View Single Post in: Sims 2 Scrapbooking Contest
#362
29th Jun 2012 at 6:25 AM
29th Jun 2012 at 6:25 AM
And,... we've got your scores in just in time for you all to get your weekend bonuses!
Congratulations to Croutonian, our Round Winner once again! Also congrats to Selly and jones who had the next highest scores!
aUserName 15 (44/60)
(-2) High quality photo (not blurry or crunchy)
A: The background image is pretty blurry. It looks like you took a very small photo and made it bigger than it could handle. B: Some of the photos are blurry, and many of the background elements are blurry and/or crunchy.
(-1) Good Lighting (not too dark or blown out white)
A: A couple of your photos are really dark and it makes it very hard to see what’s happening in the picture.
(-1) Interesting Photos
A: Because the captions are in simlish, I have no idea what is important about each photo. Why is there a photo of mom and daughter sitting in the pjs on the couch? C: Most of the photos are great; however, the pic of the girl walking on the beach could have better composition - making her vertically central (remember the rule of thirds!), and then spinning the camera around so there's more of her and the sea, and less of the plain grass and sand, would make it look more balanced. The photo of the building is nicely composed, but EA really do do their utmost to cock up lovely pics with that awful grey roof bottom - unfortunately it works
so it's sometimes necessary to rearrange the photo in order to obscure those kinds of anomalies.
(-1) Good Photo Cropping
C: The photos are very small - it's a shame, because they're nice photos, but they just can't be seen very well right now.
(-1) Realistic Drop Shadows / Consistent Light Source
B: Drop shadows are too high.
(-2) Nice Fonts (not Comic Sans or Papyrus)
A: The spacing and alignment on many of your captions doesn’t fit well on the caption blocks. Some places is super tight, and others have more space than it needs. C: The font is very blocky right now. Perhaps that's because you've warped it to make it look more handwritten? If so, I would suggest using something like this instead: http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=312270. I would also use the straight line tool, instead of underline, to draw lines on your journaling cards; since underline on rotated text tends to end up looking jagged too.
(-1) Good Mix/Balance of Images and Other Elements
B: The photos seem a bit insignificant, very small compared to the overall page size. Too much emphasis on the background elements, for my taste. C: For the most part the page are nicely balanced, but there's a big blue gap in the middle of each which looks very plain - it could do with something filling it up, even if that's only, for example, a very faint cloud pattern on the blue. It could also possibly be fixed by a slight rearranging/resizing of the photos.
(-3) Draws Viewer In / Is Visually Interesting / Judge Likes It
A: I wish you hadn’t used up so much of the space with that giant blue oval, it just looks like wasted space in most places, maybe if the map actually matched the size of the oval. B: Because the world map background is so brightly colored and so busy, it really detracts from the photos, which look dull and dark comparatively. Not an eye-catching effect. C: Overall, this is a great spread. There are a few problems with it - the shell on the first page is very dark and low-contrast, making it look a bit flat; some of the text is wonky; and for preference I would have blurred the nieghbourhood shot slightly less - it's left looking a bt pixellated - and maybe added a kind of translucent mist or similar to keep the "faded out" look. For the most part, though, the whole thing looks lovely, and you're getting better with every round.
(-2) Fits with the Style of the Previous Pages.
C: This is a much bolder, cleaner style than the previous pages, with stronger colours and a more modern layout. It looks fantastic, just doesn't match. If I were you, I'd take the hit on points and stick with the new style, because it's awesome!
General Comments:
A: This round your scrapbook really does look like a scrapbook, the first spread was very much just a photo album, but this round you’ve really incorporated lots of different elements, and it feels more like a scrapbook. This is definitely a direction you should continue with. B: Great photos, I like the mix of closer, more intimate photos and landscape pics.
(-2) High quality photo (not blurry or crunchy)
A: The background image is pretty blurry. It looks like you took a very small photo and made it bigger than it could handle. B: Some of the photos are blurry, and many of the background elements are blurry and/or crunchy.
(-1) Good Lighting (not too dark or blown out white)
A: A couple of your photos are really dark and it makes it very hard to see what’s happening in the picture.
(-1) Interesting Photos
A: Because the captions are in simlish, I have no idea what is important about each photo. Why is there a photo of mom and daughter sitting in the pjs on the couch? C: Most of the photos are great; however, the pic of the girl walking on the beach could have better composition - making her vertically central (remember the rule of thirds!), and then spinning the camera around so there's more of her and the sea, and less of the plain grass and sand, would make it look more balanced. The photo of the building is nicely composed, but EA really do do their utmost to cock up lovely pics with that awful grey roof bottom - unfortunately it works
so it's sometimes necessary to rearrange the photo in order to obscure those kinds of anomalies.(-1) Good Photo Cropping
C: The photos are very small - it's a shame, because they're nice photos, but they just can't be seen very well right now.
(-1) Realistic Drop Shadows / Consistent Light Source
B: Drop shadows are too high.
