Last Icon Maker Standing Info & Scores

[xaphania]

Last Icon Maker Standing
Information and Scores

In this thread, I will post the information on how the LIMS contest will work, and at the end of each round, the scores will also be posted here.

As this works with a round-by-round elimination, only those who have signed up can participate.

For each round, I will provide picture(s) or screencap(s), or give a general theme. If I provide the screencaps, then you may only use these for your icon. More specific instructions may be given each round.

Blending, adding textures, brushes, effects and text etc. is allowed, but animation is not. You may use more than one of the screencaps.

Icons should be:
-100x100 in size
-Made specifically for this contest
-Not used/displayed elsewhere until the round’s voting is over
-All your own work

Free Passes
Each participant has two free passes, and if you are unable to participate in a round, please PM me to let me know that you are using one of yours. However, please try to send in an icon every round! I know things come up in RL, so hopefully having the free passes will help.

Scoring
I’ve decided to follow the traditional LIMS scoring, which works as follows: votes are given for your three least favourite icons, and for the icons you consider your favourites, eg:

Voting Off:
WORST (-3 points): #00 - Reasons.
SECOND-WORST (-2 points): #00 - Reasons.
THIRD-WORST (-1 point): #00 - Reasons.

Favourites:
FAVOURITE (+3 points): #00 – Reasons.
SECOND-FAVOURITE (+2 points): #00 – Reasons.
THIRD-FAVOURITE (+1 point): #00 – Reasons.

I’ll then work out the scores for each icon (everyone begins with a base score of 0) and the one with the lowest amount of points is eliminated.

Both participants and non-participants can vote, and votes should be PMed to me. You should give a reason for voting icons off, and a reason for your favourite icons. The reason should be an honest critique based on the quality of the icon and not personal preference (eg. Don’t vote positively for an icon with Faith in it, just because she is your favourite character). When the results for each round are posted, I will also post the comments pertaining to each icon. The comments are ideal for finding out what works and what doesn’t with your icon, and are designed to help you improve for further rounds.

I know the voting procedure may look complicated at this point, but after a couple of rounds you should hopefully get the hang of how it all works.

Immunity
The winning icon in a round will be awarded immunity from the next round. That means that even if your icon in the next round receives the lowest score, you cannot be eliminated. However, you should still submit an entry for the following round.

I think that’s everything I need to tell you about how the contest will work! I hope you made it through to the end If you have any questions about it, you can PM me.

Participants
Wyndam
B E N
Erica
Evilwillowrocker
drusillacakes
Secret Scoobie
TabulaRasa
Just Willow
VampSlayer
Iceeh
Skytteflickan88
CowboyGuy
Midnight Butterfly
deathisyourgift
caitaintdead
dragonweaver
faiththeslayer
Greer

NOTE: Please don't post in this thread, as it is for information and scores only. Thanks!

[xaphania]

LIMS Hall of Fame

All winning icons from each round will be displayed in this Hall of Fame post.

Round One


By CowboyGuy


By Just Willow

Round Two


By Erica

Round Three


By Erica

Round Four


by Secret Scoobie

[xaphania]

Round One Scores

Eliminated:


By EvilWillowRocker


By caitaintdead

Thank you for entering!

Voters Choice
It was a tie, so both icons will win immunity from the next round. However, you must still submit an icon for round two!


By CowboyGuy


By Just Willow

Who Made What?

You can see who made which icon, in the following document:
docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYYvN29aievLZGZ2dHhmYzlfMmRxZmZ3aGM4&hl=en

Scores Breakdown

1: (-17) + (+5) = -12
2: (-6) + (+9) = 3
3: (-14) + (+8) = -6
4: (-7) + (+0) = -7
5: (-5) + (+9) = 4
6: (-2) + (+17) = 15
7: (-9) + (+10) = 1
8: (-0) + (+12) = 12
9: (-17) + (+6) = -11
10: (-10) + (+1) = -9
11: (-1) + (+12) = 11
12: (-22) + (+11) = -11
13: (-3) + (+9) = 6
14: (-1) + (+11) = 10
15: (-9) + (+24) = 15
16: (-41) + (+3) = -38
17: (-3) + (+17) = 14

Comments

And I’ve also uploaded the document with the comments in, here:
docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYYvN29aievLZGZ2dHhmYzlfMjJmNnpiM3JjMg&hl=en
Have a look at what people said about your icon (and other peoples), hopefully it will help as the contest continues.

