Upvote Upvoted 32 Downvote Downvoted
A passion project I've been doing.
1
#1
0 Frags +

For the last few months I've been working on a side project. They're team skins for Froyo, Se7en, Ascent and FroyoBLK.
I decided to try creating skins after looking at the old i58 team skins. I only joined the tf2 community in early 2017 so I've missed out on seeing these skins in action. So i made my own. The biggest ambition I had with these skins were to get them to be used in the upcoming Episode 3 LAN but because of the issues the lan organizers have been reporting, the fact I only have 4 ready in December and the fact I am an asian nobody in the community with little to no graphics design experience I doubt that would happen. But even though these skins will probably never be used in a lan I will keep going and keep making skins for the rest of the top teams. So i just wanted to share this with the community. I would appreciate some criticism. I'm still new to this.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/v9ar71tnecattie/skins_version1.rar/file

For the last few months I've been working on a side project. They're team skins for Froyo, Se7en, Ascent and FroyoBLK.
I decided to try creating skins after looking at the old i58 team skins. I only joined the tf2 community in early 2017 so I've missed out on seeing these skins in action. So i made my own. The biggest ambition I had with these skins were to get them to be used in the upcoming Episode 3 LAN but because of the issues the lan organizers have been reporting, the fact I only have 4 ready in December and the fact I am an asian nobody in the community with little to no graphics design experience I doubt that would happen. But even though these skins will probably never be used in a lan I will keep going and keep making skins for the rest of the top teams. So i just wanted to share this with the community. I would appreciate some criticism. I'm still new to this.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/v9ar71tnecattie/skins_version1.rar/file
2
#2
10 Frags +

Can you post screenshots of what they look like?

Can you post screenshots of what they look like?
3
#3
13 Frags +
BilbertCan you post screenshots of what they look like?

https://imgur.com/a/lV99Luu

[quote=Bilbert]Can you post screenshots of what they look like?[/quote]
https://imgur.com/a/lV99Luu
4
#4
-34 Frags +

uberchain sorta did this already

uberchain sorta did this already
5
#5
Stream Highlights
40 Frags +
indecencyuberchain sorta did this already

So? They're nice looking and he's doing something he enjoys.

[quote=indecency]uberchain sorta did this already[/quote] So? They're nice looking and he's doing something he enjoys.
6
#6
-1 Frags +

We overwatch now boys

We overwatch now boys
7
#7
9 Frags +
Klutz__We overwatch now boys

the main difference is ow has their team skins purely in the team colors but tf2 still has has the iconic red and blue

[quote=Klutz__]We overwatch now boys[/quote]
the main difference is ow has their team skins purely in the team colors but tf2 still has has the iconic red and blue
8
#8
6 Frags +

Hey good job on the skins man. I don't know how you made them, how hard it is to make them or how long but good job. I am sure if you can keep this going then it might be possible to get them on lan.

Hey good job on the skins man. I don't know how you made them, how hard it is to make them or how long but good job. I am sure if you can keep this going then it might be possible to get them on lan.
9
#9
5 Frags +

the ascent skins look soooooooo good

the ascent skins look soooooooo good
10
#10
5 Frags +
yaigathe ascent skins look soooooooo good

i have a confession for that one. I used the Ascent skins from i55 as template for that one.

[quote=yaiga]the ascent skins look soooooooo good[/quote]
i have a confession for that one. I used the Ascent skins from i55 as template for that one.
11
#11
14 Frags +

Awesome work dude! I can give you some design feedback if you're feeling up for it. (I did NR and JT's skins a few years ago)

Awesome work dude! I can give you some design feedback if you're feeling up for it. (I did NR and JT's skins a few years ago)
12
#12
5 Frags +
JasbuttsAwesome work dude! I can give you some design feedback if you're feeling up for it. (I did NR and JT's skins a few years ago)

You did?! Please do. I'm new to graphics design and photo editing so any criticism is helpful

[quote=Jasbutts]Awesome work dude! I can give you some design feedback if you're feeling up for it. (I did NR and JT's skins a few years ago)[/quote]
You did?! Please do. I'm new to graphics design and photo editing so any criticism is helpful
13
#13
3 Frags +

I think its great the fact he wanted to do this! do you think you would take request from teams to make custom ones?

I think its great the fact he wanted to do this! do you think you would take request from teams to make custom ones?
14
#14
3 Frags +
bill_I think its great the fact he wanted to do this! do you think you would take request from teams to make custom ones?

i would love to! I was actually planning to try take commissions but i thought it would be too much of a niche.

[quote=bill_]I think its great the fact he wanted to do this! do you think you would take request from teams to make custom ones?[/quote]
i would love to! I was actually planning to try take commissions but i thought it would be too much of a niche.
15
#15
1 Frags +

Se7en in RED looks great, they won't have an excuse to play BLU exclusively anymore.

