As some of you know, I was very much attracted to the idea of creating a new card template as introduced by the August Photoshop Contest (go vote!!!). I enjoyed making the first three so much I decided to continue, but have run into a problem. See, while making the white templates, I came up with two versions and I don't know which one I like better. If you could tell me which more appeals to you, I'd be greatly appreciative. Thank you!
Once again, thank you for any advice you may be able to offer! It is invaluable.
<EDIT> — This is, obviously, the land version of the template. The colored version will feature some little color-specific frills (what I call the "fun" — such as the cracks on the Black template in the August Contest entry) and a different background (instead of the dirt-looking stuff behind the text box). Those parts have yet to be finalized in any sort of way, but if there is need, I'll post them too. Thanks again!!!
I like the darker boarder if that is the same border on white cards. If not, then the lighter, but also, what do your artifact and gold frames look like side by side with the white land frame?
While I haven't gotten around to designing the artifact template yet, here's how the gold looks next to the plains (version B as that seems to be most popular):
I think I'll go with version B (the darker one) because it's been unanimous thus far. Thank you very much for your help!
<EDIT> — Hmmm... that raises an interesting question in my mind. While I've been taking close and careful notes from the current design of Wizard's cards (they are professionals, after all) I always fancied the brown antiquated artifact borders more than the new silver ones. Am I alone in that or should I bring back the rusty-colored artifacts? Thanks again for your help!
203.1 The mana cost of a card is indicated by mana symbols printed on its upper right corner (in post <FPM EDITION> cards, the mana cost appears in the left). If a card has no mana symbols printed in its upper right corner (or in the left in post <FPM EDITION> cards), it has no mana cost. Paying an object's mana cost requires matching the color of any colored mana symbols as well as paying the generic mana indicated in the cost.
And I strongly suggest the post-Fifth Dawn artifact color. Awesome frames, these. They still feel Magic, while being innovative and exciting. Could you make a hybrid card in order to see how they look with the minor details you will give to the colors?
[shock]What's this? The new frames are to feature the Xander hybrid symbols??? What is this madness ?![/shock]
Hmmm... stone and rust. I'm not sure how that would work for artifacts (being that they weren't primarily made of stone, as far as I know) but it would most assuredly look cool. I may use that somewhere. I'll probably do the steely-silver ones first; I was going to anyway, until I had that epiphany. I may go back and do a special edition style rusty one too. I don't know... I'll just concentrate on the here and now for...uh, now. If there are any other opinions about the artifact coloring or the weird little Xandery hybrid symbols, please tell me! (Especially if you're Xander and want to munch my head off for not asking first. If that's the case, they'll be stripped away pronto.)
However, there's one thing that I think you could really improve on those. The text box seems to change between colors very suddenly, and I think it would look a lot better if you changed it so the switch was much more gradual.
I would also suggest doing the same thing on the colored border, but that doesn't need to be much more gradual than it already is.
definitely darker template with the light symbol
i also voted for you cause you do great work on these templates, you should make a whole dual land series, possibly even neo dualies
that would be frickin sweet
but in any sense keep up the good work
interesting concepts --- im actually more curious as to how you made such excellent textures for the white frame. I'm making my own DnD plane, and the manual for it needs a pretty frame. :X
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Having taken into consideration the comments and critiques given, I present another new edition to the FPM Template Series for your viewing pleasure.
Comments? Critiques? Please do not hesitate to break my little penguin heart with your messages of "YOU SUCK!!! TAKE YOUR PHOTOSHOP DISCS AND THROW THEM AWAY!!!" and other such delightful little ditties.
<EDIT> — Oh, and don't mind the card numbers...they're just there as placeholders.
That's amazing. That art is even better than the original Godless Shrine art, IMO.
A few comments that aren't just "holy crap, you're amazing:"
1. Try to make the mana symbol in the background (which I noticed that you changed from the Orzhov symbol) more evident. It's only there if you look really closely, and I think that shouldn't be the case (especially on a land).
2. I think the two different pieces of the text should be moved farther apart. They're a little too close to looking like one ability right now.
3. Is the top/right border the same as for any other colorless card (such as an artifact)? If so, I think you should darken it or add some brown or some such thing to make lands easily distinguishable from artifacts by simply glancing at the top/right border (which is what will probably get looked at first by most people flipping through their cards).