To keep this thread tidy, please use this thread for commenting:
forum.slayalive.com/index.cgi?board=contests&action=display&thread=9012

[xaphania]

Round Two Scores

Eliminated:


By Skyteflickan88


By VampSlayer

Thank you for entering!

Voters Choice
You will have immunity for the next round. However, you must still submit an icon for round three!


By Erica

Scores Breakdown

1: (-3) + (+16) = 13
2: (-18) + (+2) = -16
3: (-9) + (+22) = 13
4: (-3) + (+2) = -1
5: (-11) + (+6) = -5
6: (-) + (+23) = 23
7: (-13) + (+5) = -8
8: (-4) + (+11) = 7
9: (-19) + (+1) = -18
10: (-25) + (+) = -25
11: (-7) + (+16) = 9
12: (-5) + (+) = -5
13: (-16) + (+10) = -6
14: (-2) + (+15) = 13
15: (-3) + (+6) = 3
16: (-) + (+3) = 3

Who Made What & Comments
Comments are under the spoiler tag.
Have a look at what people said about your icon (and other peoples), hopefully it will help as the contest continues.

Icon 1

By Midnight Butterfly

SPOILER: Click to show

(+)Simple but effective, nicely placed text.
(+)I loved this scene with Giles.
(+)Colors are pretty.
(-)The coloring is too dim.
(+)Honestly I just love this shot of Giles. Again the colorizing is very well done.
(+)The image of Giles in grey tones is wonderful, it would have rated higher for me if there was no text. The OMG detracts from the icon. The image set off-centred is perfect, the "feel" to the image is set in the greyscale colouring.
(+)Great quote used, and a lovely colour.
(+) Love the colouring, great font choice and brings in a 3rd reference of the scoobies reaction as well as Buffy viewers, so it has a bit extra meaning I think. Also good crop
(+)looove this moment, and the OMG is a great way of capturing the scoobies reaction.
(+)Honestly this one made me laugh. Great use of text and color balancing.

Icon 2

By dragonweaver

SPOILER: Click to show

(-) Like the idea, but just doesn't really work with that specific picture. Quality isn't great.
(-)A bit blurry quality on the pic down to the right. Maybe some text?
(-)The box effect doesn't work well enough for such a small space. The pictures need to be sharpened as well. Too blurry!
(-)it's a cool idea, but it's really hard to see when it's all chopped up like that
(-)crop lessens image quality.
(-)I love the concept with the multiple crops, but it's a bit too simplistic.
(-) I don't like the cropping.
(-)The zoomed in shot that has just Angels mouth is kind of awkward.
(+)My first reaction was to disregard this one as three images on such a small picture seemed to be too many, but the more I looked at it the more I liked it. I think the two smaller images were well-selected and add to the impact of the icon.
(-)The cut-off hands don't work for me; it's hard to recognise what they are.

Icon 3

By CowboyGuy

SPOILER: Click to show

(+) Nice colouring and an interesting crop.
(+)Love the colouring
(+)Effect and subtle text work amazing well with this screencap.
(+)i like the lighting
(-)Bad colourisation quality.
(-)the picture isn't really clear.
(+)Good text and colors.
(+)Great font, great coloring, nicely cropped.
(+)like the coloring.
(-)Nothing spectacular here, and I don't like the colouring.
(+)The grungy look created by the combination of colouring, lighting, and lettering fits very well with the topic of the icon.
(+)The picture is too blurred and I can't even see Spike's face.
(+)really interesting coloring and text, took me a while to notice the text was there, but it's great.
(+)The color effect and faded text just really works.