Se7en in RED looks great, they won't have an excuse to play BLU exclusively anymore.
16
#16
0 Frags +

ascent skins are really good

ascent skins are really good
17
#17
-1 Frags +

I personally think fyt medic looks the best here. These would be interesting to see in a lan or something... but it would probably fuck with the players

I personally think fyt medic looks the best here. These would be interesting to see in a lan or something... but it would probably fuck with the players
18
#18
6 Frags +
Thespikedballofdoom it would probably fuck with the players

The players wouldn’t be using the skins, the observer would be

[quote=Thespikedballofdoom] it would probably fuck with the players[/quote]
The players wouldn’t be using the skins, the observer would be
19
#19
2 Frags +

these are dope man, ive also missed these skins for invite teams! (KCREW ones would be looking hype......;)

these are dope man, ive also missed these skins for invite teams! (KCREW ones would be looking hype......;)
20
#20
0 Frags +
Asi_PasasiSe7en in RED looks great, they won't have an excuse to play BLU exclusively anymore.

se7en looks weird in red imo

[quote=Asi_Pasasi]Se7en in RED looks great, they won't have an excuse to play BLU exclusively anymore.[/quote]
se7en looks weird in red imo
21
#21
14 Frags +

I'm glad to see people come back to the reskins effort, thanks for doing this! I'm sorry you weren't able to pitch to Episode III, I hope as you continue to practice and learn more, you'll have an opportunity in the future.

Also, don't be too hard on yourself - I also was basically an Asian rando from Canada who came into TF2 in late 2014-2015, with not much experience or skill in competitive TF2's scene, and contributed what I could by not just sticking to SFM stuff but reviving eXtine's custom jerseys project after asked if I would be interested in doing it. I learned a lot while I worked on it, and you will too - especially visual/character design theory you can carry onto work outside of this.

Some suggestions I have based on experience:

Show Content
  • Make sure you uniform scale when working with logos. I notice that the Se7en logo is stretched on Medic's backpack. Assuming you're editing the UV directly in a picture-editing program rather than using Blender painting, most of the skins don't really stretch the logos too badly IIRC that you need to shrink things too weirdly. Also, try to avoid using black logos on top of dark (e.g. Ascent's black logo on Demo's vest, white Nursey name on off-white it WILL wash out in bright light); swap the black to white (with organization's permission) or vice-versa depending on where the logo goes. Keep sponsor logos all one colour if you can get away with it (e.g. black or white).

  • Logos with text on one arm (or the logo itself) flipping on the other arm. You probably accepted there's not much you can do about it since both arms read off one part of the texture, so honestly it doesn't matter that much but it was something I wish I would have been more conscious of; I should have removed the FROYOTECH text from the FROYO arms (and I forgot if I did in the end for i58, I probably didn't) but there's nothing that you can really do if the text is 100% part of the logo.

  • Avoid using full black & full white (#000000/#FFFFFF) for jersey colours due to how TF2's lighting interacts with these colours (e.g. Se7en's full-white uniforms or the white BLOYO uses). You might notice that white-painted hats on bright maps such as Process or Sunshine have their shading washed out almost completely. Use either an off-white or a dark grey to light black. I had to relaunch TF2 a few times and check if shit looked okay on certain maps, within the tourney's rotation, in certain places, before going back and making things not as bright/lighter if too dark.

  • Avoid using bright/saturated colours (e.g. Se7en's red skins). TF2's default art style (not including obnoxious ugly paints) leans towards faded colours. It's easier on the eyes and matches its surroundings. I know some logos have bright colours and incorporating the brand colour is key, so how I've gone about this in the past is I'll keep the logo or do standard red/blue swaps (with organization's permission), but keep jersey colours more muted. I understand that TF2 weapon skins are pretty bad with this too, but weapons will always look more flashy than the character skins, even with cosmetics, paints, and unusuals factored in.

  • Your time as well as your textures (and the file size) adds up if you customize each skin with a player name. Post ESEA LAN, we chose to focus on Sniper & Spy retextures out of the non-cookie cutter specialist classes to save time, and slapped logos on the others. Altogether that's at least 20 textures per team (18 + 2 for Medic's RED/BLU backpacks). Customizing each class for each individual player means you'll be making 20 textures per player, which is 120 textures per team. 120 textures is minimum for a 6-team game if it's only team textures. If you do things such as edit bump maps for Scout's bandage normal map to look more like gamer gloves, this adds more textures.

  • Keep elements from the default skins. Less is more. (e.g. Se7en's all white uniforms might be overdoing it.) This wasn't something I realized until I did more TF2 concept art outside of esports-style brainding. It really helps to make things sort of blend in better, while still making them stand out with a special touch. i55 FROYO vs i58 FROYO's skins from the design theory slides in the i55/i58 retexture DL are the best way I can explain this. I also really liked what Jasmine did for nR's skins since those reds/blues she picked basically became the default on those textures instead of the default TF2 RED/BLU. Also this is due to how cosmetics work; a RED Scout jacket attached onto that Se7en skin will still show up as dull red since it's basically a prosthetic attachment that's meant to match the original RED/BLU.