(-2) Nice Fonts (not Comic Sans or Papyrus)
A: The spacing and alignment on many of your captions doesn’t fit well on the caption blocks. Some places is super tight, and others have more space than it needs. C: The font is very blocky right now. Perhaps that's because you've warped it to make it look more handwritten? If so, I would suggest using something like this instead: http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=312270. I would also use the straight line tool, instead of underline, to draw lines on your journaling cards; since underline on rotated text tends to end up looking jagged too.
(-1) Good Mix/Balance of Images and Other Elements
B: The photos seem a bit insignificant, very small compared to the overall page size. Too much emphasis on the background elements, for my taste. C: For the most part the page are nicely balanced, but there's a big blue gap in the middle of each which looks very plain - it could do with something filling it up, even if that's only, for example, a very faint cloud pattern on the blue. It could also possibly be fixed by a slight rearranging/resizing of the photos.
(-3) Draws Viewer In / Is Visually Interesting / Judge Likes It
A: I wish you hadn’t used up so much of the space with that giant blue oval, it just looks like wasted space in most places, maybe if the map actually matched the size of the oval. B: Because the world map background is so brightly colored and so busy, it really detracts from the photos, which look dull and dark comparatively. Not an eye-catching effect. C: Overall, this is a great spread. There are a few problems with it - the shell on the first page is very dark and low-contrast, making it look a bit flat; some of the text is wonky; and for preference I would have blurred the nieghbourhood shot slightly less - it's left looking a bt pixellated - and maybe added a kind of translucent mist or similar to keep the "faded out" look. For the most part, though, the whole thing looks lovely, and you're getting better with every round.
(-2) Fits with the Style of the Previous Pages.
C: This is a much bolder, cleaner style than the previous pages, with stronger colours and a more modern layout. It looks fantastic, just doesn't match. If I were you, I'd take the hit on points and stick with the new style, because it's awesome!
General Comments:
A: This round your scrapbook really does look like a scrapbook, the first spread was very much just a photo album, but this round you’ve really incorporated lots of different elements, and it feels more like a scrapbook. This is definitely a direction you should continue with.
B: Great photos, I like the mix of closer, more intimate photos and landscape pics.
leah10006 14 (42/60)
(-3) High quality photo (not blurry or crunchy)
A: The background paper is terribly crunchy. You should have looked for a bigger image to use instead. B: Holy image compression, Batman! C: You're still overcompressing your files! It's a shame, because it makes everthing come out crunchy. You want the filesize to be as close to 250kb as possible without going over that, in order to get the best quality pictures.
(-1) Good Lighting (not too dark or blown out white)
C: Most of the pics are great, but the one of the two kids building the sandcastle is very dark, even for a night shot - a few lights (maybe something like tiki candles that would fit in the context of a beach at night) would be a big help.
(-2) Interesting Photos
A: Why isn’t the mom pregnant in the first picture? It looks really strange to have her suddenly very pregnant on the second page. Also, why is there a picture of your dad’s armpit?
(-1) Good Photo Cropping
B: The photo of the dad (bottom right of the second page) is way too closely cropped. It looks like he might actually be doing something interesting, but I can't tell because everything's cut off.
(-3) Realistic Drop Shadows / Consistent Light Source
A: The only thing that has a shadow on it, is the crinkle cut journaling bit and a few of the fabric flowers. The photos definitely need shadows, as do the fabric squares. B: I see no drop shadows on the photos (I know I'm always going on about drop shadows too high, but that doesn't mean no drop shadows at all.) C: Perhaps it's just because of the blur, but I can only see a couple of shadows on the whole spread, so I can't really give points for them.
(-1) Believable Layering/Dimension of Elements
A: Without shadows telling us what is taller, its impossible to gauge dimension. It looks like the little rivets on the second square should be popping a bit off the page, but their shine is going the wrong way and they make no shadows either.
(-3) Includes Book Binding / Page Shadows Down the Inside Edges Throughout
A: There is no binding shadow on the attached pages. Remember, we grade what you’ve attached, not the inlines. (The inline shadow is not good either, it looks blotchy. A real binding shadow would be smooth and even all the way down.) B: No binding or shadows on the attached images (which is what we judge). C: Your attached images have no binding or page shadows.
(-1) Good Use of Text
A: It would have been nice to see more text on the pages, the little you do have doesn’t really relate to any of the photos. I would have liked to have seen a photo of the kids playing on the playground, if it was important enough to put into the text.
(-2) Draws Viewer In / Is Visually Interesting / Judge Likes It
C: The design of these pages is fabulous, I really like it, and they could be absolutely gorgeous. You just keep tripping up on the simple stuff - image compression in particular, which really detracts from your pretty layouts. Unfortunately, a pretty layout which is crisp and clear is always going to be more visually appealing than a pretty layout which is crunchy and pixelated. So please, please do work on those small things - because they're holding your lovely page designs back!
(-1) Fits with the Style of the Previous Pages.
The scrapbook as a whole is still a bit all over the place, in terms of the style of embellishments especially. This page and your baby firsts page match very well, though, so keep on with this and you can tip the balance. Don't forget, once you start including the book binding in your attached images, that it will need to be the same on every page or you'll lose points.
General Comments:
A: This is definitely and improvement over some of your earlier pages. The composition was interesting, and the picture of the toddler in the floaty is adorable! Try not to forget your shadows on your next entry! Your new baby spread was the most visually interesting you’ve done so far, go in that direction for your next one. B: Love the color scheme and layout, very fun and tropical!
