Art Final Fantasy XI Banners/Avatars

[Desbreko]

[color=indigo]Well, I've become quite anxious over Final Fantasy XI lately. I won't be able to get it for two or three months yet, from lack of money for a new PC, but that won't stop me from making banners and avatars. I don't have all that many yet, but the collection will no doubt grow over the coming weeks. (Anyone remember that old Four Swords/Metroid Prime thread that I had in here? It's gonna be like that). So yeah, I don't have much yet, but I'll be adding any new banners or avatars to this thread as I make them.

So, here they are. Comments are welcome, and if you want to use any of them, just ask.



[b]Banners[/b]

[img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/WhoWillYouBe.jpg[/img]
[size=1]In this, my first FFXI banner, I was trying to go for the "just starting" feeling of creating a new character. On the right, you've got a plain, male Tarutaru (the race I'm going to be) -- the default for that race/gender, I think. Over to the left of this you have the text, as if asking who you're going to be in Vana'diel (FFXI's online world). And finally, in the background, you've got a slightly faded, black and white image of some Tarutaru mages casting a spell together. It's kind of like a glimpse of what you, starting as that plain little Tarutaru on the right, can become. So if anyone didn't get it, that's what that banner is about. ^_^[/size]

[img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/FinalFantasyXI.jpg[/img]
[size=1]At first, this banner may look extremely simple and easy. I just slapped a couple pics against a background and then stuck the FFXI logo in between them, right? Wrong. Look [i]really[/i] close and you'll see that that isn't the actual FFXI logo. What I did, was download the font that the FF logos are in, and spaced out the letters just right and added a white drop shadow. The "Online" and underline bits I did cut out from a picture of the actual logo, but they had to be heavily editted in order to fit correctly with the other text. The result is a good FFXI logo that isn't blurry or anything from being cut out of another image, and I'm rather happy with how well it worked.[/size]

[img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/RepublicOfBastok.gif[/img]
[size=1]After brainstorming over ideas for another banner, I finally came up with the idea of doing ones for each of the countries. So, this is the Bastok one, obviously. I like how it turned out, with the flag on the left, separate from the rest of the banner. (The gap is actually transparent, too, not just white space, so it'll work on other backgrounds). As it pretty much always is, the text was the hardest part, but I think the font and color fits the rest of the banner fairly well. And the background is a screen shot of the Port of Bastok, which I think fits nicely, with a Hume, the dominant race of Bastok, in the foreground.[/size]

[img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/KingdomOfSandOria.gif[/img]
[size=1]This banner, I actually made after the Windurst one below, but since the countries seem to always be listed in this order (Bastok, San d'Oria, Windurst), I figured I'd put it here. But yeah, this is just the next, and maybe final, banner in the series I'm doing. I think it turned out pretty good; I think the Elvaan picture and background work well (my favorite background out of the three), and the text isn't too hard to read for being in such a weird font. I had thought the Elvaan's hair was going to be a pain to cut out, but after resizing it so small, the bit of white edge just blended with the grey hair, which in turn blended well with the background. Convenient, heh.[/size]

[img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/FederationOfWindurst.gif[/img]
[size=1]Continuing the series from the Bastok one above, here's a Windurst banner that follows the same pattern. I'm kind of disappointed with this one, however. I couldn't get the text to be as easily readable as the Bastok one, and it came out a lot grainier when saving it as a gif. Also, I had to re-use the same Tarutaru picture from the "Who Will You Be?" banner, since I couldn't get any other good Tarutaru pictures. I guess if you don't look at it too close, it's not that bad, but I'm still not as happy with it as I am the Bastok one. Hopefully the San d'Oria one will be better.[/size]

[img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/FinalFantasyXI-Adventure.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/FinalFantasyXI-Beauty.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/FinalFantasyXI-Mystery.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/FinalFantasyXI-Serenity.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/FinalFantasyXI-Solitude.gif[/img]
[size=1]Here, I've got a series of little banners that I made just now, one after the other. They weren't very difficult to make, seeing as the only thing I really had to do was resize/crop the backgrounds and do whatever effects I wanted on the text, so they didn't take long. And speaking of the backgrounds, all four pictures are concept art that I got from the official FFXI website. Dang I love that site. My favorite one is the Adventure one; the text in it kind of blends into the rock a bit, while still looking nice and sharp if you really look at it. Also, the green dropshadow blends in with the bit of plantlife behind the text, making it fit in even more.

