Member Rank Badges - Women's Health Forum

Hi all,

This is my first stab ever at creating rank badges. I designed these for my forum on menopause issues which needs a more feminine feel. I ended up using Illustrator since I am more familiar with it, but BIG thanks to FMB's tutorial as it walked me through the process. Please let me know your thoughts and how I can improve.

Thanks!
RR

 

VERY nice!

The reason I don't use Illustrator for most applications is that it does have limited raster effect options, such as inner shadow, but you've done a great job with these rank badges.

The only thing I see right away that might be improved is the gradients between the different ranks.

The Moderator badge has a very distinct gradient, but the others not so much. I'd try to equalize them in some way.

 

Chani,

Thanks for the tip! I didn't recognize it at first, but you are absolutely right. Now that I altered the color it does look a ton better.

Thanks!
RR

 

The only problem I have with them is the font, I could not read it very well.

 

Did you look at them full-size? I found them hard to read until I viewed them at 100%.

Anyways, I really like these! It's beyond "great"; especially for a first try! Very nice work! :thumbup:

I also noticed the gradient. In the Moderator rank it's fairly distinct, but too abrupt. It should fade more smoothly, if that makes any sense. The Mentor one too, but not as much as the Moderator badge.

Otherwise, very nice.

 

Hi All,

Thanks for the feedback - I appreciate your kindness!

I took your thoughts into consideration and made some updates. I also changed the images from diamonds to flowers as I have decided to go with a skin that has daisy-type flowers on it. Please let me know your thoughts on these updates.

Thanks again!!
RR

 

Love the daisies! (my fav flower).
These are very nice indeed.

 

Thanks Peggy! That means ALOT coming from you - I have seen the great stuff you put together!!

What do you think of the fonts? Which would you choose? I am working to build a forum where the culture is friendly, comfortable, but mature and feminine. Also, if you have any suggestions that would be great too!!

 

I really like this latest set! Especially the one on the right! :thumbup:

For some reason though, the red badge is very blotchy... :shrug:

 

You guys are so helpful! Thank you!

I don't know why the one in red is so blotchy, but I see what you are talking about. It looks like it is most blotchy around the graphics and where the drop shadow is on the wording. Does anyone know if there is a reason for that?

Thanks!

 

It's because your jpg quality is too low. You're putting too much compression on it.

When you "Save For Web", it's best to stay somewhere around 50%, and if you're still seeing blotches, raise it accordingly.

I say stay with the original script you used. With those daisies these badges look absolutely stunning!

I liked the diamonds, tho. Especially since I'm just getting into Rhinestones on garments.

 

Thanks for the encouraging comments!!

I have these images saved as .gifs not .jpgs because I thought that was suppost to be better (and it is what FMB's tutorial said to do). Should I save them as .png files? I orignally saved them as .ai (illustrator files) and then opened them up in PS and saved as .gif to have the transparent backgrounds.

Thanks for your help!!
RR

 

Interesting. The image here is a JPG...

View attachment 459

But if you did in fact save them as gifs, save each set as a seperate image (perhaps you could watermark them, too).

Even at a full 256 colors, when you're dealing with three different gradients in three different color-families, you will get distortion like that in your images.

Hope that makes sense...

 

Totally makes sense... suprised that is a jpeg. I confirmed that all of my images are saved as .gifs. Maybe when they are uploaded to AA they are changed to .jpeg?

Now that I am looking at the .ai file and the .gifs the red doesn't look as blotchy. I will remember to watch out for this when I post the images.

Thanks!!
RR

 

I need to ask this...please don't be offended.

When you were Saving for Web, did you change the settings on the right to any of the gif options, or did you just change the extension of the image you were saving to .gif?

The other thing is that the software here changes all attached images to jpgs. I've never paid that much attention. :killpc2:

 

As a rule of thumb, whenever I'm designing an image in red, I always save in png format. They come out nice, clean and crisp. jpb and gif just blotches red images for some odd reason, not sure why.

As for the font, I'd like to see a simple font such as Trebuchet MS. You can use simple text and still be feminine. The 'script' detracts from the daisy, imo.

But again, I love these!

 

I think the outerglow is a little too much and heavy. I would lower the opacity and lower the setting a little just enough so that you can distinguish it from the white stroke.

 

Shelley look at them in post #6.

 

No offense at all! I posted them here to learn a few things so if you have any suggestions on things to check or try I am more than willing.

In the "Save for Web" right hand column I had the GIF option selected with 256 colors.

Thanks!
RR

 

Ah, Never got past the 1st post. Those variants are better, more refined.