. Good text can pull off as a good effect on the graphic. Phrases that sum up the theme can make the graphic seem less empty. It also draws the viewer's attention more to its surroundings. You shouldn't bombard your graphics with text and effects though; the balance between the image and the effects changes, and that may draw the attention towards the effects. They should be drawn more towards the image, which is accented with effects to gain more emphasis on the general theme.
||June 11, 2006||
random songs for inspiration?
Japanese: T_T I love Kokia's music...sigh. I'd recommend Daiji na Mono wa Mabuta no Ura and Ningentte Sonna Mono Ne for those that haven't listened to anything by her as of yet. Ah, I dunno...they give off like sort of a sad and moving mood...and floaty. Kay, Sakura Kiss from Ouran High School Host Club is just too catchy. XD It screams "sunshine". It reminds me of bubblegum or something...anything pink really. It's so catchy! Man! You could bop your head to it. Next song is Lost Butterfly by RURUTIA--this is just pretty. It's my favorite song by her. It gives off...like a peaceful atmosphere, something like falling in love for the first time almost. Her high-voice just makes it sound even more pretty/innocent/dreamy. I could definitely make a couple of layouts to this one. Let's see...and last random song I'd recommend would be Ensei from Mai-HiME. It's Kajiura Yuki...what do you expect XD. 9/10 times her bgms will have a goosebump-ish effect on you. This is probably the most used bgm in the series...and it just promotes a saddening effect on you (if you've ever watched it). Even if you haven't watched it...it's just...sad kind of. It's hard to explain Kajiura's bgms...really it is lol.
Korean: Shy Love by Sugar = my favorite korean song ever. Sugar is probably one of the less known girl kpop groups of its time (90s-ish). This is probably the saddest korean song I've listened to besides Wheesung's "A Story I Can't Tell". The intro of the song can really get you by itself. The verses are pretty good too, the only thing that gets me bored is probably the chorus...cause all of the prettiness has already been sung =o. Candy by H.O.T reminds me of those songs that disney artists perform. I can picture Mickey Mouse dancing around with some kid XD. BUT, it's catchy! They're singing gets a little out of tune most of the time, but it's catchy and happy? And bouncy. Last summer night by Kangta pretty much sounds like its title. With just 1-2 acoustic guitars, and maybe a little drum thingie...its quietness reminds you of a summer night really. Those kind of nights when all you can see is the sky and the stars, and it's so quiet that you can hear all the bugs everywhere lol (although you can probably hear them even if there were a hoard of cars driving by your house all the time). And then a violin kicks in slightly later in the song. This song just brings about a calm sensation...calm and peaceful. Last song is Happy Birthday to Me by Bulldog Mansion. Yet another upbeat/happy song. You can create a cute layout or something for this song. With puppies and bubbles or something lol. It's just cute. It's also probably the only k-rockish song I've ever listened to. If you've ever watched "There she is! part 2" on Newgrounds.com...you know this song *wink*.
Chinese: I don't know anymore with these guys lol. F.I.R. is either a taiwanese group or a cpop group =o google confuses me these days. Anyway, Wo Men De Ai by F.I.R gives me goosebumps every single time I listen to it. In a good way =D. It's my favorite song by them...and it's just...good. GOOD. You've got like...a bunch of violins playing in the background, a piano, acoustic guitars, and just really good percussion and vocals. This song makes you feel like...you're in the sky or something. It's really pretty. Man...the vocals/violins/piano....they all just work so well together. The song's really great. This next song BAO WAAN by Clash I think is after Glay's Rain. o_o it could be the other way around...or maybe both of them were remakes of a different original song...either way...they have the exact same melody for the majority of the songs. *cough* Clash's version is better *cough*. I like the guy's voice. A lot. This song also reminds me of love for some reason. It's like...expressing your feelings to the sky. Man, it's hard to describe this song really. But the chorus is amazing =D.
random artwork for inspiration?
