[WIP] Small icons (Hourglass & a cookie)

[Talos]

Well I am making some icons for my freewebs site (when I get my laptop I'm upgrading, But for now I must save up) and forums that I'll get at some place.
Hourglass for time and cookie for... cookies? or goodies...     I will have more when these two are done.

[Talos]

does 140 views and no comments mean there's no problems with them.

[robotacon]

Sorry but these icons are just boring.
They look like they are done in two different styles.
The cookie is OK but the hourglass is low on contrast.
You're wasting colors on both.

Also icon making is a craft in itself different from other types of pixelwork.
You should add a alpha channel and need to consider different sizes and bit depths.
For this reason I make all my icons in a vector graphics program and only use my (limited) pixel art skills for retouching smaller sized icons that don't have a alpha channel.
You need to make >50 or more before it gets interesting.

Check out http://stockicons.com/collections, http://www.icongalore.com/ etc to see what you're up against.

[Talos]

Well mine are going to be pixelart I don't have a vector program, and nor do I want these to be done that way. And they're not for computers, they're for my site. as for low contrast that'll be fixed soon.

[TrevoriuS]

The low contrast in the hourglass is no problem at all, in fact, as they are icons, think about the background they will end up on. The hourglass will look better on something dark, possible blue or yellowish. The cookie will likely come out better on something like light grey, simply because it has darker borders.

[Talos]

Thank you. I now have to do an earthweek project for school so I decided to do pixel. I am going to be doing this segment by segment, and I need some feedback on the first part. It's the beginning of a waste management factory:

And I'm sticking to my new palette to challenge myself:

[Willows]

Just curious, how is sticking to any random ol' palette challenging yourself? Wouldn't it be better to keep yourself pinned to 16 colours or so and make it look as best you can from there?

As for the piece itself, I'd definitely add some interaction between the falling liquid and the pool (ripples + splashing) and some explanation as to what this scene is and how it relates to the earth getting pwned would be awesome. As-is it looks like some kind of mad scientist lab.

[Talos]

I said it was a waste management factory. In other words peoples fecal matter is filtered and released back into the wild. giving back to the earth.
And the palette is 16 colors.

[Willows]

Sorry, I was unclear.

By "explanation as to what the scene is" I meant graphically. If it were pouring into a river or something, that would show that that nasty green stuff is polluting the river. If there were floaters floating, that would show that it was sewage. As it is, if I ignore the textual description, I see it as some sort of mad scientist lab that mario should be hopping around.

As for the palette, do you plan to change the colours at all, or are you keeping your colour choices?

[Talos]

I'll only modify if absolutely necessary. And I'll add some floaters, no matter how much my teacher doesn't like it! I just hope I don't have to do a presentation !
I like the pixelation emotes and they all fit.