Icon 4

By Just Willow

SPOILER: Click to show

(-)I don’t know, one moment I think the text fits, the next moment I don’t.
(+)Like the large font
(-)Lorne seems a little faded, and the font coulda been different.
(+)Great crop job and I love the use of text, it doesn't overpower the image, but still stands out.
(-)It's just very simple and doesn't stand out among the other entries.

Icon 5

By Iceeh

SPOILER: Click to show

(-)too simple
(+)Lovely bright clear picture and nice colours.
(-)I'm not a fan of the coloring.
(+)The coloring is very nice.
(-)A little plain and I would have liked the image to be zoomed in more on Lorne's face.
(-)I don't like the pink tone - it is almost a psychedelic look which is not Lorne.

Icon 6

By Erica

SPOILER: Click to show

(+)Absolutely love this, the simplicity of the icon, the great colours and the caption is perfect - and funny, too.
(+)The text is just so true. Love what you did with the background.
(+)Like the text and background
(+)blend works.
(+)Love the colors.
(+)Love the color pallette used and the text.
(+)Really nice idea for crop and background. Nice colouring too, and font works well.
(+)The blue background is great, but the font could use a little change.
(+)simple, elegant, and the text is just perfect.
(+)Really beautiful icon. Perfect text, nice blending, and interesting crop choice. Love it.

Icon 7

By deathisyourgift

SPOILER: Click to show

(-) The sideways font is really hard to read and the effect at the top makes Spike look weird.
(-)The coloring on Spike's face takes away from the overall image..
(+)perfect scene and perfect text.
(-)Spike's face looks a little too red... Maybe a blending issue? Good choice of font, but it looks sort of cramped.
(-)kind of bright in corner.
(+)I like the cropping.
(-)The blurring around the top is a little distracting.
(+)Love the fonts and text and great crop.
(-)Spike's head looks distorted / low quality. (Nice lettering though!)
(-)The picture is too blurred and I can't even see Spike's face.

Icon 8

By drusillacakes

SPOILER: Click to show

(+) Simple color enhancement plus silly quote makes silly scene more silly. Simple and excellent at the same time.
(-) The screencap colours are a bit too saturated, but I like the text.
(+)good quality.
(-)Picture distorted and text doesn't flow right.
(+)the picture is nice and clear and I love the text.
(+)Made me laugh more. Good text.

Icon 9

By VampSlayer

SPOILER: Click to show

(-) I wish more had been done with this; the font is good but isn't the most graceful, and the border... eh. It doesn't do much to spice up the scene or give it more meaning; black-and-white would have worked well here, to give it a picturesque quality (more-so than Summer can do naturally of course).
(-)The others are just better. She's graceful, so the text it true, but I don't like the frame.
(-)I didn't like the red border or font.
(-)Colours too bright.
(-)It's too plain for my taste.
(+)Totally beautiful.
(-)Bad Quality.
(-)A little bland and I don't like the cropping job
(-)The picture was not focused, and it just seemed hard to see the "grace" font.

Icon 10

By Skytteflickan88

SPOILER: Click to show

(-) I like the cropping, but not much has been done to improve the colour/quality of the screencap.
(-) The dark colors and purple don't work for the picture or Lorne.
(-)The pink coloring went a bit too far.
(-)too pink
(-)Dislike choice of editing.
(-)Colors are weird.
(-)The way its cropped is a little weird.
(-)really purple.
(-)I don't like the pink tone - it is almost a psychedelic look which is not Lorne.
(-)Interesting crop, but the colouring is too dark and harsh for Lorne's gentle and bright nature. He is also too out of focus for my liking.
(-)Lorne's face is too pink; among other things it makes his tongue blend with his chin.
(-)way too over-saturated coloring, and I love saturated colors...
(-)The color balance and hue is just not appealing. Mix that with the way the icon was cropped and it becomes hard to tell the character is actually Lorne.