I really like these things you did:

Show Content
  • Mimicing elements from the official jerseys or uniforms/merch of teams. I don't know if it was intentional but Se7en's skins look really similar to the jerseys they wore at i63. My favourite example in the past of incorporating jersey design wasCrowns Esports Club's i58 textures, which utilized elements from Crowns' jerseys and incorporating it as best as we could into the TF2 style; Jasmine Tea's concept also did this but more for the logo since they had no apparel at the time. I think BLOYO could use more black than grey though.

  • The player names. As mentioned before, the logistics of this is nuts. For a 6-team invite tournament with teams branded, you have 120 textures to deliver. For a 6-team invite tournament with individual players branded, you have 720 textures to deliver. Is it worth it? From experience from not just me but the numerous people I asked to help me reskin + design in-game jerseys, I personally don't think so, and that doesn't factor in how big the VPK/custom folder would be when you finish (which should be okay). Does it look sweet anyway and adds a nice personalized touch? Yes it does.

  • Retaining gamer gloves. There is absolutely no good reason I had to start putting edgy fingerless gamer gloves on Team Fortress 2 characters from the year 1968. There is no reason you should have to either other than ESPORTS. That being said, TF2's 1968 has teleporters, healing bongs, and ugly banana hats with flames, so fuck that. I'm very much allowed to advise you against using bright colours on jerseys but I, speaking for myself and myself only, will very much support your endeavour to ESPORTS gamer gloves. (People probably disagree and that's 100% valid.)

  • Reviving this in general, let alone committing to it. My respect to you for taking the time to create these; it's very labourous and requires more trial & error than most people realize. This is thankless sometimes. Your work will be flamed, 100%. It will be flamed without criticism, no matter how good it is, because there are a good chunk of people who just don't like team skins. But know your efforts are, and will be, appreciated by a good chunk of this community, and I wish those people had spoken up more.

I hope you don't get burnt out from wanting to continue doing these or refining them for any future tourneys, seasons, or LANs you might ever pitch to. Remember, it doesn't even have to be teams: I saw Moscow LAN using some custom retextures on their classes that were specific to the event itself. It's basically just a nice personalized touch, like adding logos to the cap point such as what TempusTV does and what a lot of casting orgs/other tournaments do.

I'm glad to see people come back to the reskins effort, thanks for doing this! I'm sorry you weren't able to pitch to Episode III, I hope as you continue to practice and learn more, you'll have an opportunity in the future.

Also, don't be too hard on yourself - I also was basically an Asian rando from Canada who came into TF2 in late 2014-2015, with not much experience or skill in competitive TF2's scene, and contributed what I could by not just sticking to SFM stuff but reviving eXtine's custom jerseys project after asked if I would be interested in doing it. I learned a lot while I worked on it, and you will too - especially visual/character design theory you can carry onto work outside of this.

Some suggestions I have based on experience:

[spoiler][list]
[*] Make sure you uniform scale when working with logos. I notice that the Se7en logo is stretched on Medic's backpack. Assuming you're editing the UV directly in a picture-editing program rather than using Blender painting, most of the skins don't really stretch the logos too badly IIRC that you need to shrink things too weirdly. Also, try to avoid using black logos on top of dark (e.g. Ascent's black logo on Demo's vest, white Nursey name on off-white it WILL wash out in bright light); swap the black to white (with organization's permission) or vice-versa depending on where the logo goes. Keep sponsor logos all one colour if you can get away with it (e.g. black or white).

[*] Logos with text on one arm (or the logo itself) flipping on the other arm. You probably accepted there's not much you can do about it since both arms read off one part of the texture, so honestly it doesn't matter that much but it was something I wish I would have been more conscious of; I should have removed the FROYOTECH text from the FROYO arms (and I forgot if I did in the end for i58, I probably didn't) but there's nothing that you can really do if the text is 100% part of the logo.

[*] Avoid using full black & full white (#000000/#FFFFFF) for jersey colours due to how TF2's lighting interacts with these colours (e.g. Se7en's full-white uniforms or the white BLOYO uses). You might notice that white-painted hats on bright maps such as Process or Sunshine have their shading washed out almost completely. Use either an off-white or a dark grey to light black. [url=https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/436074927435811838/285A1E540ACD484E342FC955C7A5B55BECBB3D8F/]I had to relaunch TF2 a few times and check if shit looked okay[/url] on certain maps, within the tourney's rotation, in certain places, before going back and making things not as bright/lighter if too dark.

[*] Avoid using bright/saturated colours (e.g. Se7en's red skins). TF2's default art style (not including obnoxious ugly paints) leans towards faded colours. It's easier on the eyes and matches its surroundings. I know some logos have bright colours and incorporating the brand colour is key, so how I've gone about this in the past is I'll keep the logo or do standard red/blue swaps (with organization's permission), but keep jersey colours more muted. I understand that TF2 weapon skins are pretty bad with this too, but weapons will always look more flashy than the character skins, even with cosmetics, paints, and unusuals factored in.

