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Icon Contest #12 - Results

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Spells on Different Units


The contestants are to pick 4 units/heroes from Warcraft III and make them use 4 different abilities(ex. Murloc using Stomp, Footman using Ensnare, Ghoul using Evasion, etc). Also, the contestants may pick only 1 unit/hero if they desire so, but it still needs to use 4 different abils.






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Blood Raven
60/100

Blizzard Feeling: 6/10
Your icons do fit quite well together with other blizzard icons. A bit too saturated perhaps and the Reincarnation icon is dragging you down a bit on this subject. You've done a full body image and that is almost never used by Blizzard themself. The other three icons are great in this regard.

Theme: 16/20
You've got a good variety of icons, I give you that. Good choice of spells and you are being true to the theme of the contest. Not really much else to add here. Great job.

Creativity: 17/35
You basically have the standard thought anyone would use by thinking of the certain spell. Sure a stomp is a stomp, you can't really do much with that. But you can play around with a lot more interesting ideas for the three others. You're really lacking here.

Technical Note: 21/35
Stomp looks awesome, great job on that one. Soulburn on the other hand is not as good. It blends way too much with the other effects going on. By looking at this icon it could be anything. A wand? A staff? A tower? Even if I manage to see the hand I still don't know what it is supposed to represent. And the fingers have some really weird anatomy going on.
Devour magic is quite good artistic-wise but it lacks forwarding the message as well. To me, it could be a shadow breath spell, a mana drain, or a soul sucking spell or well, a devour magic spell. But one should not need to reflect and analyze an icon to know what is going on, and in that case by guessing. Reincarnation is well drawn and shaded and the big image shows quite well what it is supposed to be but you lose that in the icon. It just looks like a dreadlord with a glow. It could represent anything. To summarize; Good skill on most icons, but you are having a hard time with proper representation of what the icons are supposed to show.


Just_Spectating
71/100

Blizzard Feeling: 5/10
Your icons are not that blizzard-ish. If you take a look at the plague cloud icon in your screenshot blizzard tend to use thicker lines and more saturated colors than most of your icons.They also use higher values. Taunt works quite well and impale is close to the right look. But the two others are a bit different.

Theme: 16/20
You've been true to the theme of the contest. Good variety.

Creativity: 27/35
You've succeded on originality. Impale is interesting, taunt is fantastic and reincarnation is different but yet distinguishable. Berserk is well, a berserk.

Technical Note: 23/35
Impale as I stated earlier is great, good range of values and well painted. I think Berserk is the most lacking of your icons, both the hook and axe are barely shaded at all and look quite blurry compared to the abomination. Taunt is good, but might be a little hard to understand what it is supposed to represent unless you know what the spell is.
Reincarnation is well done as well. I really don't like that pitch black ground but ignoring that and we have a solid icon. I also do think you could take your values further in the Berserk icon, especially the lighting, because it is barely noticeable.


Morbent
60/100

Blizzard Feeling: 7/10
Crit fits great, Aura icon could well be a Wc3 icon. Active immolation is a bit too cartoony for a blizzard icon, it looks more like a LoL or a Dota 2 icon. And the Off version is instead too realistic for Wc3. Mana burn fits quite decent together with other Blizzard icons as well. Overall a good blizzard feeling.

Theme: 11/20
You're really lacking variety here. All of your icons are almost the same type and kind of icons. You've stayed to the theme, maybe too much to be honest.

Creativity: 9/35
Well, your icons are identical to the already available icons except it's a diffrent kind of hand and/or object. Clever with the choice of a hammer. But this part is dragging you down.

Technical Note: 33/35
Artistic wise I honestly lack words. Your icons are absolutely stunning. I would say the reason you lack a bit in the Blizzard feeling is because, frankly, your icons are of higher quality than most icons already within Wc3. I really do not know what to criticize because they all look fantastic. Mana burn can be hard to know what it is supposed to be, but the mana burn icon already in the game is the same way and it's crap so I'm not sure if I can subtract any points from you there. The Aura icon is a bit blurry but that is about it. I still think you could have solved the "critical strike" by tweaking the blood on the blade just slightly. The fingers all together is a bit weird on the Immolation icon, try hold your own hand exactly like that. It is far from comfortable.