+2 Saturday submission(-3) High quality photo (not blurry or crunchy)
A: The background paper is terribly crunchy. You should have looked for a bigger image to use instead. B: Holy image compression, Batman! C: You're still overcompressing your files! It's a shame, because it makes everthing come out crunchy. You want the filesize to be as close to 250kb as possible without going over that, in order to get the best quality pictures.
(-1) Good Lighting (not too dark or blown out white)
C: Most of the pics are great, but the one of the two kids building the sandcastle is very dark, even for a night shot - a few lights (maybe something like tiki candles that would fit in the context of a beach at night) would be a big help.
(-2) Interesting Photos
A: Why isn’t the mom pregnant in the first picture? It looks really strange to have her suddenly very pregnant on the second page. Also, why is there a picture of your dad’s armpit?
(-1) Good Photo Cropping
B: The photo of the dad (bottom right of the second page) is way too closely cropped. It looks like he might actually be doing something interesting, but I can't tell because everything's cut off.
(-3) Realistic Drop Shadows / Consistent Light Source
A: The only thing that has a shadow on it, is the crinkle cut journaling bit and a few of the fabric flowers. The photos definitely need shadows, as do the fabric squares. B: I see no drop shadows on the photos (I know I'm always going on about drop shadows too high, but that doesn't mean no drop shadows at all.) C: Perhaps it's just because of the blur, but I can only see a couple of shadows on the whole spread, so I can't really give points for them.
(-1) Believable Layering/Dimension of Elements
A: Without shadows telling us what is taller, its impossible to gauge dimension. It looks like the little rivets on the second square should be popping a bit off the page, but their shine is going the wrong way and they make no shadows either.
(-3) Includes Book Binding / Page Shadows Down the Inside Edges Throughout
A: There is no binding shadow on the attached pages. Remember, we grade what you’ve attached, not the inlines. (The inline shadow is not good either, it looks blotchy. A real binding shadow would be smooth and even all the way down.) B: No binding or shadows on the attached images (which is what we judge). C: Your attached images have no binding or page shadows.
(-1) Good Use of Text
A: It would have been nice to see more text on the pages, the little you do have doesn’t really relate to any of the photos. I would have liked to have seen a photo of the kids playing on the playground, if it was important enough to put into the text.
(-2) Draws Viewer In / Is Visually Interesting / Judge Likes It
C: The design of these pages is fabulous, I really like it, and they could be absolutely gorgeous. You just keep tripping up on the simple stuff - image compression in particular, which really detracts from your pretty layouts. Unfortunately, a pretty layout which is crisp and clear is always going to be more visually appealing than a pretty layout which is crunchy and pixelated. So please, please do work on those small things - because they're holding your lovely page designs back!
(-1) Fits with the Style of the Previous Pages.
The scrapbook as a whole is still a bit all over the place, in terms of the style of embellishments especially. This page and your baby firsts page match very well, though, so keep on with this and you can tip the balance. Don't forget, once you start including the book binding in your attached images, that it will need to be the same on every page or you'll lose points.
General Comments:
A: This is definitely and improvement over some of your earlier pages. The composition was interesting, and the picture of the toddler in the floaty is adorable! Try not to forget your shadows on your next entry! Your new baby spread was the most visually interesting you’ve done so far, go in that direction for your next one. B: Love the color scheme and layout, very fun and tropical!
Selly_2009 18 54/60
(-1) High quality photo (not blurry or crunchy)
C: Several of the photos are crunchy round the edges - I can't tell if that's down to the in-game camera, or to compression when you save the final image. If it's the latter, you have some leeway in terms of filesize, so you can afford to turn the quality up a bit.
(-1) Good Lighting (not too dark or blown out white)
A: Many of your photos are very dark, the sims look like they are in the shade while I can plainly see they are outside and likely in the sun.
(-1) Realistic Drop Shadows / Consistent Light Source
B: Drop shadows on the photos are okay, but some of the other elements (e.g. the two pieces of wood next to "Camping is Fun") have too high shadows.
(-1) Nice Fonts (not Comic Sans or Papyrus)
B: The Bradley Hand is still not working for me. The other fonts are really nice, though!
(-1) Cohesive Color Palette for each Life Event
C: For the most part, the colors work well. I do have two criticisms, however. The borders on the photos (p2) are very, very bright - much more so than the other similarly-colored elements on the pages; so toning the down, or maybe adding noise to make them look a bit rougher, would have been better. The woodchips on the first page also look quite pale compared to everything else; so perhaps a slightly redder, richer wood color for those.
(-1) Draws Viewer In / Is Visually Interesting / Judge Likes It
C: Overall, I love this spread. There are two things that are worth commenting on: firstly, the leaves on the front page seem very small, compared to the normal size of a photograph. I haven't mentioned this above under layering/dimensions, since I don't think you should lose two points for this and the second thing I'm about to mention combined. Secondly, the wood chips on p1 look odd. The fact that they're perfectly identical makes them look a bit artificial; and they both look flat like bark, but with neat edges like, well, something that's not bark.