4. You're absolutely amazing. I wish I were that good at photoshop. (apparently I lied earlier about not putting this one in...).
3. Is the top/right border the same as for any other colorless card (such as an artifact)? If so, I think you should darken it or add some brown or some such thing to make lands easily distinguishable from artifacts by simply glancing at the top/right border (which is what will probably get looked at first by most people flipping through their cards).
It actually is kind of close to the grey I used for the black template... for that reason, I started to add little bits of character and accent to the actual colored cards. For instance, you can see the cracks and the spider web on the Necropotence render I did for the August Photoshop contest. I removed those "fun bits" from the land cards that still bear some color alignment. I think this should help people distinguish between real "colored" cards and cards bearing only a passing affiliation with that color.
As for the text spacing and the symbol behind the text, it's interesting that you should comment on those. Both styles are directly copied out of Fogatog's 13th version of his template: the symbol taking it's transparency/blending mode/etc from his guild symbols (such as the Orzhov one which I replaced, as you noticed). The text box was even more simple: I directly copied and pasted it into my template and did very minimal resizing of the box's horizontal dimensions. (No worries; I know the difference between stretching the text box and stretching the text—I did the former. The text is unwarped.) Personally, I think they both look splendid. If there are others who feel that a change is needed, I'll look into it, but for now I think they're just going to stay how they are. Fogatog's template is, unless my understanding is incorrect, the standard for 'shopers across MTGS, so I feel that the settings it uses have stood the critiques of many and been found acceptable.
I do thank you for your comments! It's the close critiqueing of my fellow Photoshopers that keeps me working to make the best images I can, but if I followed ever last suggestion, my creativity wouldn't show through in the end. I'm very excited as I'm starting to see the end of the tunnel! Given the level of interest, I will post a PSD for everyone to check out as soon as one is available. I have sort of a rough draft, but there are still bugs and quirks in it, so unless you specifically request it, I'm just going to keep it to myself for now until all the colors are present.
Can you find a font other than Matrix Bold Smallcaps to use for the card name? That just seems a little too Yugiohish for a Magic frame. Perhaps you can post a side-by-side render of the Godless Shrine with Smallcaps and a Godless Shrine rendered in something different, not necessarily Matrix Bold at all? I'm curious to see what another serious type of font would look like there.
This vaguely reminds me of the VS System frames. This isn't a bad thing, but that's just what comes to mind.
The combined mana symbols really don't look good. I'd suggest the regular mana symbols in the textbox background instead.
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The darker plains looks better because the mana symbol is whiter. (Is whiter a word...) If you made the background directly behind the white mana symbol a little bit darker, it would look even better.
Now that you have that Godless Shrine, how much harder would it be to make it into a Scrubland? I'm just sayin', if I were to take the time to proxy cards, I'd want the best cards I could proxy... Right?
I'd be all for proxying the older stuff! I just need good artwork... I happened to have some really cool art that worked for Godless Shrine, Underground Sea, and Tundra, so I proxied them. If anyone has really cool art for hybrid lands, I'd be more than happy to toss them into the frames!
As for different fonts, I considered it but never carried it out because the Matrix fonts worked so well. Once I get the templates all done, I can start putzing around with fonts. By then, I'll post the psd so you can plug in your own fonts too! If I get bored with making templates, I might start playing with fonts... who knows? Good idea; it could really make them stand out more as mine instead of clones of the Wizards ones (as if the style afforded being seen as anything other than a VS/Modern mtg hybrid).
ME LOVE YOU FIREPENGUINMASTER
seriously dude
that godless shrine are is balls \m/
ill see if i can find any nifty dualy art
but until then
\m/ HAILS \m/
i like the template, but yeh, the matrix bold font takes away the magic flavor - your template is "tech" already, you need more fantasy. As for that godless art -GIVE ME or, where you find these. Also, I STILL want to know how you got those grainy textures for the left/top of the card frame
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Hey, pretty awesome stuff! For what it's worth I have a few suggestions.
The biggest thing I get is that, since we read from left to right, that L shape cut off is kind of abrupt. I would put it on the "back end" of the card, the right, coming down the same way, and putting all the info on that side, cost, P/T, etc. But I just realized you could change it for some foreign languages maybe? I only know of Arabic as a right-to-left read. Could be an interesting idea either way. Would make it funner to play certain languages.