Icon 11

By faiththeslayer

SPOILER: Click to show

(+)The effects really make the picture stand out.
(+)Romantic and sweet. Great effects. Just wish I could read the text.
(-)The texture makes the image look like poor quality.
(+)Amazing effect and the text, although hard to read, really adds to the piece.
(+)love the texture effect
(-)Too blurry.
(+)Awesome texture, and generally well put together.
(-)kind of plain.
(-)It's too textured.
(-)The image is too faded looking and I cannot tell is the blurry stuff on the bottom is text or not and if it is text, it isn't readable.
(+)Love the romantic, nostalgic atmosphere.
(+)The coloring is great, and the effect of the words on the bottom is great.

Icon 12

By Greer

SPOILER: Click to show

(-) Aside from the great font, this one doesn't have a whole lot going for it. Would have liked to see more done from this extreme close-up.
(-)Seems a bit too washed out.
(-)texture over Spike's face makes it look bland.

Icon 13

By Secret Scoobie

SPOILER: Click to show

(+) First glance, I wasn't a huge fan of this one, but I really love the blurring to give the effect of motion, and the quote is fitting for River. I'd be curious to see the banner counterpart personally.
(-) It looks quite washed out, and I'm not keen on the blurring.
(+)I love the effect, font/colors and quote. Just works perfectly for River.
(-)Didn't like smudge effect
(+)Nice use of blending and interesting text.
(-)Too blurry and sort of simple.
(+)I like the text this person used, nice use of blur and good focus.
(+)Text fits the icon well and it's a great zoom of the image.
(-)I felt like the blur button was used just a bit too much, and the font selection could've been better.
(-)sloppy use of blend tool, text is boring.
(-)I love the text but the blur effect over powers the image.

Icon 14

By TabulaRasa

SPOILER: Click to show

(+) Turning up the green and adding the red dots really sings "Lorne!!!!!" and that's good, it's an excellent Lorne avatar. Those red dots also carry more meaning about Lorne/Andy than I think can be done with any amount of words.
(+) You've done a fantastic job of balancing the colours from the original screencap, and the dotted brush is a great finishing touch.
(+)Great color and nice touch with the red dots.
(+)The red dots really help this icon stand out from the other Lorne avatars.
(+)it just makes me smile.
(+)good edit.
(+)I like the cropping & coloring.
(-)The red dots on this icon are strange. Gives an entirely too reptilian feel to the icon.
(+)I like the image of Lorne and the red spots. I don't know why, but the spots just seem right somehow.
(-)Good cropping and colouring, just not a fan of the red spots, they don't quite blend into it as well as they could have. Kind of intrusive.

Icon 15

By Wyndam

SPOILER: Click to show

(-) Mixing the two people clutters this one, and the font doesn't quite carry the original meaning of the scene - it's colorful and shiny and David delivers the line sort of deadpan. David's such a big boy, too, that simplicity is the way to go with screencaps of him.
(+)Great quote, font, and color.
(-)Don't much like the text.
(+)Artsy yet simple.
(+)Good crop, nice color-- meshes well with the font.
(+)the girl face looking at Angel. Good having in the icon for humour.
(-)Just because there is less to it than the others. Nothing particularly wrong with it but the crop is basic, and with the colouring. It's good just not spectacular.
(+)Great combination of text and picture, very funny.

Icon 16

By B E N

SPOILER: Click to show

(+)Great text used, and a nice crop job. I would love to use this one!

To keep this thread tidy, please use this thread for commenting:
forum.slayalive.com/index.cgi?board=contests&action=display&thread=9131

[xaphania]

Round Three Scores

Eliminated:


By Midnight Butterfly


By dragonweaver

Thank you for entering!

Voters Choice
You will have immunity for the next round. However, you must still submit an icon for round four!