General Comments:
A: I like the leaf theme you have used, and I especially like how its taken a couple of different forms throughout the page, as a photo frame, as journaling tags, and as the background. Using the colors form the leaves is nice as well, keeps it all cohesive. B: You've done a great job crafting a story with pictures and text, very engaging.
(-1) High quality photo (not blurry or crunchy)
C: Several of the photos are crunchy round the edges - I can't tell if that's down to the in-game camera, or to compression when you save the final image. If it's the latter, you have some leeway in terms of filesize, so you can afford to turn the quality up a bit.
(-1) Good Lighting (not too dark or blown out white)
A: Many of your photos are very dark, the sims look like they are in the shade while I can plainly see they are outside and likely in the sun.
(-1) Realistic Drop Shadows / Consistent Light Source
B: Drop shadows on the photos are okay, but some of the other elements (e.g. the two pieces of wood next to "Camping is Fun") have too high shadows.
(-1) Nice Fonts (not Comic Sans or Papyrus)
B: The Bradley Hand is still not working for me. The other fonts are really nice, though!
(-1) Cohesive Color Palette for each Life Event
C: For the most part, the colors work well. I do have two criticisms, however. The borders on the photos (p2) are very, very bright - much more so than the other similarly-colored elements on the pages; so toning the down, or maybe adding noise to make them look a bit rougher, would have been better. The woodchips on the first page also look quite pale compared to everything else; so perhaps a slightly redder, richer wood color for those.
(-1) Draws Viewer In / Is Visually Interesting / Judge Likes It
C: Overall, I love this spread. There are two things that are worth commenting on: firstly, the leaves on the front page seem very small, compared to the normal size of a photograph. I haven't mentioned this above under layering/dimensions, since I don't think you should lose two points for this and the second thing I'm about to mention combined. Secondly, the wood chips on p1 look odd. The fact that they're perfectly identical makes them look a bit artificial; and they both look flat like bark, but with neat edges like, well, something that's not bark.
General Comments:
A: I like the leaf theme you have used, and I especially like how its taken a couple of different forms throughout the page, as a photo frame, as journaling tags, and as the background. Using the colors form the leaves is nice as well, keeps it all cohesive. B: You've done a great job crafting a story with pictures and text, very engaging.
x-kisses-for-yooh-x 17 (52/60)
(-1) Believable Camera Angle
B: Who took the hottub photo? Seems like a rather "couple-y" sort of moment for some else to be there.
(-1) Good Photo Cropping
C: Most of the pics are good. However, the bottom pic on p1 has a lot of background - it'd be nice to have more focus on the simmies.
(-1) Realistic Drop Shadows / Consistent Light Source
B: Drop shadows are a bit too high.
(-1) Believable Layering/Dimension of Elements
C: The little hotel cards are very cute, but they seem very small compared to the journaling cards.
(-1) Correct Page/Image Size
B: Not sure why there's a big white border around the spread.
(-1) Cohesive Color Palette for each Life Event
C: The combination of cold colours (blue, white etc) and warmer colours (browns and oranges) makes sense thematically, but it's a little incongruous to have them both in the same spread.
(-1) Good Use of Text
A: You misspelled the daughter’s name in the second caption box. The way the text is written, it makes me wonder who is writing. You’ve mentioned each family member in the third person, so I don’t know. C: Some of the layout of the font makes it look a bit unnatural - especially the very regular centring on the first page. There are also a few typos. The font is a bit hard to read in places, but that makes sense as it's a handwriting font - but maybe you could play with the weight a bit to make it easier to read, without losing the handwritten effect.
General Comments:
A: The little bow you used is the same one that is in the contest banner. Did you notice? I like how the caption squares seem to fit in very well with your wedding spread, and the cartoony background and stickers fit in well with the baby spread. B: The attention to detail on the little brochures is beautiful, love the color scheme too. C: This is a really lovely spread. I love the subtle little ribbons, and you've done a great job of having a decent number of elements without making things look cluttered.
(-1) Believable Camera Angle
B: Who took the hottub photo? Seems like a rather "couple-y" sort of moment for some else to be there.
(-1) Good Photo Cropping
C: Most of the pics are good. However, the bottom pic on p1 has a lot of background - it'd be nice to have more focus on the simmies.
(-1) Realistic Drop Shadows / Consistent Light Source
B: Drop shadows are a bit too high.
(-1) Believable Layering/Dimension of Elements
C: The little hotel cards are very cute, but they seem very small compared to the journaling cards.
(-1) Correct Page/Image Size
B: Not sure why there's a big white border around the spread.
(-1) Cohesive Color Palette for each Life Event
C: The combination of cold colours (blue, white etc) and warmer colours (browns and oranges) makes sense thematically, but it's a little incongruous to have them both in the same spread.
(-1) Good Use of Text
A: You misspelled the daughter’s name in the second caption box. The way the text is written, it makes me wonder who is writing. You’ve mentioned each family member in the third person, so I don’t know. C: Some of the layout of the font makes it look a bit unnatural - especially the very regular centring on the first page. There are also a few typos. The font is a bit hard to read in places, but that makes sense as it's a handwriting font - but maybe you could play with the weight a bit to make it easier to read, without losing the handwritten effect.