Mad
78/100

Blizzard Feeling: 8/10
Your icons looks very blizzard-ish. A bit too cartoony perhaps. But overall great job, high values and very saturated, which is awesome. Lacks a bit of texture to be fully there.

Theme: 13/20
A bit lacking in variety, but still pretty solid. you've used skulls in every icon but not in a repetive way. You've sticked to the theme.

Creativity: 24/35
Again, good use of skulls. Your take on the icons are quite original but not very creative. Essence of Blight is especially interesting. Even though you basically have added a skull to the normal idea of the spells you still manage to make them look interesting.

Technical Note: 33/35
Your artwork is amazing. It is clear to me, looking at your big images, that you've understood perfectly what technique to use when making icons to gain that crisp- and clarity in such small form. I don't like the pure red outlines in the Rain of fire icon, I think you could have been better off with a more subtle red or a more orange hue. The life drain effect is a bit thick, looks a bit like tentacles. But that is about it. Marvelous work.


Kola
65/100

Blizzard Feeling: 6/10
You've used very un-warcrafty colors for the windwalk. The fire breath is quite good, but lacks texture. Your last two icons both have the same issue, which is lack of texture and they are actually far too well rendered for them to fit into the warcraft universe. But still alright.

Theme: 14/20
Good variety of spells and objects. Sticks to the theme.

Creativity: 19/35
Like with morbent, you've basically just done the exact same icons but with another unit as the base. Wind walk is alright. Very interesting choice of angle for the Thunder Clap.

Technical Note: 26/35
Great artistic execution. Windwalk suffers, it looks a lot more rushed than the others. The peasent face is quite weird, I can't put my finger on exactly what the anatomical issue is here, but it is something. His chin looks like metal and the fire does not look alive. Thunderclap is great, I didn't notice the hand until I really, really looked at it though. Immolation is absolutely stunning. Great job. Overall solid execution but the Wind Walk icon makes you lose points here.


Chen
54/100

Blizzard Feeling: 5/10
First two could fit quite well in the warcraft universe. Third one needs more colors and saturation, while your last one looks very cartoony.

Theme: 15/20
You have some great variety of icons, I love that you tried your hand on such different type of icons especially considering your level of skill. That's really brave of you and I admire that. You keep to the theme of the contest.

Creativity: 15/35
Well, not much creativity going on unfortunately. Raise dead is quite interesting but the other icons are basically the same as the originals.

Technical Note: 19/35
First icon is prettty well done. Berserk face needs better shading, it looks like his face is divided in two. The hair looks like a black, solid mass, it needs some lighting love. And the blood looks like ketchup, it needs some highlights. The effect is lacking in the Pulverize icon. Animate dead is pretty good but very cluttered and lack of lighting on the graves as well. One of your biggest issues is the range of values. You should definitely look up on values and learn more about that. Still, well done icons apart from these faults. It is very easy to understand what the icons represent, and that is very important.


Sin'dorei300
77/100

Blizzard Feeling: 6/10
Most of the icons fits well together with other wacraft icons, critical strike is a bit too hard rendered and looks more like a Warcraft 2 icon rather than an icon from warcraft 3. Charm is a bit too realistic.

Theme: 17/20
Great variety, you got some objects, some spells, some figures. You stay true to the theme.

Creativity: 22/35
Charm is charm, war stomp is war stomp. Fan of knives is interesting. Nice idea on the critical strike.

Technical Note: 32/35
Very well rendered, all of them. The shading and lighting on your icons are fantastic, clear understanding of different shading techniques for different types of materials. Hair could need some more love on the Charm icon, looks a bit like smoke or thick cloth. Critical strike is interesting but it's losing a bit of clarity, could just as well be a headshot as a critical strike. Blood is too solid, especially that fresh. Overall, No clutter going on and they speak well.


Justicebringer
79/100

Blizzard Feeling: 9/10
Fits quite well into the Warcraft 3 feeling. I think you might be closest of all the contestants to the Blizzard-ness. Great job.

Theme: 16/20
Good variety of spells. You stay true to the theme.

Creativity: 25/35
Very original icons. You've done very well here. But you've also gone a bit too far, and you lose readability of what some icons are supposed to represent.