By Erica

Scores Breakdown

1: (-18) + (+) = -18
2: (-3) + (+30) = 27
3: (-2) + (+27) = 25
4: (-) + (+8) = 8
5: (-25) + (+5) = -20
6: (-3) + (+12) = 9
7: (-13) + (+6) = -7
8: (-7) + (+4) = -3
9: (-14) + (+3) = -11
10: (-16) + (+4) = -12
11: (-5) + (+11) = 6
12: (-14) + (+10) = -4


Who Made What & Comments
Comments are under the spoiler tag.
Have a look at what people said about your icon (and other peoples), hopefully it will help as the contest continues.

Icon 1

By dragonweaver

SPOILER: Click to show

(-)Nothing really pops with this one. The pink text is hard to read and doesn't stick out enough, and there wasn't anything special done with the screencap.
(-)can't read the text
(-)I don’t like that the text is pretty much unreadable. A bit boring.
(-)can’t physically read the text.
(-)Image is fine, crop is fine, but the text is soooo tiny I had trouble reading it, if it's going to be tiny-text it needs to be much smaller, otherwise we'll try to read it and fail, like I just did .
(-)Love the duo, but not the words.
(-)Can't see text.
(-)I love the crop, but the text at the bottom is not suitable... I'm not sure if it's the colours of the lines, but its not the right theme.
(-)Having a really hard time reading the font. Still don't know what it says.
(-)I can barely read the text, it's too small.

Icon 2

By Erica

SPOILER: Click to show

(+)Like the font and like image being at left
(+)So bright, pretty and perfect. Perfect text! "Love your hair" - yes!
(+)The bold, black text works wonderfully.
(+)It just looks nice.
(+)Great crop choice and the text is perfect.
(+)cause when i saw it i laughed and spat ice cream at my computer
(+)Great color and appropriate text.
(-)Fonts too big, for me.
(+)Great choice or style and text.
(+)Penny and NPH really pop thanks to well done coloring, and the text is perfecto.
(-)Love the duo, but not the look of the image - too faded - and do not like the words.
(+)it looks so clean and perfect. The text makes it - AWESOME.
(+)Beautiful crop, beautiful coloring, and love the text.

Icon 3

By B E N

SPOILER: Click to show

(+)Like the lights effect
(+)Really gorgeous icon. The coloring, cropping, and texture are all lovely.
(+)Great effect and use of the lens flares.
(+)I like the simplicity of it, and the dots.
(+)The little lights and mellow color tone makes it a very romantic icon. Good work.
(+)Simple and stylish. The "bubbles" nicely symbolize the magic in that kiss.
(-)don't like the polka-dotty things
(+)the effects are perfect .
(+)looks great, simple layout and image work.
(+)Simple crop+subdued palette+sparkly texture=Lovely icon!
(+)The sparkly dots blend in nice with the image
(+)Nice crop and love the dots, very magical!
(+)Love the color choice, and the little dots.

Icon 4

By Secret Scoobie

SPOILER: Click to show

(+)Great effect, really makes the two stand out. Cool font too.
(+)it's just plain adorable
(+)I like the crop and colors.
(+)Good use of space. Like the brushes this person used.

Icon 5

By Midnight Butterfly

SPOILER: Click to show

(-)A little too dark. Hard to see exactly who or what is going on.
(-)The faded out grey scale makes it hard to tell what this is. If that scene weren't such a popular cap for banners and icons, I'd have trouble knowing what I was looking at. It's a good idea but it didn't quite work out.
(-)I don't think the coloring fits.
(-)The coloring doesn't really work with this one. Buffy and Spike's facial features seem to have melted away a bit.
(-)It's too dark, and the colors don't go together.
(-)It has a great look and color, but the actual image is way too dark.
(+)Unique style; very atmospheric.
(+)The color contrast and brush MAKES this icon. Seriously, it's beautiful. I'm almost a Spuffy shipper because of this icon. (Almost.)
(-)I don't really like the coloring .
(-)dislike choice of colourisation, brush work distorts image .
(-)Coloring obscures images, and I don't get why Spike is red and Buffy's grayscale?
(-)Sorry just don't like coloring at all. And Spikes hair looks weird.
(-)The colors are kind of drab- don't like the mix of gray and brown.