General Comments:
A: The little bow you used is the same one that is in the contest banner. Did you notice? I like how the caption squares seem to fit in very well with your wedding spread, and the cartoony background and stickers fit in well with the baby spread. B: The attention to detail on the little brochures is beautiful, love the color scheme too. C: This is a really lovely spread.
I love the subtle little ribbons, and you've done a great job of having a decent number of elements without making things look cluttered.
porkypine 17 (52/60)
(-2) High quality photo (not blurry or crunchy)
B: Some of the photos are fine, but some are crunchy or blurry. C: A few of your pics (the photos, not the whole page) are a bit crunchy, and the one on the carousel is quite blurry.
(-2) Interesting Photos
B: Photos of the family going on various rides are nice, and mostly what people take on vacation, but it would be nice to have at least one shot that was a bit more personal; most families also take a group photo, for example. C: The pics are lovely, and the composition is great too; but there are a lot of plumbbobs, aspiration dings, and so on - the pics would be tidier without those, and in some cases they stand out and steal the limelight.
(-2) Good Use of Text
A: There really isn’t much in the way text on your pages. I really like what you did on your Halloween pages with telling the story of what is happening in the pictures. It was really successful on that spread and it’s too bad you didn’t do that on the vacation one. C: It'd be nice to see a bit more descriptive text.
(-1) Good Mix/Balance of Images and Other Elements
It's very, very busy - overwhelmingly so. Of course, it makes sense for this kind of spread to be a bit explosive, but I think you've taken it to an extreme - there's so much stuff there that much of it doesn't really sink in.
(-1) Draws Viewer In / Is Visually Interesting / Judge Likes It
The pic of the bumper car ride is very dark. I didn't put this under "Good lighting", since it's only one photo out of nine, so it seems excessive to take that whole point category off, but do bear it in mind. I've already mentioned this above, but this spread is overwhelming - the colors are part of it; but the embellishments also seem to be a bit of a mish-mash, with different styles (e.g. the fish with its pretty little button background, unlike all the others; the slightly artsy cupcake as opposed to the very kid-styled dinosaur and balloons), and the mix of different text styles - it all contributes to a very busy finished effect. The background is lovely, and actually, all of the elements individually are great too (especially that panorama on the second page) - they just don't work quite as well when they're *all* put together.
General Comments:
A: I really like the stitching and bric-a-brack you used on the Halloween page, it really adds that extra level of detail that looks really nice. I really like how you did the letters on the cardboard pieces, it looks like they were hand stamped and it looks nice. B: I really like the layout of the photos, the mixing-and-matching of different sizes.
+2 Saturday submission(-2) High quality photo (not blurry or crunchy)
B: Some of the photos are fine, but some are crunchy or blurry. C: A few of your pics (the photos, not the whole page) are a bit crunchy, and the one on the carousel is quite blurry.
(-2) Interesting Photos
B: Photos of the family going on various rides are nice, and mostly what people take on vacation, but it would be nice to have at least one shot that was a bit more personal; most families also take a group photo, for example. C: The pics are lovely, and the composition is great too; but there are a lot of plumbbobs, aspiration dings, and so on - the pics would be tidier without those, and in some cases they stand out and steal the limelight.
(-2) Good Use of Text
A: There really isn’t much in the way text on your pages. I really like what you did on your Halloween pages with telling the story of what is happening in the pictures. It was really successful on that spread and it’s too bad you didn’t do that on the vacation one. C: It'd be nice to see a bit more descriptive text.
(-1) Good Mix/Balance of Images and Other Elements
It's very, very busy - overwhelmingly so. Of course, it makes sense for this kind of spread to be a bit explosive, but I think you've taken it to an extreme - there's so much stuff there that much of it doesn't really sink in.
(-1) Draws Viewer In / Is Visually Interesting / Judge Likes It
The pic of the bumper car ride is very dark. I didn't put this under "Good lighting", since it's only one photo out of nine, so it seems excessive to take that whole point category off, but do bear it in mind.
I've already mentioned this above, but this spread is overwhelming - the colors are part of it; but the embellishments also seem to be a bit of a mish-mash, with different styles (e.g. the fish with its pretty little button background, unlike all the others; the slightly artsy cupcake as opposed to the very kid-styled dinosaur and balloons), and the mix of different text styles - it all contributes to a very busy finished effect. The background is lovely, and actually, all of the elements individually are great too (especially that panorama on the second page) - they just don't work quite as well when they're *all* put together.General Comments:
A: I really like the stitching and bric-a-brack you used on the Halloween page, it really adds that extra level of detail that looks really nice. I really like how you did the letters on the cardboard pieces, it looks like they were hand stamped and it looks nice. B: I really like the layout of the photos, the mixing-and-matching of different sizes.
InesMarie 15 (46/60)
(-1) High quality photo (not blurry or crunchy)
B: Several of the photos are somewhat blurry. C: Quite a few of your photos are crunchy and/or blurry - I think a few were sized up perhaps, which reduces the quality.
