(no subject)

[salinea]

Oh for fuck's sake, how the do you find a fucking icon with some fucking text on it nowadays? Has that gone entirely out of style? I'm just trying to hunt some icons for Darker than Black and Pandora Hearts, perhaps Durarara, and I'm getting sick of all the fucking faces with cute fucking expressions. I want some conceptual icons.

Comments

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Maybe backlash because the trend was to think of text to put on every icon ever for a while there? (Mind you, I'm never up to date on what the anime/manga crowd is doing, icon-wise, because that's always on what just came out in Japan, and I'm not.)

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

if it is, it's a backlash that's been lasting for years now x_x

[brecho.livejournal.com]

I think so, yes. :( I like them that way better tbh. But yeah it'll be nice if some of the more talented icon makers can use text in a way that fits with the icon by using solid design principals.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I like simple, textless icons too, but I'd love some good, well designed texted ones from times to times, arghness. Where have all the good, texting iconmakers gone?

[brecho.livejournal.com]

IDK? Most.... were not good. I was looking at old text icons back in like '05 and the designs were just terrible. I know that you can find some for song icon contests and stuff.

Fact is, I think it's way more difficult to put text on something that makes it look appealing.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry. I've noticed personally that I'm starting to use more and more icons without text myself.

When I first started using icons, I used almost NO textless icons. However, I adore it when I come across an icon that uses text effectively, and not just to narrated what happened in the scene that is being screencapped.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Sturgeon's Law!!

and yes, I agree it's harder. but sometimes more interesting?

and I hated stick a random lyric on it that song icontest tended to foster too :(

[brecho.livejournal.com]

Yes a lot of those done appeal to me either. :( Maybe you can request? IDK. :(

[chisakami.livejournal.com]

Heh I pretty much exclusively make icons text-less (save for ASoIaF fandom) because I've been struggling for years with making it look right, and sometimes just get lazy I guess.

Downloading more than the standard fonts that come with photoshop has definitely helped.

tl;dr theories?

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

1) I think a big part of it is because it's so hard to make it legible and fit it with the rest of the image. I never knew where to put it, what color, what type of font, and more importantly: something that fits the character(s)/scenery.

2) Then, a lot of people had icon contests as a main reason to add text, because that was the only way to fit that week's theme. Lately almost every icontest has closed or people don't have the time for iconmaking once a week. Therefore, they're not forced to put text anymore.

3) LJRP's popularity. You use icons of your character there to show the expression they are showing, and your writing tells the actions and dialogs. But if the icon has some unrelated text on it, it is a bit distracting and can sometimes break the fourth wall. So most RPers make/use textless icons and bases focused on faces and emotions.

4) It was a trend with anime icons to make them really bright, leave them textless, and even use the stupidest artsy-fartsy crops. Since they're easy to make like this and some are crop variations of the same screencap, it's not viable to add text to a +100 batch and find a color/font/position that doesn't clash horribly with the million colors and the odd crop.

5) For manga colorers (I'm not one myself, although I badly color sometimes), I suppose that after hours of shading eyelids and whatnot, putting some sloppier text might cheapen and hide the crazy details.

6) I think there was a backslash against tiny text and text brushes in particular because it was as decorative as any texture but illegible (sometimes it didn't even say anything) and kind pointless. But then, large text is the hardest to do.

7) Depending on the fandom, but there's the debate on use of Japanese fanart. If just cropping and readjusting a fanart is bad (in a moral and technical sense), it is a hundred times worse to add/remove shit from it. I'm okay with seeing/using fanart icons in video game and book fandoms, but not sure I'd feel comfortable with text fanart icons. Haven't seen them myself, but it could be more about laziness than difficulty/morality.

8) What do you put as the text itself? One word? Some people just pick one at random that has nothing to do with anything. A line of lyrics? Then imagine a great icon with lyrics of a Miley Cyrus song. It gets old to put the name of the character or something equally obvious as text, and not being able to come up with cool text that looks good is why I haven't bothered lately except when I'm doing humor (where it's pretty much the point to add text, given how my funny icons are).

9) WE'RE LAZY.

[berylia.livejournal.com]

So true, I have very few icons without text because I think of icons as a way to express what I am feeling and usually it goes better with a text (except for my Harmony icon because she is so awesome she doesn't need text).

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Really? Interesting. Why do you think you've shifted?

I adore it when I come across an icon that uses text effectively, and not just to narrated what happened in the scene that is being screencapped.
haha, yes, good description.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

hahaha, laziness is the bane of the world ^^

Text on icon can be tough, but i think yours are pretty good.

Re: tl;dr theories?

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

OMG awesome tl, dr that pwns.

1) I think a big part of it is because it's so hard to make it legible and fit it with the rest of the image. I never knew where to put it, what color, what type of font, and more importantly: something that fits the character(s)/scenery.
But you're pretty good at it!! You always make pertinent and aesthetically coherent icons, that's one of the thing I've always liked about your icons!

3) LJRP's popularity
Good point, and a good reason. Though not everyone's into LJRPs

4) crappy trends :(

6) I think there was a backslash against tiny text and text brushes in particular
oh boy I hated those. Whats the point of text if you can't read it x_x

7) Depending on the fandom, but there's the debate on use of Japanese fanart
True, I seldom use fanart based icons myself because of that.

8) What do you put as the text itself?
Something pertinent and interresting! That's the whole point! Not just taking some text because you think text would look good, but making the icon for the concept of the icon you're making which must includes text!

9)Hehehehe. Yeah, me too.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Haha, glad I'm not the only one to love icons with text ♥

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I number of factors.

I got into more live action fandom which meant that there were less text icons in general (I think anime icons are easier to add text too), I got pickier about my icons across the board, and a lot of text on icons didn't add anything to the icon, and I think textless icons are easier, in some situations, to use even if they're not for the same fandom you're talking about.

And, as you mentioned, less people are putting text on their icons across the board.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Could be. It seems that most anime icons I look at these days seem to have the "slapped on" text (common saying, song lyic, etc., combined with a popular image) or are either the current trend of "washed out" coloring (which I kinda hate, esp. when it's live action and suddenly POC have lighter skintone than their white costars) or almost have a radioactive glow. (The really weird cropping doesn't seem to be showing up as much now as it was a while back, though.

I know I kinda suck at text, and so only really do it sometimes for snark. I mostly make icons because it relaxes me, though, and post them largely because I usually do less popular things, and it seems silly to have all of them on my harddrive that no one eill ever see. (I usually leave popular things to better iconmakers.)

I also own up to being one ofthe lazy ones mentioned elsewhere.