Hey everyone,
I thought about adding some helpful tips to this thread in regards to using fonts in avatars and signatures. Many times on different forums (not just here) I see people who have sigs/avvys that have great images that lose their strength with a misuse of fonts. It could be due to not having the right tools (having MS Paint rather than a more powerful photo editing program like Photoshop) or just lack of experience. It's nothing that can't be remedied with a few simple tricks. We all start as beginners but with practice and help from our fellow siggy making friends anyone can get proficient at making better sigs/avatars. I'm going to use some of my previous avatars and signatures to give some examples of how you can use fonts in your work. Just a note I work in photoshop 7 but a lot of this stuff can be used in a free program called GIMP .
First thing you should know is that when using a font with your image most times less is more. Basically you should try and start off using a more simpler font with your image. A lot of the time since you are working with a smaller area more decorative or elaborate fonts don't translate well than a more simpler font does.
Arial (used regular and bold, uppercase)
Times New Roman (lower case)
Cooper (lowercase w/dropshdow)
Palatino Linotype (uppercase)
As you can see a basic font can go a long way especially when you have a good, strong image. The font shouldn't overpower it, only enhance it.
Now while using simple fonts always work great, it's nice to change it up once in a while and use a font thats a little more decorative. Try to using a more decorative font that is crisp, legible, and that goes well with the theme of your avatar/sig. It's also a good idea to try and use drop shadows or adjusting the blending mode on the fonts to give it a little something extra. (oh and a lot of these fonts can be found on dafont.com)
Plain Germanica (lowercase)
this font accentuates the image of the tough cop that Cybil is trying to survive in Silent Hill.
Mechanical Fun (italicized)
The slightly frantic, distored look of the font accentuate the severity of Muder and Scully's escape.
SF Movie Poster (top font) &
Crack Babies (bottom font, uppercase, color=taupe (#B49E94), set to 'color dodge')
using opposite types of fonts add to the disjointed feel of the image of Pyramid Head holding a spear. Also using the word 'Enthusiasims' with a distorted font type contradicts the meaning of the word and adds to the disturbing feel of the signature.
Now once you get the hang of how to use your fonts to effect you can really have some fun with fonts by combing different techniques.
A nice way to keep a font from just blending into the background of a picture and making it "pop" is by using a nice brush or solid shape behind the font.
Fontdinerdotcom Sparkly
I used a fun 50's style font to accentuate the humor of Scully going undercover as a suburban housewife. I put a pair of long rectangle shapes and skewed them at an angle to add to the 50's look and to make the font stand out a little.
Arial black (drop shadow)
I wanted a monochromatic look to this one but I didn't want the font to just blend into everything so I added a little drop shadow to the font and I threw a little artistic square brush in a slightly darker blue behind it.
Hannibal Lecter
I used a nice scripty font to go with the whole dark, gothy look and tone of the Stone Temple Pilots song 'Sour Girl' BUT I feel like something's missing and the lyrics on the bottom kinda get lost in part of the image behind it...
So I added some blood drip brushes in red behind the font. Now the font is more legible and the blood splatters add to the feel of the sig.
So those are just some of the things you can do with your fonts. I have a lot of brush work and adjustment to my images in some of the avvys/sigs but the font adjustments for the most part are simple to pull off even if you aren't an advanced photo manipulation user. If there are any questions about what I've shown just ask in this thread and I'll do my best to reply. Happy sig/avvy making!!!