Icon 6

By CowboyGuy

SPOILER: Click to show

(+)I like the coloring.
(+)The yellow effect and the heart really make this icon stand out.
(+)Coloring is good, like the little heart.
(+)I love the fifties look with the candy colours and the cute little heart. Sweet.
(-)it's too plain .
(+)Like the warm tone in color.
(+)The tones, the crop and the heart = perfect.
(+)It's simple, yet sweet.

Icon 7

By Greer

SPOILER: Click to show

(-)Picture is very blurred
(+)At first, I didn't like this one. But I kept looking at it and the blurred cap with the words "escape" started to grow on me. Because that moment should be blurred. And the blurring effect actually makes it look like Buffy and Spike are fused into one being, which is what Buffy wants then - to be lost in him, to lose herself and forget. Well done.
(-)Whatever effect was done to this one, it made Spike and Buffy too blurry.
(+)Interesting use of blurred image and I like the font.
(+)Blur out, bring in "escape". It's so simple but adds a lot of emotion to an already powerful scene. Love it!
(-)blur works well sometimes but not so well in this case.
(-)Too bright and blurry.
(+)A bit too blurred, but the color and text is good.
(-)Not a fan of the overall blur. but the text is great.
(-)Not lovin' the effect on this one.

Icon 8

By Just Willow

SPOILER: Click to show

(+)Simple and sweet with perfect placement of the heart in the corner.
(+)I like the cropping.
(-)I wish there was more of the original image with the characters.
(-)Don't like the crop.
(-)The colouring of the background and placement of the images

Icon 9

By drusillacakes

SPOILER: Click to show

(-)The effect brings down the picture quality a lot. Hard to read the quote.
(-)Too much writing
(-)It's just too dark, and the font doesn't fit the icon at all.
(-)Quality looks bad and text doesn't really work.
(-)The contrasts are too harsh and the text doesn't stand out enough against the background.
(-)It's the quote that gets me here - I think if you'd shrunk the font size down, or just cut out "Should I call you" that you could have utilized more space in the icon for some additional modifications to the graphics. I do like what you've done with the shot, but I also feel like it's missing something, and the quote is what drew my attention to that fact.
(+)Love the color and text.
(+)I love the text .
(-)It feels cramped, and the picture looks grainy.

Icon 10

By deathisyourgift

SPOILER: Click to show

(-)Great cropping, but the grey just doesn't look that good.
(+)Basically because it looks nice and I like the grey
(-)The gray matte background sucks all the sweet energy out of the kiss. It makes it very anti-shiny.
(-)I think the coloring made their bodies look weird.
(+)Crop choice, grayed out background & text are all excellent and work well.
(+) it’s funny, and it's the only one with that particular screencap.
(-)Too much of the characters is cut off. Background is too plain. Bland text.
(-)Ah, the dreaded clipping of bodies. It is abundantly obvious what was done for this icon, and it doesn't work at all - monochrome color to block out the scene and a one-line quote that only brings attention to the blandness. It just doesn't work well visually.
(-)the crop is a little boring
(+)works well, simple.
(-)I like the toning of Simon and Kaylee but the background is not quite right...it's the wrong colour and it makes the image look offputting.
(+)Love that we're reppin' Firefly, but what's with the gray background? I think the space could have been used better.