[*] Your time as well as your textures (and the file size) adds up if you customize each skin with a player name. Post ESEA LAN, we chose to focus on Sniper & Spy retextures out of the non-cookie cutter specialist classes to save time, and slapped logos on the others. Altogether that's at least 20 textures per team (18 + 2 for Medic's RED/BLU backpacks). Customizing each class for each individual player means you'll be making 20 textures per player, which is 120 textures per team. 120 textures is minimum for a 6-team game if it's only team textures. If you do things such as edit bump maps for Scout's bandage normal map to look more like gamer gloves, this adds more textures.

[*] Keep elements from the default skins. Less is more. (e.g. Se7en's all white uniforms might be overdoing it.) This wasn't something I realized until I did more TF2 concept art outside of esports-style brainding. It really helps to make things sort of blend in better, while still making them stand out with a special touch. [url=https://i.imgur.com/nlAMRsk.png]i55 FROYO vs i58 FROYO's skins[/url] from the design theory slides in the [url=http://www.teamfortress.tv/43144/i55-i58-reskins-posters]i55/i58 retexture DL[/url] are the best way I can explain this. I also really liked what Jasmine did for nR's skins since those reds/blues she picked basically became the default on those textures instead of the default TF2 RED/BLU. Also this is due to how cosmetics work; a RED Scout jacket attached onto that Se7en skin will still show up as dull red since it's basically a prosthetic attachment that's meant to match the original RED/BLU.
[/list][/spoiler]

I really like these things you did:

[spoiler][list]
[*] Mimicing elements from the official jerseys or uniforms/merch of teams. I don't know if it was intentional but Se7en's skins look really similar to the jerseys they wore at i63. My favourite example in the past of incorporating jersey design was[url=https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/339905042335399937/521125597439590421/crowns_joiseys.png]Crowns Esports Club's i58 textures[/url], which utilized elements from Crowns' jerseys and incorporating it as best as we could into the TF2 style; Jasmine Tea's concept also did this but more for the logo since they had no apparel at the time. I think BLOYO could use more black than grey though.

[*] The player names. As mentioned before, the logistics of this is nuts. For a 6-team invite tournament with teams branded, you have 120 textures to deliver. For a 6-team invite tournament with individual players branded, you have 720 textures to deliver. Is it worth it? From experience from not just me but the numerous people I asked to help me reskin + design in-game jerseys, I personally don't think so, and that doesn't factor in how big the VPK/custom folder would be when you finish (which should be okay). Does it look sweet anyway and adds a nice personalized touch? Yes it does.

[*] Retaining gamer gloves. There is absolutely no good reason I had to start putting edgy fingerless gamer gloves on Team Fortress 2 characters from the year 1968. There is no reason you should have to either other than ESPORTS. That being said, TF2's 1968 has teleporters, healing bongs, and ugly banana hats with flames, so fuck that. I'm very much allowed to advise you against using bright colours on jerseys but I, speaking for myself and myself only, will very much support your endeavour to ESPORTS gamer gloves. (People probably disagree and that's 100% valid.)

[*] Reviving this in general, let alone committing to it. My respect to you for taking the time to create these; it's very labourous and requires more trial & error than most people realize. This is thankless sometimes. Your work will be flamed, 100%. It will be flamed without criticism, no matter how good it is, because there are a good chunk of people who just don't like team skins. But know your efforts are, and will be, appreciated by a good chunk of this community, and I wish those people had spoken up more.[/list][/spoiler]
I hope you don't get burnt out from wanting to continue doing these or refining them for any future tourneys, seasons, or LANs you might ever pitch to. Remember, it doesn't even have to be teams: I saw Moscow LAN using some custom retextures on their classes that were specific to the event itself. It's basically just a nice personalized touch, like adding logos to the cap point such as what TempusTV does and what a lot of casting orgs/other tournaments do.
22
#22
6 Frags +

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/512530812483272704/521139866512130071/FRIDGE.png

This awsome I m going to put it right up here so everyone can see

[img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/512530812483272704/521139866512130071/FRIDGE.png[/img]
This awsome I m going to put it right up here so everyone can see
23
#23
1 Frags +
uberchainI'm glad to see people come back to the reskins effort, thanks for doing this! I'm sorry you weren't able to pitch to Episode III, I hope as you continue to practice and learn more, you'll have an opportunity in the future.

Also, don't be too hard on yourself - I also was basically an Asian rando from Canada who came into TF2 in late 2014-2015, with not much experience or skill in competitive TF2's scene, and contributed what I could by not just sticking to SFM stuff but reviving eXtine's custom jerseys project after asked if I would be interested in doing it. I learned a lot while I worked on it, and you will too - especially visual/character design theory you can carry onto work outside of this.