(-1) Good Lighting (not too dark or blown out white)
C: Night-time shots are difficult to get looking good - the pics are nice and they're not so dark that you can't see what's going on in them, but they do look a bit drab. Outdoor lighting, especially yellowy/flamey lighting, would make a big difference in terms of the strength of the colors.
(-1) Interesting Photos
C: Most of the photos are lovely, but the pinball on is less remarkable - a bit more of a focus in that pic would be good.
(-1) Good Photo Cropping
A: A few of your photos are so zoomed out I really can’t tell what’s going on in the photo.
(-3) Realistic Drop Shadows / Consistent Light Source
A: Your photos are missing their drop shadows! Without shadows, it’s hard to tell what is supposed to be on top. B: I don't see any drop shadows on the photos. C: There aren't many shadows at all - disliking very big shadows is fair enough, but I would still suggest some very small, neat shadows around the edges of photos etc.
(-1) Believable Layering/Dimension of Elements
C: Some of the border is hanging off the edge of the page on p2 - which isn't a problem n itself, but the fact that it's all on the page elsewhere makes it look like it might be unintentional, and it is inconsistent.
(-3) Good Use of Text
A: It would be nice to see more journaling going on. Tell us the stories behind these photos! B: It would be nice to have a little more text. C: Some more descriptive text would be good.
(-1) Draws Viewer In / Is Visually Interesting / Judge Likes It
C: I do like this spread - the photos are good, the snowflake stamps etc are a nice touch, and overall it's very pretty. There are some details missing, though; the first page seems very dominated by photos, the lack of shadows does detract from the overall look, and some bits seem a little untidy - such as photos not lining up quite right with the border, and the very hand-drawn looking lines through the fancy-looking white border. Overall it's lovely, but some details could be better.
(-1) Fits with the Style of the Previous Pages.
C: The style of this page is very different from the previous ones - busier, stronger colours (lovely colours, mind - just stronger than the previous ones), very different ways of using text, and less decoration around the photos.
General Comments:
A: I really like the title letters, they really look like they are bubble sticker letters. B: Very pretty purple! I also love your photos, especially the snowball fight; very dynamic and appealing choice of camera angle.
+1 Sunday submission(-1) High quality photo (not blurry or crunchy)
B: Several of the photos are somewhat blurry. C: Quite a few of your photos are crunchy and/or blurry - I think a few were sized up perhaps, which reduces the quality.
(-1) Good Lighting (not too dark or blown out white)
C: Night-time shots are difficult to get looking good - the pics are nice and they're not so dark that you can't see what's going on in them, but they do look a bit drab. Outdoor lighting, especially yellowy/flamey lighting, would make a big difference in terms of the strength of the colors.
(-1) Interesting Photos
C: Most of the photos are lovely, but the pinball on is less remarkable - a bit more of a focus in that pic would be good.
(-1) Good Photo Cropping
A: A few of your photos are so zoomed out I really can’t tell what’s going on in the photo.
(-3) Realistic Drop Shadows / Consistent Light Source
A: Your photos are missing their drop shadows! Without shadows, it’s hard to tell what is supposed to be on top. B: I don't see any drop shadows on the photos. C: There aren't many shadows at all - disliking very big shadows is fair enough, but I would still suggest some very small, neat shadows around the edges of photos etc.
(-1) Believable Layering/Dimension of Elements
C: Some of the border is hanging off the edge of the page on p2 - which isn't a problem n itself, but the fact that it's all on the page elsewhere makes it look like it might be unintentional, and it is inconsistent.
(-3) Good Use of Text
A: It would be nice to see more journaling going on. Tell us the stories behind these photos! B: It would be nice to have a little more text. C: Some more descriptive text would be good.
(-1) Draws Viewer In / Is Visually Interesting / Judge Likes It
C: I do like this spread - the photos are good, the snowflake stamps etc are a nice touch, and overall it's very pretty. There are some details missing, though; the first page seems very dominated by photos, the lack of shadows does detract from the overall look, and some bits seem a little untidy - such as photos not lining up quite right with the border, and the very hand-drawn looking lines through the fancy-looking white border. Overall it's lovely, but some details could be better.
(-1) Fits with the Style of the Previous Pages.
C: The style of this page is very different from the previous ones - busier, stronger colours (lovely colours, mind - just stronger than the previous ones), very different ways of using text, and less decoration around the photos.
General Comments:
A: I really like the title letters, they really look like they are bubble sticker letters. B: Very pretty purple! I also love your photos, especially the snowball fight; very dynamic and appealing choice of camera angle.
Croutonian 19 (56/60)
(-1) High quality photo (not blurry or crunchy)
C: The pics are slightly crunchy - looks like compression.
(-1) Good Lighting (not too dark or blown out white)
C: The tea-drinking photo is very dark - night-time is fine, just add a couple of outdoor lights :p
(-1) Believable Camera Angle
C: The first photo, of them all filing out towards the car, is taken from an odd angle - too high to be taken at ground level, but too low to be taken from the window of the house or some such.
(-1) Draws Viewer In / Is Visually Interesting / Judge Likes It
A: Something just seems wrong with this spread, but I can’t figure out what it is. Something just strikes me as wrong. The closest I can think is that maybe the colors and patterns on the two different pages are just too different from each other.
