Forum Signatures

[Senkusha]

I'm not really sure where to put this.

I've been thinking about creating a really nice forum signature that I can use on all the other forums that I interact with. Part of this shows my identity as a member, but also, I want to give information about my own site (and as a hobby) as well.

What do you consider to be important elements and best design practices for creating forum signatures? Are there any techniques that you've used and noticed an uptick in traffic to your own site?

 

[prophet]

Honestly, I've made forum signatures for the better part of the last 14 years or so. My main thing that I'd say is find a tutorial that you enjoy and try your best to create something similar. Obviously forum signatures, or at least the ones that I'm used to are a thing of the past but there's still a select few who make them. If you're wanting someone to give information about your own site, definitely focus on the font and placement of that font. Background blending is also incredibly important so that the signature stands out, while also being sleek and easy to look at. Also, downloading PSD's that are LRO (learning rights only) also helps you understand layer placement and blending. If you're looking for something to plug your own site into, like I said, focus on fonts and text placement. The image should obviously be the focal point but creating a visible place for text should be your next focal point.

In my opinion, personalized and advertising signatures are difficult to mix but you can definitely create something similar to any of the tutorials listed below by adding your own flair.

Also, I'd recommend going on dA and just searching "signature tutorial" or something along those lines. There's a ton of tutorials that also provide you with the resources that they used.

My own examples:

https://www.deviantart.com/im-prophet/art/Jarvan-IV-Signature-963131834

https://www.deviantart.com/im-prophet/art/Luffy-Gear-5-Signature-Avatar-963731226

https://www.deviantart.com/im-prophet/art/Venom-Signature-969197637

Tutorials:

https://www.deviantart.com/im-prophet/art/Anime-Signature-Tutorial-640794311

https://www.deviantart.com/billkaulitzluvergirl/art/My-Goodbye-Signature-Tutorial-322661231

https://www.deviantart.com/mizoresyo/art/Pink-Anime-Girl-signature-tutorial-349208808

https://www.deviantart.com/blueangel06661/art/Warwick-Avenue-Signature-tutorial-340161843

 

[Empire]

I always have had eye-catching animation images in my signature, in fact, most are all GIF based images, not everyone is a fan of them and they like static however you are not always going to please everyone by all means.

As long as it's colourful that fits the needs of your Fourm/site and it's catching members eyes