Some suggestions I have based on experience:
Show Content
  • Make sure you uniform scale when working with logos. I notice that the Se7en logo stretched on Medic's backpack. Most of the skins don't really stretch the logos too badly IIRC that you need to shrink things too weirdly. Also, try to avoid using black logos on top of dark (e.g. Ascent's black logo on Demo's vest); swap the black to white (with organization's permission) or vice-versa depending on where the logo goes. Keep sponsor logos all one colour if you can get away with it (e.g. black or white).
  • Logos with text on one arm flip on the other arm. You probably accepted there's not much you can do about it since both arms read off one part of the texture, so honestly it doesn't matter that much but it was something I wish I would have been more conscious of; I should have removed the FROYOTECH text from the FROYO arms (and I forgot if I did in the end for i58, I probably didn't) but there's nothing that you can really do if the text is 100% part of the logo.
  • Avoid using full black & full white (#000000/#FFFFFF) for jersey colours due to how TF2's lighting interacts with these colours (e.g. Se7en's full-white uniforms or the white BLOYO uses). You might notice that white-painted hats on bright maps such as Process or Sunshine have their shading washed out almost completely. Use either an off-white or a dark grey to light black. I had to relaunch TF2 a few times and check if shit looked okay on certain maps, within the tourney's rotation, in certain places, before going back and making things not as bright/lighter if too dark.
  • Avoid using bright/saturated colours (e.g. Se7en's red skins). TF2's default art style (not including obnoxious ugly paints) leans towards faded colours. It's easier on the eyes and matches its surroundings. I know some logos have bright colours and incorporating the brand colour is key, so how I've gone about this in the past is I'll keep the logo or do standard red/blue swaps (with organization's permission), but keep jersey colours more muted. The exception to this is nR because I really liked what Jasmine did for nR's skins,
  • Your time as well as your textures (and the file size) adds up if you customize each skin with a player name. Post ESEA LAN, we chose to focus on Sniper & Spy retextures out of the non-cookie cutter specialist classes to save time, and slapped logos on the others. Altogether that's 20 textures per team (18 + 2 for Medic's RED/BLU backpacks). Customizing each class for each individual player means you'll be making 20 textures per player, which is 120 textures per team.
  • Keep elements from the default skins. Less is more. (e.g. Se7en's all white uniforms might be overdoing it.) This wasn't something I realized until I did more TF2 concept art outside of esports-style brainding. It really helps to make things sort of blend in better, while still making them stand out with a special touch. i55 FROYO vs i58 FROYO's skins from the design theory slides in the i55/i58 retexture DL are the best way I can explain this.

I really like these things you did:
Show Content
  • Mimicing elements from the official jerseys or uniforms/merch of teams. I don't know if it was intentional but Se7en's skins look really similar to the jerseys they wore at i63. My favourite example in the past of incorporating jersey design wasCrowns Esports Club's i58 textures, which utilized elements from Crowns' jerseys and incorporating it as best as we could into the TF2 style; Jasmine Tea's concept also did this but more for the logo since they had no apparel at the time. I think BLOYO could use more black than grey though.

  • The player names. As mentioned before, the logistics of this is nuts. For a 6-team invite tournament, you have 120 textures to deliver; for a 6-team invite tournament with individual players branded, you have 720 textures to deliver. Is it worth it? From experience from not just me but the numerous people I asked to help me reskin + design in-game jerseys, I personally don't think so, and that doesn't factor in how big the VPK/custom folder would be when you finish (which should be okay). Does it look sweet anyway and adds a nice personalized touch? Yes it does.

  • Retaining gamer gloves. There is absolutely no good reason I had to start putting edgy fingerless gamer gloves on Team Fortress 2 characters from the year 1968. There is no reason you should have to either other than ESPORTS. That being said, TF2's 1968 has teleporters, healing bongs, and ugly banana hats with flames, so fuck that. I'm very much allowed to advise you against using bright colours on jerseys but I, speaking for myself and myself only, will very much support your endeavour to ESPORTS gamer gloves. (People probably disagree and that's 100% valid.)

  • Reviving this in general, let alone committing to it. My respect to you for taking the time to create these; it's very labourous and requires more trial & error than most people realize. Your work will be flamed without criticism if ever used, no matter how good it is, because there are a good chunk of people who just don't like team skins. But know your efforts are appreciated by a good chunk of this community. I hope you don't get burnt out from wanting to continue doing these or refining them for any future tourneys, seasons, or LANs you might ever pitch to. Remember, it doesn't even have to be teams: I saw Moscow LAN using some custom retextures on their classes that were specific to the event itself. It's basically just a nice personalized touch, like adding logos to the cap point such as what TempusTV does and what a lot of casting orgs/other tournaments do.