General Comments:
A: I really like including the origami crane on the first page, that’s a brilliant touch. B: I absolutely adore your layout and background, the two page backgrounds work beautifully together. This was a perfect spread for me. C: The shadows are excellent - you got the origami exactly right. The papers you've used are absolutely beautiful, too!
(-1) High quality photo (not blurry or crunchy)
C: The pics are slightly crunchy - looks like compression.
(-1) Good Lighting (not too dark or blown out white)
C: The tea-drinking photo is very dark - night-time is fine, just add a couple of outdoor lights :p
(-1) Believable Camera Angle
C: The first photo, of them all filing out towards the car, is taken from an odd angle - too high to be taken at ground level, but too low to be taken from the window of the house or some such.
(-1) Draws Viewer In / Is Visually Interesting / Judge Likes It
A: Something just seems wrong with this spread, but I can’t figure out what it is. Something just strikes me as wrong. The closest I can think is that maybe the colors and patterns on the two different pages are just too different from each other.
General Comments:
A: I really like including the origami crane on the first page, that’s a brilliant touch. B: I absolutely adore your layout and background, the two page backgrounds work beautifully together. This was a perfect spread for me. C: The shadows are excellent - you got the origami exactly right.
The papers you've used are absolutely beautiful, too!
jones7659 18 (53/60)
(-2) High quality photo (not blurry or crunchy)
B: The photos aren't blurry, but some of the background elements are distractingly so. C: Most of the spread is lovely and clear, but the knight photo and the campfire photo are a bit crunchy (or maybe Brandon is just a crunchy kid ).
(-2) Realistic Drop Shadows / Consistent Light Source
A: The shadows are inconsistent between the elements, some have a wide floating shadows, and others have a much harsher shadow. The light source also seems to jump around on the page based on what element you are looking at. C: Most of the elements don't seem to have shadows - something like what you have for the banner on p1 would be perfect for the other elements.
(-1) Cohesive Color Palette for each Life Event
C: The colors could do with a bit more balance - right now there's lots and lots of yellow and orange, to the extent that the relatively smaller amount of teal looks a bit out of place, especially on page 1.
(-2) Draws Viewer In / Is Visually Interesting / Judge Likes It
B: Just something about the overall design seems a bit too busy. C: The one thing I would say is that the complexity of the pattern on the background, and the contrast, is a bit overwhelming, especially on p1 - so a slightly less explosive background might be nice.Unfortunately, if the background is even slightly off, that has a big impact on the page(s) as a whole.
General Comments:
A: I love the destination you picked for this, it’s really unique and cool. The patterns and details really reflect it well. Good job! B: Very interesting photos, looks like a lovely family outing! C: This is a fantastic idea - a RenFaire is a great holiday for simmies
The pics are well-chosen, too. The aging effects and so on are also done really well.
(-2) High quality photo (not blurry or crunchy)
B: The photos aren't blurry, but some of the background elements are distractingly so. C: Most of the spread is lovely and clear, but the knight photo and the campfire photo are a bit crunchy (or maybe Brandon is just a crunchy kid
).(-2) Realistic Drop Shadows / Consistent Light Source
A: The shadows are inconsistent between the elements, some have a wide floating shadows, and others have a much harsher shadow. The light source also seems to jump around on the page based on what element you are looking at. C: Most of the elements don't seem to have shadows - something like what you have for the banner on p1 would be perfect for the other elements.
(-1) Cohesive Color Palette for each Life Event
C: The colors could do with a bit more balance - right now there's lots and lots of yellow and orange, to the extent that the relatively smaller amount of teal looks a bit out of place, especially on page 1.
(-2) Draws Viewer In / Is Visually Interesting / Judge Likes It
B: Just something about the overall design seems a bit too busy. C: The one thing I would say is that the complexity of the pattern on the background, and the contrast, is a bit overwhelming, especially on p1 - so a slightly less explosive background might be nice.
Unfortunately, if the background is even slightly off, that has a big impact on the page(s) as a whole.General Comments:
A: I love the destination you picked for this, it’s really unique and cool. The patterns and details really reflect it well. Good job! B: Very interesting photos, looks like a lovely family outing! C: This is a fantastic idea - a RenFaire is a great holiday for simmies
The pics are well-chosen, too. The aging effects and so on are also done really well.
kateisl33t 14 (41/60)
(-2) Good Photo Cropping
B: I think the cropping would be a lot more captivating if it was closer, in most shots. For example, the bottom pic on the right page would be much better with a vertical format. C: Most of the cropping is good, but the pool photo and the pirate photo could do with being cropped a bit closer - they look very far away right now! I think this is exacerbated by the pages being too small, since everything else is therefore also very small.
(-3) Realistic Drop Shadows / Consistent Light Source
A: You’ve forgotten your drop shadows! They are really important to help show that photos aren’t printed directly on the page. They are needed to add dimension to the elements. B: I don't see any drop shadows. C: There don't seem to be any shadows, so I can't award points for them.
(-2) Includes Book Binding / Page Shadows Down the Inside Edges Throughout
A: You have binding on one page, but not the other. Btw, your pages were uploaded out of order. It doesn’t matter, but it just makes it look odd. C: No binding, only one page shadow - stop forgetting this!
