Of Banners and Icons

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

So this past week, I've been working on a couple of projects. The first one I mentioned last time, which involves making a banner and icon for an Ebay shop, and a second one, which is to make an avatar/icon for a fanfiction profile.

So for the first one, the Ebay shop in question is a game shop that deals with retro games and is doing quite well, but wishes to become a little more professional looking, thus wishing for a banner and icon for the online store. Most of the banner so far has come down to researching in looking for fonts that might work with the store and what it sells. As such, I looked up various free-use fonts online for ideas and presented some of the to the client, so that he could see if any would interest him. So far, he has found four that could work, depending on how they look once in a banner form, though I'll also be trying out a few with modified fonts, and make an attempt to make my own font.

That last one will be the most tricky, as I only semi-created a font when I made the title for my Susanoo comic a few years ago. However, I'll certainly be doing my best. Time to brush up on my typography!

I have also worked out what colour scheme that the client wants as well, though I've not been informed which colours will be better where, so some of my differentiations will also be purely different variations of the colour as well.

Once the main banner is done, then the icon will be easier to work with, since I'll have a preferred font to work with and can come up with some interesting appearances for that. What I do need, however, is the dimensions of the banners and icons on Ebay. I personally don't use it often enough to have a clue, so my research crusades are not yet at an end!

On the note of icons, the next project is to create a few different icon/avatars for a new user on Archive of Our Own - for those unsure of what that is, its a fanfiction archiving site where you can right your own fics for various fandoms. The new user is currently awaiting the 'invite' to join, which can take a few weeks, so is preparing for once the invite arrives.

So the icon would be their avatar on the site.

The first one I'm working on was based on a character I drew and showed on here and on my Deviant Art page - the character Nagisa Nogitsune. They liked the design and was wondering if I could make an icon of it for them to potentially use, along with a few other designs and they will eventually take their pick.

So, while it isn't quite finished yet (Ah, the dreaded shading and lighting....) This is what I have so far:

This is a somewhat enlarged version, since the avatars are a bit smaller. However, this is what I have so far. I think the biggest part of this was the flame effects. Mainly, me recalling how I did my fire effects last time I worked on the blue flames. I think I have managed to replicate it, though....Hopefully. There is a few possible edits I may include, such as a hand with a finger near the lips, as if making a shush sound, though that might make the image a tad too cluttered. It is just something that I'll have to attempt on a different layer and see how it goes.

As for other icons....not certain how they will come out just yet, but I'll keep you all informed, along with what image, in the end, is chosen.

Should be fun either way!

Until next time!

Tara