Thank you uberchain for your criticism I'll take this into consideration as i move forward. I actually showed these off on b4nny's discord before posting them here. A lot of people told be to use more muted colours but I guess I slacked off a bit. The Se7en skin was the first one I made completely from scratch (I used the i58 froyo skins as a template for froyo and I did the same for Ascent) I was deciding on a design at the time all white seemed like a great idea but when i look at it now after reading what you said it does look out of place. Now to talk about what I consider the elephant in the room: the player names. Before I started this project I was wondering why team skin designers didnt add player names but when I started I saw a problem. Last minute roster changes and subs. That made me think it over a little more and I became a little hesitant. After asking a bunch of people like my teammates and members of b4nny's discord I still got mixed results. So I said fuck it and tried my best to integrate player names into the skins. The figures you put up are a little scary but I still intend to keep the names

[quote=uberchain]I'm glad to see people come back to the reskins effort, thanks for doing this! I'm sorry you weren't able to pitch to Episode III, I hope as you continue to practice and learn more, you'll have an opportunity in the future.

Also, don't be too hard on yourself - I also was basically an Asian rando from Canada who came into TF2 in late 2014-2015, with not much experience or skill in competitive TF2's scene, and contributed what I could by not just sticking to SFM stuff but reviving eXtine's custom jerseys project after asked if I would be interested in doing it. I learned a lot while I worked on it, and you will too - especially visual/character design theory you can carry onto work outside of this.

Some suggestions I have based on experience:

[spoiler][list]
[*] Make sure you uniform scale when working with logos. I notice that the Se7en logo stretched on Medic's backpack. Most of the skins don't really stretch the logos too badly IIRC that you need to shrink things too weirdly. Also, try to avoid using black logos on top of dark (e.g. Ascent's black logo on Demo's vest); swap the black to white (with organization's permission) or vice-versa depending on where the logo goes. Keep sponsor logos all one colour if you can get away with it (e.g. black or white).
[*] Logos with text on one arm flip on the other arm. You probably accepted there's not much you can do about it since both arms read off one part of the texture, so honestly it doesn't matter that much but it was something I wish I would have been more conscious of; I should have removed the FROYOTECH text from the FROYO arms (and I forgot if I did in the end for i58, I probably didn't) but there's nothing that you can really do if the text is 100% part of the logo.
[*] Avoid using full black & full white (#000000/#FFFFFF) for jersey colours due to how TF2's lighting interacts with these colours (e.g. Se7en's full-white uniforms or the white BLOYO uses). You might notice that white-painted hats on bright maps such as Process or Sunshine have their shading washed out almost completely. Use either an off-white or a dark grey to light black. [url=https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/436074927435811838/285A1E540ACD484E342FC955C7A5B55BECBB3D8F/]I had to relaunch TF2 a few times and check if shit looked okay[/url] on certain maps, within the tourney's rotation, in certain places, before going back and making things not as bright/lighter if too dark.
[*] Avoid using bright/saturated colours (e.g. Se7en's red skins). TF2's default art style (not including obnoxious ugly paints) leans towards faded colours. It's easier on the eyes and matches its surroundings. I know some logos have bright colours and incorporating the brand colour is key, so how I've gone about this in the past is I'll keep the logo or do standard red/blue swaps (with organization's permission), but keep jersey colours more muted. The exception to this is nR because I really liked what Jasmine did for nR's skins,
[*] Your time as well as your textures (and the file size) adds up if you customize each skin with a player name. Post ESEA LAN, we chose to focus on Sniper & Spy retextures out of the non-cookie cutter specialist classes to save time, and slapped logos on the others. Altogether that's 20 textures per team (18 + 2 for Medic's RED/BLU backpacks). Customizing each class for each individual player means you'll be making 20 textures per player, which is 120 textures per team.
[*] Keep elements from the default skins. Less is more. (e.g. Se7en's all white uniforms might be overdoing it.) This wasn't something I realized until I did more TF2 concept art outside of esports-style brainding. It really helps to make things sort of blend in better, while still making them stand out with a special touch. [url=https://i.imgur.com/nlAMRsk.png]i55 FROYO vs i58 FROYO's skins[/url] from the design theory slides in the [url=http://www.teamfortress.tv/43144/i55-i58-reskins-posters]i55/i58 retexture DL[/url] are the best way I can explain this.
[/list][/spoiler]

I really like these things you did:

[spoiler][list]
[*] Mimicing elements from the official jerseys or uniforms/merch of teams. I don't know if it was intentional but Se7en's skins look really similar to the jerseys they wore at i63. My favourite example in the past of incorporating jersey design was[url=https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/339905042335399937/521125597439590421/crowns_joiseys.png]Crowns Esports Club's i58 textures[/url], which utilized elements from Crowns' jerseys and incorporating it as best as we could into the TF2 style; Jasmine Tea's concept also did this but more for the logo since they had no apparel at the time. I think BLOYO could use more black than grey though.

[*] The player names. As mentioned before, the logistics of this is nuts. For a 6-team invite tournament, you have 120 textures to deliver; for a 6-team invite tournament with individual players branded, you have 720 textures to deliver. Is it worth it? From experience from not just me but the numerous people I asked to help me reskin + design in-game jerseys, I personally don't think so, and that doesn't factor in how big the VPK/custom folder would be when you finish (which should be okay). Does it look sweet anyway and adds a nice personalized touch? Yes it does.

