Need some advice on banners

What should a banner for a RP type forum be like? I mean like what is overkill and what is just too bland? It's been too long since I've tried to work on and pick banners. So I'm just trying to get some advice on that.

I'd say it's difficult to say - until a banner is shown, you can't be too sure. I know that if there are a lot of people on them (especially if they are spread across it), that it takes attention away from the board. I would be happy to PM you a few of Sizael's old logo banners so you can see how they look. One thing you should try to ensure though - it matches the width of your board.

Make sure it doesn't eat up all your board, meaning, make sure it's easy on the eyes, matches the skin and the macros, and isn't obnoxiously big (I'm talking as wide as the screen big, that's too much)

Also people tend to like if you put what kind of rp it is in the banner, I believe you'd put that you're an animanga school rp or something like that, whatever you come up with. And of course, use images relevant to your RP, like maybe anime characters on a school background.

Just suggestions.

Yeah. I recently tried to work on a banner and some graphics for my forums. Since today my brain feels energized, I'd figure I mind as well put it to use. So I just decided to try and make some graphics and banners. I'm not quite sure if I done it ok or not though. But at least it's my best shot. ^_^

The first thing I'm gonna do is tell you to look at the signatures of everyone who's posted here. They all serve as great examples for how banner should look like.

For example, you can tell by looking at @Drae's banner that she's got a fantasy site. It has a whimsical, dreamy, far away look. On the other hand, @Lily Lilac's game is obviously more modern, not to mention tongue in cheek. One glance lets you know that @Thief's running a Pokemon game that's gonna be more sleek and possibly more on the mature end. @Kesra's is one that makes you think, makes you curious. And my own banner showcases a fairy tale site with a good dashing of whimsy, which fits my board most of the time.

Basically, your banner should be your version of what you see here. You've pretty much got the gallery of banner types, from mostly text with some images to mostly images with a few lines of text. See which works best for your personal site and go with that. You'll naturally have to broaden things out a bit, since these are forum signatures as opposed to site topper banners, but the principle stays the same; the size is the only thing altering.

Couldn't have put it better @Overlord_Fate and @Lily Lilac said, if it could fit on ANYONE'S site then it is too generic and tells us nothing about your site and what you do.

Perhaps show us a few examples of what you've already done or when you have images to show. There is a place to post images to get opinions on (honestly, RPGD has everything!!) Single piece critique It'll be the best way for us to see what you've got and how it'd look on your forum.
It has to match your skin and theme to be effective is my personal opinion and not to big that it takes up half the page.

It's also definitely something that someone should be pointing out in a site review too, when you get that far.

A warning here: If you aren't really good at graphics, don't make your site's banner yourself. It's the first thing people see and if it doesn't look good, you just lost that potential joiner. It's better to have no banner than a not-so-good-one. Ask around at RPG-D if you'd like someone to make something for you, I believe there are all kinds of graphics request things around.

And lastly, a tip. Your banner needs to be representative of what the roleplay is all about. If you have a harry potter roleplay, your banner should not depict a cup of coffee and nothing else. It's confusing and it's worse to have a misrepresenting banner than no banner at all.

Personally, I like banners that have the site name in clear view along with a tagline that hints at the tone of the site. Of course, it has to match and what have you.