That, and the illustration info is originally bunched nicely with the other fine print, since to some extent it's secondary info to the game.
That's where I would take it. Hey, maybe I should try...
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Once again, thank you for any advice you may be able to offer! It is invaluable.
<EDIT> — This is, obviously, the land version of the template. The colored version will feature some little color-specific frills (what I call the "fun" — such as the cracks on the Black template in the August Contest entry) and a different background (instead of the dirt-looking stuff behind the text box). Those parts have yet to be finalized in any sort of way, but if there is need, I'll post them too. Thanks again!!!
..keep your mind open enough and someone is going to throw some crap in..
..cause i'm sick of being treated like i have before
like it's stupid standing for what i'm standing for..
..it's not faith if you're using your eyes..
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I guess that means I like B more as a neutral border, if that made any sense at all.
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I think I'll go with version B (the darker one) because it's been unanimous thus far. Thank you very much for your help!
<EDIT> — Hmmm... that raises an interesting question in my mind. While I've been taking close and careful notes from the current design of Wizard's cards (they are professionals, after all) I always fancied the brown antiquated artifact borders more than the new silver ones. Am I alone in that or should I bring back the rusty-colored artifacts? Thanks again for your help!
..keep your mind open enough and someone is going to throw some crap in..
..cause i'm sick of being treated like i have before
like it's stupid standing for what i'm standing for..
..it's not faith if you're using your eyes..
Portfolio · Evolution = Wrong
And I strongly suggest the post-Fifth Dawn artifact color. Awesome frames, these. They still feel Magic, while being innovative and exciting. Could you make a hybrid card in order to see how they look with the minor details you will give to the colors?
Hmmm... stone and rust. I'm not sure how that would work for artifacts (being that they weren't primarily made of stone, as far as I know) but it would most assuredly look cool. I may use that somewhere. I'll probably do the steely-silver ones first; I was going to anyway, until I had that epiphany. I may go back and do a special edition style rusty one too. I don't know... I'll just concentrate on the here and now for...uh, now. If there are any other opinions about the artifact coloring or the weird little Xandery hybrid symbols, please tell me! (Especially if you're Xander and want to munch my head off for not asking first. If that's the case, they'll be stripped away pronto.)
..keep your mind open enough and someone is going to throw some crap in..
..cause i'm sick of being treated like i have before
like it's stupid standing for what i'm standing for..
..it's not faith if you're using your eyes..
Portfolio · Evolution = Wrong
I plan to do that someday... I'm still making the frames though. Once the whole thing is done, I'll post the psd here so everyone can enjoy.
..keep your mind open enough and someone is going to throw some crap in..
..cause i'm sick of being treated like i have before
like it's stupid standing for what i'm standing for..
..it's not faith if you're using your eyes..
Portfolio · Evolution = Wrong
However, there's one thing that I think you could really improve on those. The text box seems to change between colors very suddenly, and I think it would look a lot better if you changed it so the switch was much more gradual.
I would also suggest doing the same thing on the colored border, but that doesn't need to be much more gradual than it already is.
Winner of the Weekly Signature & Avatar Contest Weeks 51, 59, 78, & 118.
I don't care if I was framed for murder if I only got a warning I would let it go.
i also voted for you cause you do great work on these templates, you should make a whole dual land series, possibly even neo dualies
that would be frickin sweet
but in any sense keep up the good work
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<EDIT> — Oh, and don't mind the card numbers...they're just there as placeholders.
..keep your mind open enough and someone is going to throw some crap in..
..cause i'm sick of being treated like i have before
like it's stupid standing for what i'm standing for..
..it's not faith if you're using your eyes..
Portfolio · Evolution = Wrong
A few comments that aren't just "holy crap, you're amazing:"
1. Try to make the mana symbol in the background (which I noticed that you changed from the Orzhov symbol) more evident. It's only there if you look really closely, and I think that shouldn't be the case (especially on a land).
2. I think the two different pieces of the text should be moved farther apart. They're a little too close to looking like one ability right now.
3. Is the top/right border the same as for any other colorless card (such as an artifact)? If so, I think you should darken it or add some brown or some such thing to make lands easily distinguishable from artifacts by simply glancing at the top/right border (which is what will probably get looked at first by most people flipping through their cards).