[*] Retaining gamer gloves. There is absolutely no good reason I had to start putting edgy fingerless gamer gloves on Team Fortress 2 characters from the year 1968. There is no reason you should have to either other than ESPORTS. That being said, TF2's 1968 has teleporters, healing bongs, and ugly banana hats with flames, so fuck that. I'm very much allowed to advise you against using bright colours on jerseys but I, speaking for myself and myself only, will very much support your endeavour to ESPORTS gamer gloves. (People probably disagree and that's 100% valid.)

[*] Reviving this in general, let alone committing to it. My respect to you for taking the time to create these; it's very labourous and requires more trial & error than most people realize. Your work will be flamed without criticism if ever used, no matter how good it is, because there are a good chunk of people who just don't like team skins. But know your efforts are appreciated by a good chunk of this community. I hope you don't get burnt out from wanting to continue doing these or refining them for any future tourneys, seasons, or LANs you might ever pitch to. Remember, it doesn't even have to be teams: I saw Moscow LAN using some custom retextures on their classes that were specific to the event itself. It's basically just a nice personalized touch, like adding logos to the cap point such as what TempusTV does and what a lot of casting orgs/other tournaments do.[/list][/spoiler][/quote]

Thank you uberchain for your criticism I'll take this into consideration as i move forward. I actually showed these off on b4nny's discord before posting them here. A lot of people told be to use more muted colours but I guess I slacked off a bit. The Se7en skin was the first one I made completely from scratch (I used the i58 froyo skins as a template for froyo and I did the same for Ascent) I was deciding on a design at the time all white seemed like a great idea but when i look at it now after reading what you said it does look out of place. Now to talk about what I consider the elephant in the room: the player names. Before I started this project I was wondering why team skin designers didnt add player names but when I started I saw a problem. Last minute roster changes and subs. That made me think it over a little more and I became a little hesitant. After asking a bunch of people like my teammates and members of b4nny's discord I still got mixed results. So I said fuck it and tried my best to integrate player names into the skins. The figures you put up are a little scary but I still intend to keep the names
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#24
0 Frags +

I ran out of space so I'll put it here. I intend to only put player names on the generalist only.

I ran out of space so I'll put it here. I intend to only put player names on the generalist only.
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#25
0 Frags +
C4rdisterI intend to only put player names on the generalist only.

This is fair, I thought about this too, but the biggest consideration you need to take into mind is if there might be class swaps during live games.

A few examples is during a nerdRage match on Product in i55, Zebbosai and Stark swapped Soldier and Scout roles since both played the other better on that map. Se7en during late Rewind II where Permzilla was subbed in for kaptain who suddenly came down with food poisoning, and AMS (IIRC) filled in for Soldier instead of Scout while Perm played Scout. Street Hoops during Rewind had Muma subbed in for bl4nk, who was originally subbed in for Duwatna who suddenly came down with appendicitis (which wasn't live but was very last notice). And DHW 2016 had a Team Norway player missing, so broadcast talent actually had to take turns subbing in for Demoman.

This happens but shouldn't be a huge concern in the end. The easiest compromise would be just main classes with player names only, with backup no-named cookie-cutter generalist classes.

[quote=C4rdister]I intend to only put player names on the generalist only.[/quote] This is fair, I thought about this too, but the biggest consideration you need to take into mind is if there might be class swaps during live games.

A few examples is during a nerdRage match on Product in i55, Zebbosai and Stark swapped Soldier and Scout roles since both played the other better on that map. Se7en during late Rewind II where Permzilla was subbed in for kaptain who suddenly came down with food poisoning, and AMS (IIRC) filled in for Soldier instead of Scout while Perm played Scout. Street Hoops during Rewind had Muma subbed in for bl4nk, who was originally subbed in for Duwatna who suddenly came down with appendicitis (which wasn't live but was very last notice). And DHW 2016 had a Team Norway player missing, so broadcast talent actually had to take turns subbing in for Demoman.

This happens but shouldn't be a huge concern in the end. The easiest compromise would be just main classes with player names only, with backup no-named cookie-cutter generalist classes.
26
#26
1 Frags +
uberchainC4rdisterI intend to only put player names on the generalist only. This is fair, I thought about this too, but the biggest consideration you need to take into mind is if there might be class swaps during live games.

A few examples is during a nerdRage match on Product in i55, Zebbosai and Stark swapped Soldier and Scout roles since both played the other better on that map. Se7en during late Rewind II where Permzilla was subbed in for kaptain who suddenly came down with food poisoning, and AMS (IIRC) filled in for Soldier instead of Scout while Perm played Scout. Street Hoops during Rewind had Muma subbed in for bl4nk, who was originally subbed in for Duwatna who suddenly came down with appendicitis (which wasn't live but was very last notice). And DHW 2016 had a Team Norway player missing, so broadcast talent actually had to take turns subbing in for Demoman.