Technical Note: 29/35
I can see you have some great artistic skill. Very well rendered and shaded icons. The effects are great as well. All of them are very blurry unfortunately which is a shame, really. Etheral form is very hard to know what it is supposed to represent. Same with Dark Ritual. It does not look like something you use to kill a unit and gain mana. More like a curse. As an icon on itself this is not really a problem. But for this contest you need to be able to create new icons that represent what they are supposed to represent. If you follow me here. Overall, very nicely excecuted, but lack of proper brushwork for this small type of artwork makes it end up blurry and there is also some issues with readability. But I can see you got some great skill.





Blood Raven
58/100

Blizzard Feeling 6/10: I think the Blizzard atmosphere it’s alright here, though i feel there’s a weird “fluorescence”, especially on the Soulburn one, maybe because you wanted to keep a purple hue overall.



Theme 15/20: The Dreadlordization is evident, the stomp matches the hooved hero quite well. Not sure on the Devour Magic and Reincarnation, but they should be alright for a demon i guess.



Creativity 21/35: Even though there is an aesthetic coherence in this set, i don’t find it refreshing. It’s like those icon are a simple restyle of the Tauren Chieftain and Firelord abilities (excluding the Devour Magic of course).


Technical Note 18/35: The full sized pics reveal a simplistic method of work. For example the lighting and shadowing on the “Devour Magic” are done with simple round brush strokes/outlines. Also this one could be more appropriate for an “Imma firing mah laz0r” spell, rather than a “Devour” one, but i don’t think it really matters. There are some anatomic flaws here ‘n’ there, the hand isn’t rendered as it should and the background of Soulburn is confusing. All things considered, they aren’t bad on the 64x64 format. I especially like the Reincarnation one, without the bats maybe, they aren’t even noticeable.


Just_Spectating
72/100

Blizzard Feeling 7/10: You kept the Blizzard feel very well. Some doubts for the Taunt and Reincarnation icon but i think it should work well on a WC3 map after all.

Theme 16/20: Well, no doubt this is a spell set for the Abomination, you sure didn’t failed it.

Creativity 24/35: This is a complete skill pack for the Abomination lovers, i think you investigated many of the possibilities this unit could offer in the form of spells and abilities. Also in a funny way if we consider Taunt, (maybe too much funny).

Technical Note 25/35: I don’t think there are major technical flaws. The hook perspective is quite perfect though the impaled toon isn’t noticeable, the berserk is a bit blurry but it definitely recall an angry Abomination. The Taunt icon is strange, very funny and caricatural in a way but it also seems a flat opened texture. As for the Reincarnation, the green highlight helps a lot identifying the unit silhouette. Generally speaking i find this set quite good despite some fuzziness.


morbent
81/100

Blizzard Feeling 9/10: No one should have problems using these in a custom map.

Theme 18/20: Neat and detailed, they surely are a superb match for the unit they represent (Warden, Paladin, Demon Hunter) . On a side note: the Immolation skill for the Lich could have portrayed a more skeletal and undead-ish hand.

Creativity 19/35: Despite the great execution, they just seem a revamp for already existent icons. The glowing effects adds something new. They could fit well for a new Warcraft game. .

Techical Note 35/35: As I said, they could really be the new icons for the next WC game, the execution is impeccable, the backgrounds are very minimal and plain, letting you have a clear look on the main elements. A small detail like the alliance symbol on the hammer stands out divinely.


Mad
90/100

Blizzard Feeling 9/10: Stylish, too cartoonish even for WC3, but quite fitting if each icon is admired singly.

Theme 19/20: The concept is clear, perfect for units such as demons, necromancers, warlocks and pyromaniac wizards.

Creativity 29/35: The skull element is redundant but you managed to represent it in different ways every time. The spells themselves often recall the default ones but it’s not like “you only added just a lame skull on ‘em”, there’s some originality that comes out from these, no doubt.

Technical Note 35/35: The look of the icons is quite appealing, detailed and not confusing at all. I find “Essence of Blight” the most original and well executed: the hand is well defined and the icon itself isn’t messy.


kola
66/100

Blizzard Feeling 7/10: Well this is the most bizzarre human worker i’ve ever seen but it keeps the standard Blizzard style quite well.

Theme 12/20: The idea of an uberpowered worker is captivating, but they could work better on other human/alliance units. The Thunderclap could have portrayed a pickaxe, or a more worn out axe to better recall a peasant. Also the Breath of Fire seems more a dwarf or a barbarian spitting fire.

