Tournament Banners

"Let's get right to the point, Smeargle's Studians: I need your help."

And with those humble words, Zracknel launched the first of several threads focused entirely on creating banners for tournaments. The difference a well placed banner can make for readers to get a better impression of a tournament description and re-consider participating is noticeable, a need Zracknel had provided himself for the most part, but with this thread series became open for any artist.

So what are the things to consider when creating tournament art? Let's start with the things he wasn't looking for:

No professional art experience needed, same can be said about creating logos or vector art specifically. Not all tournament requires fancy typography to go with the images either. What does matter is images to make a good impression, as these banners will indirectly represent the site and thus affect how newcomers view the place.
No need to work solo, the threads are meant to be flooded with WIPs and work in need of feedback. If you feel lacking in one area, odds are that other users can help collaborating with you to create a stunning end product.
One doesn't even necessarily need to be an original artist. However, this route also means that your name is coming second, as the art used for the banner (be it official Sugimori art or art used for Smogon's media articles) MUST be credited. Artwork from artists off-site are simply banned to make it easier to judge the submitted contributions.

As for the requests scheduled in the thread:

Art direction is just what it is: direction. If you have a different idea to visualise the concept, do pursue it, but you need to communicate with the requester first so that both parties can reach an agreement.
The requester retains the right to decline a banner if it's far from their expectations. In the case of multiple submissions, the requester is the one deciding which one to use, although it is also possible to use various banners during the course of the tournament.
Watch the deadlines. Sometimes, they can jump around if one tour is prolonged and another tour skips ahead the schedule as a result. The tours with the most urgent deadlines are thus the best to cover first, while those in middling priority can still need art relatively soon.

While Zracknel founded the first thread, any user active in Smeargle's Studio can be the person maintaining the thread to make sure tours are properly visible in the OP and that submissions are getting the feedback they need. Rk00 managed the second iteration, Andrew handled the third, the fourth was supervised by Kris, and then the thread was finally put to a close where all future requests were to be put in the Workshop instead.

First thread | Second thread | Third thread | Fourth thread

That said, we all know why there's a page on this hub dedicated for these threads: the artwork. Don't worry, it's all featured below.

The UnderUsed of OverUsed

Art Direction: Maybe some Pokemon in OU that are battling each other, except the OU Pokemon are barely OU, making them viable for use in the tournament.

Image: By Cretacerus

Bang!

Art Direction: It's a western-themed tournament; I was pretty much just thinking a Bulbasaur in a cowboy hat, but anything that fits the theme would be great.

Image: By 13ulbasaur

The Egg Breaker Cup

Art Direction: Play off the design above (maybe do like a yolk dripping out and spelling the letters?) or come up with something similar/egg related

Image: By lesre

Home Field Advantage IV

Art Direction: Anything really. Again, refer to the past versions of this tournament if necessary.

Image: By Bummer

Smogon VGC Live Tournaments

Art Direction: Hi folks. We over in the VGC section have been running a weekly tournament for the last 12 weeks and I'd like to create a mega thread for it soon detailing information about it, records, and tournament videos. I'd like some sort of piece to start the thread off with. The Pokemon featured in the image can be anything listed in the VGC viability rankings from S, A+, or A tier. I'd like the image to say:
"#smogonvgc Live Tournaments"
"Every Friday, 6 PM EST"

Image: By KAIZA

ORAS RU Tournament

Art Direction: Popular RU Pokemon such as Moltres and Cresselia, Megas suit for this are Pidgeot and Sceptile

Image: By Cerib

Level 1 Tourney

Art Direction: Something with baby fully-evolved Pokemon like a baby Kangaskhan, baby Lapras, baby Mawile, or baby Scizor w/e ur feeling doing something cute next to a big Level 1 Tourney.

Image: By Cerib

The FFTA2 Law Battle Tournament

Art Direction: FFTA2 stands for Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2. Any kind of cross-genre like Alakazam dressed as a Black Mage or a trainer using an Aegislash as a giant sword or whatever you feel would be great.

Image: By anundeadboy

The Sunset Collosseum

Art Direction: For reference, this is what the tournament is based off of. I'm open to any kind of interpretation for a banner tbh, thanks in advance.

Image: By MewSkitty

The #UUSF Tournament

Art Direction: Any ADV UU mon you want to depict. The name of the tournament comes from one of the longest-standing "cliques" or groups on Smogon to have existed, #uusf being the IRC channel. Camerupt, Walrein, Vileplume, Nidoking/Nidoqueen all good choices.

Image: By Andrew

Tournament Tour 2013

Image: By Bummer

Helping Hand Tour

Art Direction: We was both thinking - something with Latios/Latias asthey're often seen as parallels (and are both competitiely viable.)

Image: By Dr3adN07

Sky Battle Tournament

Art Direction: I'd love two legal, viable Pokemon battling in the air while flying, but I don't really care.

Image: By Player-0

Good Old Days Tournament

Art Direction: Literally does not matter; however, some of the big names of RBY should be present in some fashion: Tauros, Chansey, Exeggutor, Alakazam, Slowbro, Golem/Rhydon, Starmie, Gengar, Zapdos are the really big ones.

Image: By Dr3adN07

Doubles Doubles Tournament

Art Direction: I was thinking of two common Doubles pokemon, one trying to help the other w/ some support move or something (like maybe Cresselia using Helping Hand to boost another Poke's attack or Jirachi using Follow Me to redirect a hit or something)

Image: By Andrew

BW RU meets DPP UU

Art Direction: Nothing specific, would like to have a Pokemon prominently featured from each of BW RU and DPP UU "meeting" each other, however the artist wants to interpret that.

Image: By Andrew

The Neverused Story

Art Direction: I was thinking of an old worn out book, with classic nu mons from each gen etched onto the cover. I also think that a parody of the Movie, "The Neverending Story" could suffice.

Image: By Bummer

NU: Back to the Future

Art Direction: Anything involving the movie Back to the Future would be neat, and likewise a few key Pokemon from each tier (ADV NU - Flareon, Hitmonchan, Tangela. DPP NU - Charizard, Gligar. BW2 NU - Braviary, Amoonguss, Golurk. If you want any more information just let me know.

Image: By Juicy Fruit

Random Pokemon Tournament V

Art Direction: my idea for the banner would be a version of me; either human or pterosaur drawing pokemon names from something like a hat or a bingo spinner or something

Image: By Bummer

UU All Generation Tournament

Art Direction: i was thinking something like having a blastoise with sprites from all 5 gens and having a *cool* background. im no good at that kind of stuff so if you could come up with some ideas that would be great.

Image: By elcheeso

Pass the Trash II

Art Direction: Something like the yugioh card 'exchange' or a pokemon trade is what I have in mind for concept art

Image: By Rocket Grunt

3-mon Tournament

Art Direction: I've been thinking about having one big mon hold two smaller ones. of course, these must all be somewhat competetive and it'd be great if they fit in the same playstyle.

Image: By Bummer

Offstat Tournament

Art Direction: (a) Each of your Pokemon's two attack stats must have a difference of at least 50 between them (b) Your Pokemon's attacking moves must utilise their lower attack stat.

Image: By RitterCat

Black/White 2 Walkthrough Tournament

Art Direction: This is a walkthrough tournament: each round will restrict competitors to only using items and pokemon that are available at a certain point in the game. Each round the restrictions will change as the competitors progress, mimicking a play-through the main game of black/white 2.

Image: By Scepticallistic

#Pokemon Tournament

Art Direction: Competitors are highly encouraged to use the #pokemon channel to discuss and prepare for battle, so IRC plays a crucial role in this tournament.

Image: By Bummer