Love-Celeb!!! Not quite sure if it's Japanese or Korean...but I really don't care. It's sooo good. Man...looking at Gin's images (any image really, not only his close-ups) just makes me shiver. You could totally make an icon or layout with this guy. I don't care much for the girl lol. Gin's just soo...incredibly sexy and cute at the same time. He's such a bad-ass but yet, innocent and affectionate? *squeals* open your graphic-editing program right now and stick Gin in there!
Death Note!!! What's that? You haven't READ it yet? *gasp* Well, the manga ended already...and they're currently making both a live action movie AND an anime =D. The artist for this one comes from the famous Hikaru no Go! If you liked the art for that manga, you'll like this one better *wink*. Raito, L, Mello, and Neiar...all of them are good to use in layouts. The artist creates really good angle shots of them, and puts them in nice poses too. So it won't be hard to make anything out of those guys. If you don't like humans, you can always make stuff out of the shinigami heh.
Naruto!!! You can use this series for ANYTHING. How old is this series anyway? *shrugs* 3-4 years and still going! The artwork is so good...that the majority of the characters in the series look awesome one way or another. You can make good stuff with either the manga or the anime, since they're pretty much scene for scene. If you keep up with the story, it won't be hard for you to stick a theme to your graphics ^^. But man, if you get the right image, you can make a crazy-good graphic.
random shows for inspiration?
Kay, I'm going to talk about jdramas since I don't really watch kdramas =o sorry. Probably the most eye-pleasing series is Hana Yori Dango. The show looks good all the time. The actors look good all the time. It just looks good. HYD I think is the first jdrama I watched fully. With its storyline...it wouldn't be hard to think of phrases for your text.
Ehh, well this isn't a show. Who cares. It's NANA XD. The music to anything related to NANA is good (anime...LA...whatever it's good). Hmmm, not as many good shots as HYD...but if you screencap at the right moments, you can get a decent image to work with. For this kind of movie...it would probably be best to stick two people into your graphics. I usually imagine two people face to face. It could be lover to lover or friend to friend. I dunno, it would seem pretty dull to just make a character do a solo, since the story is mostly about relationships...
Nobuta wo Produce. I have YET to watch it *clentches fists*, but I have seen images and read summaries about this jdrama. It looks good. I think you can mostly make humurous graphics (if you've seen the screenshots that I've seen lol). Hmm...I guess I'd recommend it to those that haven't watched it yet, only cause I myself am striving to find a hardsub of it<--not good with soft subs x.x;
random sites for inspiration
Pure Play--a lj of a person who owns another site (which is down right now cough). Her layout reminds me of something you would find in a magazine ad you know? Like those creative ones by target or hp or something XD. It's Host Club! Geez, didn't know you could do all that with an lj. >_< Feels like a site all on its own. All the graphics on here are pretty lively, and the orange is making me thirsty for some reason Oo. If you scroll down long enough you can see some of her icons. >< I like those icons. She probably has more icons around her lj somewhere, but for that entry she has a variety of them somewhat...ranging from Kingdom Hearts 2 to Full Metal Alchemist animated icons =D.
Leafunia--First time visiting it for me. Again, this is a kind of layout that I could imagine seeing in a magazine (probably a fashion one...not that I read them lol). If my eyes serve me right...I believe that's a Pretear layout o.o. The style gives off a cool and different feel of depth.
Hakudoushi--what the heck. XD That layout is crazyy! It feels like Daisuke was handrawn for some reason. But anyway...arghh, how do you put all that in a single layout? Unbelievable. If only it were in english ;__;. I wish I could make something as cool as that. Just looks like a piece of great artwork...
Transience--fdafdsafjdsafs! My goal is to make icons as beautiful as those one day =o. Blah. >_< argh...talented people...
Crimson Shade--a link I found to Transience. The icons here aren't too bad either. They're all somewhat grungy, and red is obviously a favorite color here XD. Click here and you get to see some other stuff. I personally like the first two of the bunch on this page. Well, pretty much just the second one lol. It's Sasuke...how can you resist?