4. You're absolutely amazing. I wish I were that good at photoshop. (apparently I lied earlier about not putting this one in...).
Winner of the Weekly Signature & Avatar Contest Weeks 51, 59, 78, & 118.
I don't care if I was framed for murder if I only got a warning I would let it go.
It actually is kind of close to the grey I used for the black template... for that reason, I started to add little bits of character and accent to the actual colored cards. For instance, you can see the cracks and the spider web on the Necropotence render I did for the August Photoshop contest. I removed those "fun bits" from the land cards that still bear some color alignment. I think this should help people distinguish between real "colored" cards and cards bearing only a passing affiliation with that color.
As for the text spacing and the symbol behind the text, it's interesting that you should comment on those. Both styles are directly copied out of Fogatog's 13th version of his template: the symbol taking it's transparency/blending mode/etc from his guild symbols (such as the Orzhov one which I replaced, as you noticed). The text box was even more simple: I directly copied and pasted it into my template and did very minimal resizing of the box's horizontal dimensions. (No worries; I know the difference between stretching the text box and stretching the text—I did the former. The text is unwarped.) Personally, I think they both look splendid. If there are others who feel that a change is needed, I'll look into it, but for now I think they're just going to stay how they are. Fogatog's template is, unless my understanding is incorrect, the standard for 'shopers across MTGS, so I feel that the settings it uses have stood the critiques of many and been found acceptable.
I do thank you for your comments! It's the close critiqueing of my fellow Photoshopers that keeps me working to make the best images I can, but if I followed ever last suggestion, my creativity wouldn't show through in the end. I'm very excited as I'm starting to see the end of the tunnel! Given the level of interest, I will post a PSD for everyone to check out as soon as one is available. I have sort of a rough draft, but there are still bugs and quirks in it, so unless you specifically request it, I'm just going to keep it to myself for now until all the colors are present.
Thank you for your time and interest!
..keep your mind open enough and someone is going to throw some crap in..
..cause i'm sick of being treated like i have before
like it's stupid standing for what i'm standing for..
..it's not faith if you're using your eyes..
Portfolio · Evolution = Wrong
Can you find a font other than Matrix Bold Smallcaps to use for the card name? That just seems a little too Yugiohish for a Magic frame. Perhaps you can post a side-by-side render of the Godless Shrine with Smallcaps and a Godless Shrine rendered in something different, not necessarily Matrix Bold at all? I'm curious to see what another serious type of font would look like there.
This vaguely reminds me of the VS System frames. This isn't a bad thing, but that's just what comes to mind.
The combined mana symbols really don't look good. I'd suggest the regular mana symbols in the textbox background instead.
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Now that you have that Godless Shrine, how much harder would it be to make it into a Scrubland? I'm just sayin', if I were to take the time to proxy cards, I'd want the best cards I could proxy... Right?
As for different fonts, I considered it but never carried it out because the Matrix fonts worked so well. Once I get the templates all done, I can start putzing around with fonts. By then, I'll post the psd so you can plug in your own fonts too! If I get bored with making templates, I might start playing with fonts... who knows? Good idea; it could really make them stand out more as mine instead of clones of the Wizards ones (as if the style afforded being seen as anything other than a VS/Modern mtg hybrid).
..keep your mind open enough and someone is going to throw some crap in..
..cause i'm sick of being treated like i have before
like it's stupid standing for what i'm standing for..
..it's not faith if you're using your eyes..
Portfolio · Evolution = Wrong
seriously dude
that godless shrine are is balls \m/
ill see if i can find any nifty dualy art
but until then
\m/ HAILS \m/
The biggest thing I get is that, since we read from left to right, that L shape cut off is kind of abrupt. I would put it on the "back end" of the card, the right, coming down the same way, and putting all the info on that side, cost, P/T, etc. But I just realized you could change it for some foreign languages maybe? I only know of Arabic as a right-to-left read. Could be an interesting idea either way. Would make it funner to play certain languages.
That, and the illustration info is originally bunched nicely with the other fine print, since to some extent it's secondary info to the game.
That's where I would take it. Hey, maybe I should try...
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Mono-U Tron
Zombie Loam
Infect
Legacy
Delver
TES