icons_concrit: concrit for iconmakers

At the request of gallaghers, here's the third concrit meme! Have fun!



- Anyone of any skill level may participate.
- Makers must submit a minimum of two icons per meme; there is no longer any maximum. Feel free to comment more than once with new icons throughout the fortnight to make the most out of the meme!
- All makers who submit icons for concrit must offer feedback for at least two other makers, with concrit for at least one of their icons. Hopefully you'll be inspired to offer more but that's the minimum requirement.
- Please feel free to promote the community, the meme, and your thread.
- If you have any questions regarding this meme, how it works, what to post, etc. please see the questions thread created specifically for this post.

- This meme will close on May 28, 2015 at which point a new meme will most likely open.
- Anonymous commenting is: ON. Please do not abuse it.

Community resources:
Page-A-Mod | Concrit Guides | FAQ | the "good concrit" Check List

And here's the second regular meme! Feel free to go crazy! The next meme that should be posted sometime on March 1 will be a special meme of some sort. If you have any suggestions, please see the page-a-mod post.



- Anyone of any skill level may participate.
- Makers must submit a minimum of two icons per meme; there is no longer any maximum. Feel free to comment more than once with new icons throughout the fortnight to make the most out of the meme!
- All makers who submit icons for concrit must offer feedback for at least two other makers, with concrit for at least one of their icons. Hopefully you'll be inspired to offer more but that's the minimum requirement.
- Please feel free to promote the community, the meme, and your thread.
- If you have any questions regarding this meme, how it works, what to post, etc. please see the questions thread created specifically for this post.

- This meme will close on February 28, 2015 at which point a new meme will open.
- Anonymous commenting is: ON. Please do not abuse it.

Community resources:
Page-A-Mod | Concrit Guides | FAQ | the "good concrit" Check List

Welcome to the first regular concrit meme of 2015 and of this community's revival! I'm looking forward to seeing you guys go crazy in the comments!



- Anyone of any skill level may participate.
- Makers must submit a minimum of two icons per meme; there is no longer any maximum. Feel free to comment more than once with new icons throughout the fortnight to make the most out of the meme!
- All makers who submit icons for concrit must offer feedback for at least two other makers, with concrit for at least one of their icons. Hopefully you'll be inspired to offer more but that's the minimum requirement.
- Please feel free to promote the community, the meme, and your thread.
- If you have any questions regarding this meme, how it works, what to post, etc. please see the Page-A-Mod post until a questions thread for this meme specifically is set up the questions thread created specifically for this post.

- This meme will close on February 15, 2015 at which point a new meme will open. MEME CLOSED. NEW MEME HERE.
- Anonymous commenting is: ON. Please do not abuse it.

Community resources:
Page-A-Mod | Concrit Guides | FAQ | the "good concrit" Check List

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
This is an updated and revised version of our original faq page.

[Click for FAQ listing.]
I want feedback on some of my icons. What do I do?
Make sure you read the meme requirements listed in the post. Once you've done that, comment to the post with the correct number of icons and information. For our regular memes, the minimum requirement is two icons with the option for more should you wish with any other information optional. For special memes, the number of icons and the type of information will vary. Once you've posted your comment, people will reply to your thread with their advice and suggestions.

Your posts say I have to give feedback to other people as well. Why?
This community runs off the power of makers being willing to give as well as receive. Everyone who comments expects to get a little bit of feedback, and the only way that happens is if everyone who comments pays it forward by replying to someone else.

How do I choose icons for concrit?
I've run across this question rather often. There are a myriad of ways to go about this. You could try looking at your last icon post and choose a variety of icons from there; perhaps you could focus on the icons you felt the least satisfied with, the where you tried experimental techniques, or even the icons you really liked just to get a differing perspective on them. You could also try looking at icons you've yet to post, choosing a few that you might want to work on and tighten up before you do share them. You could even make icons specifically for the meme, using techniques you are new to or not particularly confident with; using icons_concrit as test run space is totally acceptable. In the future we might even have memes just for that!

I'm new to iconning. Can I still participate?
Absolutely! Makers of all skill levels can participate! And we absolutely encourage you to take part in giving feedback to other makers. It can seem intimidating to give concrit to makers who you perceive as more skilled than you but getting a new, fresh, and often unique perspective from someone with a different level of skill can be really helpful! Not only that, but by deconstructing other's icons, you'll learn new things about your own.