This happens but shouldn't be a huge concern in the end. The easiest compromise would be just main classes with player names only, with backup no-named cookie-cutter generalist classes.

Thanks for the tips

[quote=uberchain][quote=C4rdister]I intend to only put player names on the generalist only.[/quote] This is fair, I thought about this too, but the biggest consideration you need to take into mind is if there might be class swaps during live games.

A few examples is during a nerdRage match on Product in i55, Zebbosai and Stark swapped Soldier and Scout roles since both played the other better on that map. Se7en during late Rewind II where Permzilla was subbed in for kaptain who suddenly came down with food poisoning, and AMS (IIRC) filled in for Soldier instead of Scout while Perm played Scout. Street Hoops during Rewind had Muma subbed in for bl4nk, who was originally subbed in for Duwatna who suddenly came down with appendicitis (which wasn't live but was very last notice). And DHW 2016 had a Team Norway player missing, so broadcast talent actually had to take turns subbing in for Demoman.

This happens but shouldn't be a huge concern in the end. The easiest compromise would be just main classes with player names only, with backup no-named cookie-cutter generalist classes.[/quote]
Thanks for the tips
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#27
2 Frags +

ballin

ballin
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#28
4 Frags +
C4rdisterYou did?! Please do. I'm new to graphics design and photo editing so any criticism is helpful

Hell yeah, here's the two skins I did for reference: NerdRage and Jasmine Tea. You can actually compare them to the Froyo skins in Uber's post, to see how the color keys changed in i55 vs i58.

Here's some feedback, my brain is kinda fried right now so it's a bit short:

Show Content
  • Keep the usage of logos minimal, use elements from the logo's color/shape to design elements of the skin. Once viewed at a distance there is a lot of noise from the amount of detail that blends together. An example is in Ascent's skin for the Demoman, there is the 'peak' from Ascent's logo on his chest and then the Ascent logo and text below that, and he has the logo+text on his arms and back. The Froyo skins for the Soldier and Demo actually do a good job of using design elements. I understand the placement of player names and I think that's pretty sick, but just keep in mind that it adds a lot of extra visual noise.
  • Sort of related above but a good thing to keep in mind is layering a lot of detail on top of each other. Pretty much every class has their shirt/jacket, and then some sort of straps that visually divide the torso in some way, either diagonally or vertically, I think you've done a good job about keeping those parts contrasting. Like on the back of Scout's jersey there is the Froyo logo on his back and then the logo again on his pack. Here's the back of the i58 skins for reference: http://i.imgur.com/hGH5Khg.png
  • Avoid straight up black or white or very bright colors, the color palette of the natural TF2 world down to the colors of the maps is slightly subdued and lower saturation. Using an off-white or a grey-ish black helps it feel more natural for the viewer. This is more of a personal taste thing (and it might be just from the screenshots), but I like to retain a good amount of the original TF2 texture, especially their reds/blues.
[quote=C4rdister]
You did?! Please do. I'm new to graphics design and photo editing so any criticism is helpful[/quote]

Hell yeah, here's the two skins I did for reference: [url=http://jasbutts.com/projects/gallery/tftv1.jpg]NerdRage[/url] and [url=http://jasbutts.com/projects/gallery/tftv2.jpg]Jasmine Tea.[/url] You can actually compare them to the Froyo skins in Uber's post, to see how the color keys changed in i55 vs i58.

Here's some feedback, my brain is kinda fried right now so it's a bit short:
[spoiler]
[list]
[*] Keep the usage of logos minimal, use elements from the logo's color/shape to design elements of the skin. Once viewed at a distance there is a lot of noise from the amount of detail that blends together. An example is in Ascent's skin for the Demoman, there is the 'peak' from Ascent's logo on his chest and then the Ascent logo and text below that, and he has the logo+text on his arms and back. The Froyo skins for the Soldier and Demo actually do a good job of using design elements. I understand the placement of player names and I think that's pretty sick, but just keep in mind that it adds a lot of extra visual noise.
[*] Sort of related above but a good thing to keep in mind is layering a lot of detail on top of each other. Pretty much every class has their shirt/jacket, and then some sort of straps that visually divide the torso in some way, either diagonally or vertically, I think you've done a good job about keeping those parts contrasting. Like on the back of Scout's jersey there is the Froyo logo on his back and then the logo again on his pack. Here's the back of the i58 skins for reference: http://i.imgur.com/hGH5Khg.png
[*] Avoid straight up black or white or very bright colors, the color palette of the natural TF2 world down to the colors of the maps is slightly subdued and lower saturation. Using an off-white or a grey-ish black helps it feel more natural for the viewer. This is more of a personal taste thing (and it might be just from the screenshots), but I like to retain a good amount of the original TF2 texture, especially their reds/blues.
[/list]
[/spoiler]
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