Added the Serenity one, which I just made.[/size]



[b]Avatars[/b]

[img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-BastokFlag.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-SandOriaFlag.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-WindurstFlag.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-JeunoFlag.gif[/img]
[size=1]These are just avatars of the four countries' flags. (Bastok, San d'Oria, Windurst, and Jeuno, respectively). Nothing really special about them, I just thought they'd make good avatars.[/size]

[img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-HumeMale1.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-ElvaanMale1.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-TarutaruMale1.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-Galka2.gif[/img]
[img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-HumeFemale3.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-ElvaanFemale1.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-TarutaruFemale1.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-Mithra1.gif[/img]
[size=1]These are some avatars I made using images from a little character creation demo thing on PlayOnline.com. (The link to it is at the bottom of [url=http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/citizen/]this[/url] page, if you want to try it out yourself). And actually, for each of them up above, there's two more; three for each race's gender. I didn't want to use [i[i][/i]mg] tags for all of them, so if you want to see the rest, just go to my [url=http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/]image site[/url] and follow the links from there.[/size]

[img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-TarutaruBlackMage.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-ElvaanArcher.gif[/img]
[size=1]Just a couple misc. character avatars. Both of these are from the opening movie.[/size][/color]

[Zidargh]

[color=silver]This doesn't seem to be gettin much of a response but I don't think people realise the quality of this work.

On the second one I liked your efforts at the logo, but perhaps the background layer could be different as it is seen so many times. However I admire your efforts for trying to duplicate a logo, not only is it very similar but I've never been able to achieve something as accurate as that.

My favourite is your first one, it's very relevant as i think I'm the only one on OB who has it, or who has at least made a response about recieving it. You got your research very correct, and that scene in the entire opening movie is my favourite, aren't the little devils cut? The text goes well as of the colour etc.

I will rate them overall in a total, in my opinion, 8.8. Your efforts are definitely made clear and you have created something that is very nice. [/color]

[Desbreko]

[color=indigo]Well, I'm glad at least one person likes my work enough to comment.

But anyway, I just added some more avatars, if anyone cares to look. That Mithra with the white hair is my favorite one -- makes me think of both Cecil's and Crono's hair, heh. I think if I were to play a Mithra, I'd want hair like that.[/color]

[Shinmaru]

Some good stuff here, Des.

In your first banner, I really like the black and white background. I'm a big fan of black and white pics, heh; they just look really cool. The shining blue lettering goes very well with the banner, as well. Nice choice. To be honest, the Tarutaru freaks me out a bit but that's hardly your fault, heh.

I really like the second banner. It has a bit of a grainy look but it's not really noticeable (only if you look really closely like I did lol). The mountain background is a really nice backdrop and the sunrise (or sunset) casting rays on it is very cool looking. Of course, the classic Final Fantasy lettering just seals the deal ^_^

I also love the first set of avatars. The flags have awesome looking designs and they indeed make great avatars.

The second set of avatars are done well, too. Terrific looking characters with a bright background. Good stuff.

The last set of avatars are very catching. The characters are getting ready to attack and I think that the glowing effect seen in the opening movie is used very well to get some sharp looking avatars.

All in all, great work, Des. I shall recruit more people to reply to this. If they don't...your plan shall be set in motion...

[Tog]

Ooh, the banners and avatars look very, very nice. I'm impressed. But have you ever noticed that so many FF males look like Gackt? Scaaa~ry. I don't think I'd want to play a game where I have to be around Mr. Scary Man all the time. (Granted... I really, really, really do want Bunjingai.)

[Desbreko]

[color=indigo]Whee, new banner added. (Just when you think this thread has died, it springs back to life, heh). Anyone care to comment? Anyone? ... Please? It seems like barely anyone comments on my gaming banners. :bawl:[/color]

[James]

[color=#707875]I'm quite impressed with what you did with the FFXI logo there, 'breko-san. Very cool (and very painstaking, no doubt).

I also like your new Republic of Bastok banner. I personally think that a more "classic" font would have been more suitable, rather than a contemporary font. Still, it works well -- the flag on the left is a nice touch.[/color]

[Desbreko]

[color=indigo]You know what we have here? We have a case of "the thread that just wouldn't die." :toothy:

Yes, I'm back at it again, making more FFXI banners. These newest ones are smaller than usual -- they're 400x90 instead of 500x100. I thought the smaller size would fit the banners better, since there's not a whole lot to them. It lets me focus in on the specific parts of the pictures that I wanted to show, without a ton of empty background, and I think it worked nicely. Though a lot simpler than the three country-themed banners I made before this, I like these new ones just as much. ^_^[/color]

[Mimmsicle]

[COLOR=firebrick]Seeing these banners an avatars make me wanna play the game [i]*drools*[/i]
If they ever had to flash an id in the game, I imagine they would look like what you've done here ; )

I like the effect of space between the flag and the rest of the banner. Makes it feel less squishy.... Outlines the whole thing.

The only font I have issues with is the "San d'Oria" one. It looks [i]good[/i], but it feels like it could look even [b]better[/b].
But I don't really know anything about the game, so you might just be on the nose and I can't see it : )

Keep up the good work !

- Mimmi[/COLOR]