I'm a little confused regarding going about this business of giving concrit. What do I do?
Another question that pops up a fair bit, and for good reason! Giving concrit can be quite a daunting thing, but never fear! We've got a fair few resources to help you out in the form of a simple guide to concrit contributed by neke which also has several other concrit guides linked at the bottom for your perusal.

We also have a handy checklist with reminders regarding really simple things you can double check to ensure you're giving the best concrit you possibly can!

Finally, we have a Concrit Beta Service which aims to help you eliminate any fears you might have over tone, word choice, or anything else by having our friendly modding staff look it over for you. Note: This service is currently undergoing an audit and is not on offer.

I've never given concrit before, but I want to participate. Can I?
You are more than welcome! Have a look at the resources above, feel free to ask the mod team any questions that you may have, and comment to your heart's content. A fledgling concrit giver is never, ever a bad thing!

Someone has left me a very harsh piece of concrit. What should I do?
Before you participate in a concrit meme, please evaluate whether or not you are prepared to politely and objective handle any concrit you receive. You may hear something you do not like, but that does not necessarily make it rude or harsh. If you have received something that crosses the line into rude, please inform a moderator as soon as possible and we will deal with it. Avoid confrontation or escalation in the comments.

Here are some more links to lists, articles, and guides on how to handle constructive criticism:
- A nifty visual guide on giving and receiving concrit featuring bunnies!
- A quick little guide from Forbes on how to respond to concrit.
More will be added in the future!

I have other questions not covered here and/or suggestions or the community. Where do I go?
Check out our Page-A-Mod post!

This FAQ is constantly being amended and added to. If you have any suggestions, please let us know!

Hello! Long time, no see!

In case you've forgotten what this community is, you're reading an entry from icons_concrit where, supposedly, we post regular memes for people to get constructive criticism on their icons and graphics. We've been out of commission for some time now, but I think it is high time we start being active again!

If you are also interested in seeing this place back up and hopping, please take some time to fill out the short poll below and, if you are so inclined, give us a bit of promo using the banner and code provided at the bottom of this post! Thank you so much for your time!

[The poll is located behind this spoiler cut to save space. Please click to fill it out.]

Poll #1996433 IC Revivial Poll

Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All. Participants: 21

Would you like to have regular fortnightly concrit memes again?

View Answers

Yes.

18(100.0%)

No.

0(0.0%)

Would you like to have special memes and challenges?

View Answers

Yes.

18(94.7%)

No.

1(5.3%)

Are people interested in a revivial of our concrit beta service as well (link in the community's sidebar)?

View Answers

Yes.

14(87.5%)

No.

2(12.5%)

I am considering running a special challenge where an icon promot is given, people post their icons based off of the prompt in the post, and people give concrit based on that. Would you be interested in partcipating in something like this?

View Answers

Yes.

15(78.9%)

No.

1(5.3%)

Only for concrit for myself.

2(10.5%)

Only to give concrit to others.

1(5.3%)

If there is anything else you would like to say (general comments, suggestions, or questions), please do so in the comment section of this post. Comments will be screened.

View Answers

A button for those of you who just like filling in poll buttons.

12(100.0%)

<center><img src="http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/absolutelybatty/30743800/543149/543149_original.png"> <lj user="icons_concrit"></center>
(copy & paste for banner promo code)

Welcome to our third special concrit meme of 2013! Inspired by this anon, we'll be hosting a slightly different sort of meme this go around. Instead of picking little holes into your icons and telling you what isn't working, we want to shore you up, polish those skills of yours, and tell you what is working. Already working with text, but want to go to the next level? This is the place! Getting good remarks about your coloring, but you want to do more with it? Ask us here!

- Anyone of any skill level may participate,
- Makers may submit up to five icons per meme for icon concrit For this meme, you can offer up to ten icons should you wish to, to show case various skills that you have that you want to polish, and
- All makers who submit icons for concrit must offer feedback for at least two other makers, with concrit for at least one of their icons. Hopefully you'll be inspired to offer more but that's the minimum requirement.
- Please feel free to promote the community, the meme, and your thread.
- If you have any questions regarding this meme, how it works, what to post, etc. please see this thread.