Icon 11

By Wyndam

SPOILER: Click to show

(+)Love the lighting and the font/quote. Works perfectly for the scene.
(-)I don't think the coloring or text fit the picture.
(-)The colours look too washed out; also I don't think the quote fits with this particular image.
(-)The quote is a good size, but it has a weird connotation to the image given Fred's ill fate in the episode. It's just jarring enough to turn me off from this icon, which I also feel is missing something extra to spark it up to life - this icon's kind of depressing, to be honest.
(+)Love the text.
(+)the color and text is perfect .
(+)great coloring and the text is clever.
(+)I don't quite understand how the text relates to the icon, but I like the blend, and the colors. It's sharpened nicely.
(+)Nice text and color here.

Icon 12

By TabulaRasa

SPOILER: Click to show

(+)The effect is outstanding!
(-)Don’t like the triple image effect
(-)Way too busy. It's a cluttered piece that's so confused it doesn't really say much.
(-)I don't like the dual picture thing, and the swirly things on the side don't go together
(-)The effect of the copied image is weird and unappealing.
(-)it's a bit over the top for an avatar
(+)I like the triple image affect and the brush used.
(+)I stared at the Laundry Day icons for what feels like hours, but I finally noticed something about this one that makes it special - the smallest and most in-focus of the two of them has an almost cartoon-y or comic book-y feel to it, and along with the brushes and the bubbles (yay bubbles!) it makes this icon work best as both a stand-alone icon and as part of a set. I don't know if it was intentional, but it's beautiful nonetheless.
(-)It's too busy.
(-)I get the idea that was attempted, but I don't think it works.
(+)The blurred, layered images.
(+)Love the reflecting, designs & color.

To keep this thread tidy, please use this thread for commenting:
forum.slayalive.com/index.cgi?board=contests&action=display&thread=9229

[xaphania]

Round Four Scores

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Due to the small amount of icons submitted compared to people still left in the contest, along with the massive amount of time it's taken for me to get these results posted - I have decided that it would not be fair to eliminate anyone this round.

However, the winning icon will still get immunity from next round.

I don't want this to set a precedent, I hope that everyone will be able to submit an icon next round!

tl;dr: NO ELIMINATION THIS ROUND!

All the voting info is below:

Voters Choice
You will have immunity for the next round. However, you must still submit an icon for round five!


By Secret Scoobie

Scores Breakdown

1: (-17) + (+15) = -2
2: (-14) + (+9) = -5
3: (-5) + (+24) = 19
4: (-11) + (+9) = -2
5: (-15) + (+8) = -7
6: (-16) + (+13) = -3

Who Made What & Comments
Comments are under the spoiler tag.
Have a look at what people said about your icon (and other peoples), hopefully it will help as the contest continues.

Icon 1

By Erica

SPOILER: Click to show

(+)Love the image and black & white. Sort of looks like an old movie.
(+)Lovely B&W, nice symbolic reflection of Buffy and Angel at this point in their relationship.
(+)Has an old feel to it cause of the coloring and I like it..
(-)A bit boring; I find nothing special about it.
(+)First true Bangel moment, I like the b&w.
(-)Hallowe'en to me is colourful. I felt the black and white / grey was too subdued. It also looked like all it is is a screen cap. I cannot see anything that looks added for effect.
(-)not sure how greyscaling it makes it halloweeny...
(-)I'm not fond of the black and white.
(-)Too plain
(+)Love the black and white.
(+)The black and white is very nice, it works with the theme.
(-)I don't understand what this is supposed to be
(+)Really like it although it isn't very Halloweeny in comparison with the rest. Like the greyscale effect

Icon 2

By Iceeh

SPOILER: Click to show

(-)It's cute, but I don't like how the effect distorts Alyson's features.
(-)Not a fan of the saturation or the lack of clarity of the image.
(-)no real reason just liked the others better.
(+)Very striking in colour and image; I like the "weirdness" of it.
(-)The image is too bright.
(-)The high color saturation makes the image look like lower quality than it might really be, either that or it's just in need of some tweaking.
(-)The black cat captures Hallowe'en and it is placed in the centre - good positioning. But Willow's image is too distorted looking. I can't see if anything else has been done to the icon except for capturing the black cat well.
(-)not a great manipulation of the image.
(+)i love Willow's shocked face.
(+)Love the way it's lit
(+)Completely adorable!!
(-)Dont like the effect used and its pretty simple