Creativity 21/35: The creativity here doesn’t really strike me and they seem too generic. However, this makes them versatile icon to use for many other units.

Technical Note 26/35: Immolation and Thunder Clap are really neat, only those lighting strikes makes the icon a bit busy but the axe stands out well. The entire set has good details and shadowing, only the peasant head doesn’t feel right, his eye seems a bit sloping rather than closed to emphasize an anger face expression.


Chen
52/100

Blizzard Feeling 4/10: Something here may keep the user from using these. Despite the good Blizzard feeling, they are not so very convincing compared with the default icons the game already offers.

Theme 14/20: Each icon matches the respective unit quite well. Frostmourne could be a bit more defined and the icon itself more clear.

Creativity 16/35: I find the idea behind the Drain Life spell cool, however the rest is a déjà vu.

Technical Note 18/35: Grom’s head needs to be better polished and his shadows less “rounded”. The slam effect for the Pulverize skill has to be more bright and detailed to give a sense of an heavy impact. Animate Dead is my favorite here, the highlights define the Necromancer’s and the hand profile in a perfect way.


Sin’dorei300
84/100

Blizzard Feeling 7/10: Blizzardish enough, lighting could be just a bit less accentuated in some points, but very suitable for a WC3 game.

Theme 15/20: Wonder why a slithering creature such as a Naga would be comfortable to use a stomp skill, Charm seems a bit too “Fashion ’n’ glamour”. The other icons are much more coherent by the way.

Creativity 32/35: This is your strongest point, if i remember correctly you did first a Naga version of the Charm ability which could have been a more outlandish addition, but maybe it’s only my fetish towards Naga Sirens that makes me say that. The effects turned out very well though they risk to confuse a bit especially on the Fan of Knives and the Critical Strike. The first of which could use a darker background and the last some less stiff and thick blood jets, to better emphasize the shaft of the arrow.

Technical Note 30/35: Considering what I’ve already said above, i don’t see any particular technical flaw. Some may have some difficulties recognizing that orc nape and those feathers, which should be a little bit more defined. However i recognize a certain mastery and technical know-how.


Justicebringer
71/100

Blizzard Feeling 4/10: You captured that typical style but they all desatureted. Despite the green and purple hues, there is a dominance of greys and fading colors.

Theme 19/20: You focused on creating an original set for an hypothetical Acolyte hero and every skill matches him nicely.

Creativity 23/35: I find the Charm spell the most original in terms of composition and elements, the dumb ogre face is really good and gives the idea of a Mind Control state. The rest has an average level of creativity.

Technical Note 25/35: Very nicely done despite some confusion and blurriness. In the Finger of Death icon there’s a problem recognizing the perspective of the protracted harm and the structure of the hand itself due to the green magical spiral which covers it and distracts a bit. The stabbed doll is good but messy and doesn’t stand out, to say nothing of its nails and that little unnoticeable skull which is probably be the head of the nail.




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The calculations are as follows, in descending order.



Mad
(78/100 + 90/100)/2 * 75 + (14/66) * 25 = 68,303

Sin'dorei300
(77/100 + 84/100)/2 * 75 + (16/66) * 25 = 66,435

morbent
(60/100 + 81/100)/2 * 75 + (19/66) * 25 = 60,072

Justicebringer
(79/100 + 71/100)/2 * 75 + ( 3/66) * 25 = 57.386

Just_Spectating
(71/100 + 72/100)/2 * 75 + ( 1/66) * 25 = 54,004

kola
(65/100 + 66/100)/2 * 75 + ( 3/66) * 25 = 50,261

Blood Raven
(60/100 + 58/100)/2 * 75 + (10/66) * 25 = 48,038

Chen
(54/100 + 52/100)/2 * 75 + ( 0 /66) * 25 = 39,750






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Congratulations to all the participants.
Special thanks to the trustworthy jury of this contest.

 
Level 25
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Oh didn't even realize this was concluded.

I'd like to say well done everyone. There were some truly exceptional icons in this contest, from everyone participating. I might go so far as to say this might have been the highest quality icon contest ever. Very difficult task to judge it, since everybody was just that awesome.
 
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