If you wish to do so, you may use this handy little form to help you organize your comment:
<b>5-10 icons that showcase your skills:</b> <b>The skill(s) that you wish commenters to focus on/questions you have/etc:</b> <b>Type of feedback you would like:</b> (i.e. tutorials, inspiration, resources, advice, etc)

Community Resources:
Concrit 101 Guide | Concrit Beta Service | FAQ

We haven't had a meme in awhile because the participation has been fairly low for the past few. But, hey, I'm feeling up to a new one; hopefully you are as well! Just regular, old fashioned style~



- Anyone of any skill level may participate,
- Makers may submit up to five icons per meme for icon concrit, and
- All makers who submit icons for concrit must offer feedback for at least two other makers, with concrit for at least one of their icons. Hopefully you'll be inspired to offer more but that's the minimum requirement.
- Please feel free to promote the community, the meme, and your thread.
- If you have any questions regarding this meme, how it works, what to post, etc. please see this thread.

Community Resources:
Concrit 101 Guide | Concrit Beta Service | FAQ

icons_concrit welcomes you to 2013 iconning! In this post we'll try to do something a bit different, and we hope you'll have fun participating. Beyond providing general concrit, this time we're looking specially for those icons you're a bit on the fence about. Those you saved but are not sure if you'll post, those you sometimes like and sometimes don't, those you're still working on, but maybe are finding a bit uninteresting and don't know what else to do with it. We'll try to help you with that.

This is basically a post for yes/no threads, which you may be familiar with. However, we'll try going the extra mile and provide you with concrit and ways to improve your icon. Below the cut you'll also find a "Save it or scrap it" list, with questions we suggest you ask yourself when you're making and saving an icon. It's a work in progress, so we're welcoming additions and criticism, and might changed or added to in the future.

- Anyone of any skill level may participate;
- Makers may submit up to five icons per meme for icon concrit, and
- All makers who submit icons for concrit must offer feedback for at least two other makers, with concrit for at least one of their icons. Hopefully you'll be inspired to offer more but that's the minimum requirement;
- If you have any questions regarding this meme, how it works, what to post, etc. please see this thread.
- Please feel free to promote the community, the meme, and your thread
<center><img src="http://i.imgur.com/N9nRmD1.png"> <a href="??">GET IN ON THE ACTION</a> | <a href="">MY THREAD</a></center>

Community Resources:
Concrit 101 Guide | Concrit Beta Service | FAQ


[Save it or scrap it?]
Questions to ask yourself before uploading an icon.*

- Does my icon have the correct aspect ratio? (i.e. does the image look stretched or squished, horizontally or vertically?)
- Does the image have good quality? (Does it show jpeg artifacts, is it too small, are the edges too blurry?)
- Did I save it as .png, or .gif in case of animated images? (Most free image uploading services compress .jpg images, which leads to bad image quality after a while)
- Is the subject clear? Is it reasonably easy to tell what's going on?
- Is the contrast in my icon balanced? Does it look overexposed (the whites are too stark, the midtones/shadows get lost) or underexposed (the highlights are too dark)?
- Does my icon looks pixelly, possibly due to excessive sharpening? Or else, does it look blurry? (check our sharpening workshop if you're unsure about sharpening)
- If I used any textures, are they overwhelming the subject or enhancing it? Does the texture catch more attention than the image itself?
- If I used any text, is it well positioned? Is it well sharpened? Is it pixelly? Does the text match the mood of the icon? (check our text workshop if you're not sure about it)
- Is the emotion I'm trying to convey clear, or strong enough? Have I enhanced that emotion or dampened it (through the coloring, crop, composition...)?
- Does the icon have a clear focus? What catches my attention once I look at it?
- Would I use it in the first place? Would I save it in my inspirational folder, if I wasn't the maker?
- Even if I'm not sure about the icon as a whole, is there any aspect that stands out to me (great crop, interesting contrast, ...)?

* This list was compiled by absolutelybatty, tinebrella and mm3butterfly, based on their own opinions. It has no intention to be the be-all, end-all guide to icon making. Feel free to disagree, skip or discuss any of the showcased items, and make your own list.

- Anyone of any skill level may participate,
- Makers may submit up to five icons per meme for icon concrit, and
- All makers who submit icons for concrit must offer feedback for at least two other makers, with concrit for at least one of their icons. Hopefully you'll be inspired to offer more but that's the minimum requirement.
- Please feel free to promote the community, the meme, and your thread.
- If you have any questions regarding this meme, how it works, what to post, etc. please see this thread.

Community Resources:
Concrit 101 Guide | Concrit Beta Service | FAQ