Icon 3

By Secret Scoobie

SPOILER: Click to show

(+)The subtle image of the dress from Giles' book is awesome.
(+)Perfect cap of Lady Buffy of Buffdonia reflected the mirror - great use of symbolism. Wonderfully crisp image.
(-)kind of plain.
(-)The picture of the lady from the book is hard to recognise and looks almost like a stain.
(+)Nice and simple.
(+)Such a great Buffy moment, and I like the texturized image from the book, also SMG really pops.
(+) Unusual posing with the mirror image and the bright red. I like the hand drawn image of the woman, added to to the image, but it is very hard to see in an icon this small.
(+)simple but missing something.
(-)The picture is a bit boring.
(+)Really like the cropping
(+)It's simple, but that's what makes it so perfect.
(+)Really simple, but a great looking icon all around. Buffy's smile really makes this icon work.
(+)Simply lovely.
(+)Like the cap. I would have lefted Buffy also so I like it

Icon 4

By Wyndam

SPOILER: Click to show

(+)Hilarious! Perfect picture, the quote rocks, and the color of the font is very Halloween-y.
(+)Love the text here and it perfectly matches Buffy's expression.
(+)Mostly like the text.
(-)Funny image and text but it just doesn't convey the "Halloween" mood to me.
(-)I don't like the text placement.
(+)The image placement is good as is the text.
(-)not keen on text and layering.
(-)The text isn't gellin' with me.
(-)The shadowing makes Buffy look almost demonic. I like the text though.
(-)It's pretty plain and I aint a huge fan on the font used
(+)Like the text and font. The clearest out of the lot

Icon 5

By Just Willow

SPOILER: Click to show

(-)The image seems a little dark and the quality of the font doesn't look great.
(-)I really like this icon and hate that because of the low number of entries that it's in the bottom. Nice crop, inventive concept. Text could have been a better fit, though. If it had more stylish text, it would have been bumped up for me.
(+)Great quality.
(+)Good cropping and funny text.
(+)It's funny.
(-)I like the idea in theory, but I don't think it works well as an icon.
(-)Perhaps it is because the icons are so small, but I can't see what has been added to the screen cap except for the text. The person's shirt in the background is distracting.
(+)simple and to the point, glow bursh in corner unnecessary.
(-)I really don't like the font for the text here.
(-)The text really clashes on this one, as does the effect in the corner.
(-)I don't think the joke is funny.

Icon 6

By deathisyourgift

SPOILER: Click to show

(-)The effect and blending looks a little packed and messy.
(-)Text style is a bit meh, the fading in the middle doesn't do much, not great clarity.
(-)There's alot going on.
(+)Great combination of pictures with beautiful colours and blending. Perfectly captures the scene.
(+)The way Oz is in the foreground and Willow is a bit misty. The balance of the images and text works.
(+)great manipulation, could have used a better font.
(+)Great pictures and perfect qoute.
(-)They forgot the question mark.
(-)The blending is nice, but that coupled with the text really makes this icon overcrowded.
(+)I love that moment. Great meshing of the two people.
(-)Kinda blurry and believe the font could have stood out more

To keep this thread tidy, please use this thread for commenting:
forum.slayalive.com/index.cgi?board=contests&action=display&thread=9229

[sagewoman]

I have to identify myself. Two of my comments are switched. Probably my fault.

(+)The image placement is good as is the text. is shown on Icon 4 but is my comment for Icon 5.
(-)Perhaps it is because the icons are so small, but I can't see what has been added to the screen cap except for the text. The person's shirt in the background is distracting. Is shown on Icon 5 but was meant for Icon 4.

I don't think the ranking will be changed much by this - not the top spot, anyways.