here's my current icon:
it's actually a placeholder image from a print i made of the main character, it doesn't match the coloring style in my comic since it's painted and mine's cel shaded but i sketched up a new one and i think im liking it?? tell me what you think
it's going to be cel shaded like my comic and it'll have the same color scheme as my current icon
I just did a clip of the title character, giving a thumbs up- with a lightning bolt in the background. It's funny coz when it comes to actual comic drawing I have no issues coming up with stuff- but when I start doing art for poster/prints or some type of thing like an icon or banner, I struggle with trying to make the consummate piece.
I've been wanting to simplify my icon for a while but I'm also extremely indecisive, what do you think?
My friends say i should just leave it as is but i feel like the one with the text is too crowded
This is the icon I've been using for my comic. This is the updated version of the original which I used to use, though I'm still unsure if it stands out enough. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! It features one of the more mysterious main characters in the story.
Would this be better?
But I hate the original icon, mostly because it is not well drawn and the man's skin color is also off and the art style does not match the comic.
Here are them side by side, the second one looks nicer and looks more like the comic.
The two are not a romantic couple. I wanted the woman to look sad (because she has depression). She tends to distance herself from others. I wanted it too look like the man was confronting her but unable to help (or touch her).
Oooooh nooooo, it certainly doesn't look like that to me! With the title of your comic I always read it like, "ahhh! It's a pesky monster! This job is too much, I need a raise." I really like this thumb, though, it's one of my favorites that I've seen! The contrasting colors and values are really eye-catching. And it just looks like a fun story.
Anyways, one thing I've noticed (but perhaps underutilized) is that my eyes are always drawn very strongly to a face. If the thumb just has a face in it, I notice it instantly. However, there are SO MANY thumbs with faces that unless it's a very interesting face, I tend to click on something else. (usually thumbs that have two or more characters and thereby imply character relationships)
I also notice thumbs with words on them, but they repel me, haha. Thumbs with only words are especially infuriating to my to my eyes.
Here're my thumbnails, neither of which are particularly strong thumb compositions in my opinion. But they're fun and that's pretty much what matters to me at this point!
Oh gosh thank you! ;u; I was worried that people would infer that two characters in an icon looking at eachother automatically means a couple. XD I'm so glad it comes across right.
I like both your thumbs too! The juxtaposition is just great you've got cats and guns and even blades and cute girls. Awesome characterization with each one! Although, the stupid part about icons is that most of the detail is lost. D: I hope they read well as something tiny, because they're both really good!
I've been wondering about this a lot. I used my series logo for thumbnail, but I came to think that it's pretty boring.
It's this one:
I was thinking about using the thumbnail from some of the pages, what do you think looks better?
I fear that people may think that the series is much more serious that what it actually is.
The Captain in all his glory. While the series has some slapstick moments, this is not the norm and may be too exagerated.
Of course this need reworking, I'd use them only as a base for an actual series icon. What do you guys think it's best?
But this is literally nothing you can't fix, I know it is work but sometimes redrawing things helps you achieve closest to ideal results. Redraw it in the current comic style with the colours that you want them to have. That's basically my suggestion as the main reasons you hate it are the style and the colour, not the composition itself (which I personally find the most click-worthy among your current icons). Plus, I always love to do redraws just to see how much I evolved, it can give you quite an ego boost ;9
It is just my opinion and I of course can't make you choose x or y. And, as I said, I also don't know their dynamics and how it developed in detail, but what you described it is, I don't really get that vibe from the icon you prefer.
Also (this is just a theory I have and noticed for myself) for icons, I need something like a centre, something that immediately draws my eye to it, which (ideally) is somewhere in the centre of the icon.
In the original icon, you have them together as a bunch, side by side, in the middle, the background is around them. It's easy to focus on the characters with just one glance.
In the second, you don't have that "one spot" you can focus on because the characters are divided, so you don't know where to focus on. They work a bit more like two pillars or some kind of window frame, so the actual focus is what lies between them, which is basically just blank space. I think my main issue with this icon is that it doesn't have something that connects the two characters in one way or another and keeps my focus on it.
Here is what I would suggest from your description (and, again, it's really just a suggestion for the compostition - sorry that you can't see the image borders ;A;):
If she withdraws herself, it's usually easier to show through body language rather than physical space. This makes her also harder to directly confront which appears to be a general struggle, also for the male character. The awkwardly outstretched hand kind of shows his will to help but it still doesn't reach her.
I hope my really long ramble made half-way sense to you, and that it still can help you at least a bit with settling on an icon. Good luck!
I agree with you, I would use one without text (even the one without the frame/green background tbh) - this way it's easier to focus on the character.
I am going to suggest maybe reading my comic if you want to help me because my series does not match the icon you presented.
I still prefer my icon.
I moved the character closer together...if that helps (which took a while because the icon was a cropped version of my banner)
Aww dude! I really dig that second one with the Captain going crazy! I think that reads better when scaled really tiny too! : >
Hello I'm a new member of Tapastic, with the series MOROCHOS. I'm the writer and my twin brother is the illustrator. This is our Icon (or Thumbnail). What do you think of our Thumbnail? 
I recently updated the icon for my series Lemongrass. I'd been lazy and sticking to cropped panels up until now, but I finally took the time to draw some custom art for it, and I think it was a worthwhile exercise.
I had been quite annoyed by my series icon for some time and finally decided to do something about it yesterday.
First, my icon as it was for over a year:
Then I switched to something different for a few weeks, but I wasn't happy about it:
And last night I sat down, figured out what made other icons work well and drew a new one.
Now I am happy again 
I'm a mix of A + B. 90% A, 10% B The most important to me is art. If the art isn't to my taste, I won't consider it. Once it gets past the art gate, I look at genre. Good art, but horror? Out of my zone - I scare easily. I generally avoid genres like Romance too, so it's a combination of A) Icon and B) Title/Genre for me.
As for the gaaaaaame!!! I picked the FRESH listing since there's rarer and new comics there than the usual Popular and Trending comics.
I'm super picky =_= sorry. I don't have a lot of free time to browse webcomics when I'm already putting most of my passion into official manga and anime.