(-3) Correct Page/Image Size
A: These pages are still too small. You need to start with your pages being 1024x1024. Put them all together, then flatten the image and choose a ‘Save for Web’ option to get the file size small enough for MTS. B: Much too small. C: The pages are quite a bit too small.
(-1) Cohesive Color Palette for each Life Event
A: For an amusement park, you are using pretty tame colors. I would have expected the page to be much brighter.
(-1) Good Use of Text
B: The arrangement of the line-breaks in the text is pretty weird in places. For example, on the second tag on the second page, there's no reason why 'Hill"' couldn't be pushed up to the previous line, it looks lonesome and awkward the way it is now. Also, make sure everything is correctly centered vertically.
(-3) Good Mix/Balance of Images and Other Elements
A: You only have photos and captions, there are no decorative elements like stickers, or the ticket stub from the park, or anything else. B: The page is very bare. There's no ornamentation apart from the photos. C: The layout is quite spartan - just photos and journaling cards, and nothing else. There's no need to go overboard with other decorations, but one or two small things - perhaps someone's old Simland ticket? - would be a nice addition.
(-1) Fits and Portrays each Life Event well
A: You were asked not to age your kids up past childhood, so this is going to screw up the order of the book.
(-3) Draws Viewer In / Is Visually Interesting / Judge Likes It
A: The pages are very balanced, which makes it not that interesting. It doesn’t draw your eye around the page. B: Lacks visual interest, not eye-catching. C: This spread is very simple and clean, which I like. However, it might be slightly too simple - it ends up seeming a little plain. It's difficult to suggest something specific that you should have done differently, since there's nothing wrong, per se - it could just use a bit of extra spparkle. Maybe a couple of decorations, different coloured journaling cards, a slightly less regular/tabular organisation of the pics and cards - or something else entirely! I'm not entirely sure what I would have liked to see that's not there, but just something to grab attention.
General Comments:
A: I like the journaling you do. It’s nice to read why the photos are important to your book. B: You do a nice job telling some charming little stories with the combination of text and photos!
(-2) Good Photo Cropping
B: I think the cropping would be a lot more captivating if it was closer, in most shots. For example, the bottom pic on the right page would be much better with a vertical format. C: Most of the cropping is good, but the pool photo and the pirate photo could do with being cropped a bit closer - they look very far away right now! I think this is exacerbated by the pages being too small, since everything else is therefore also very small.
(-3) Realistic Drop Shadows / Consistent Light Source
A: You’ve forgotten your drop shadows! They are really important to help show that photos aren’t printed directly on the page. They are needed to add dimension to the elements. B: I don't see any drop shadows. C: There don't seem to be any shadows, so I can't award points for them.
(-2) Includes Book Binding / Page Shadows Down the Inside Edges Throughout
A: You have binding on one page, but not the other. Btw, your pages were uploaded out of order. It doesn’t matter, but it just makes it look odd. C: No binding, only one page shadow - stop forgetting this!
(-3) Correct Page/Image Size
A: These pages are still too small. You need to start with your pages being 1024x1024. Put them all together, then flatten the image and choose a ‘Save for Web’ option to get the file size small enough for MTS. B: Much too small. C: The pages are quite a bit too small.
(-1) Cohesive Color Palette for each Life Event
A: For an amusement park, you are using pretty tame colors. I would have expected the page to be much brighter.
(-1) Good Use of Text
B: The arrangement of the line-breaks in the text is pretty weird in places. For example, on the second tag on the second page, there's no reason why 'Hill"' couldn't be pushed up to the previous line, it looks lonesome and awkward the way it is now. Also, make sure everything is correctly centered vertically.
(-3) Good Mix/Balance of Images and Other Elements
A: You only have photos and captions, there are no decorative elements like stickers, or the ticket stub from the park, or anything else. B: The page is very bare. There's no ornamentation apart from the photos. C: The layout is quite spartan - just photos and journaling cards, and nothing else. There's no need to go overboard with other decorations, but one or two small things - perhaps someone's old Simland ticket? - would be a nice addition.
(-1) Fits and Portrays each Life Event well
A: You were asked not to age your kids up past childhood, so this is going to screw up the order of the book.
(-3) Draws Viewer In / Is Visually Interesting / Judge Likes It
A: The pages are very balanced, which makes it not that interesting. It doesn’t draw your eye around the page. B: Lacks visual interest, not eye-catching. C: This spread is very simple and clean, which I like. However, it might be slightly too simple - it ends up seeming a little plain. It's difficult to suggest something specific that you should have done differently, since there's nothing wrong, per se - it could just use a bit of extra spparkle. Maybe a couple of decorations, different coloured journaling cards, a slightly less regular/tabular organisation of the pics and cards - or something else entirely! I'm not entirely sure what I would have liked to see that's not there, but just something to grab attention.
General Comments:
A: I like the journaling you do. It’s nice to read why the photos are important to your book. B: You do a nice job telling some charming little stories with the combination of text and photos!
Congratulations to Croutonian, our Round Winner once again! Also congrats to Selly and jones who had the next highest scores!