Alright, I know nobody really needs proof, but I have the opinions of a forum embodied entirely to graphic design, and all the elements surrounding it. I posted the typo that Ethereal made, and the typo I made, and asked for complete unbiased opinion on which one was better.
In the thread, my piece was 1, Ethereal's was 2. Below I will clarify each post made in that thread afterwards:
i do think the second piece is better.
composition-wise, i like the elements and it has a clearer focal.
i like the first its a damn site more interesting than the other and different from the usual stuff
the first one has kind of a haze(?) making it seem a bit lq. The second one just looks like everything else I've seen. people probably like it better only because it is sharper. his letters are quite jaggy tho and that totally kills a piece imo.
I like the first one better. good job on quality depth and lighting.
See i like the the first one better. Its not something you see all the time. His is slightly LQ. Like said above, the letters are jaggedy and spammed with C4D's. Also, he didnt blend the bottom c4d. he erased it like and looks terrible. Lighting on his lettering is actually off. If you look at the bottom part of the letters they are lit up, when you look at the H, it doesnt have the same lighting as the bottom as stated before. Also, his has no flow and no levels. Yours' when i look at it, has flow and also has levels, meaning they arent all one level and are lower, higher, forwards, backwars etc. which improves the depth and the flow.
those are just my two cents.
I personally like the first one.
I see too many pieces that look like the second one. I see little to no creativity.
I see recycled full balanced composition on the second piece.
I am not saying it looks like crap, I am simply saying *yawn* nothing new to me.
Now the first piece, that is some beastly work.
Let's put it like this, if I was a client and had to choose between the two pieces and pay money for them, I would be more than happy to pay for the first.
I'd choose yours, not because I know you, but because:
He failed on creating this 3D atmosphere where some parts seem 2D like the skull, which doesn't flow with the way the letters are positioned.
Major C4D spam.
Font for the typo seems like it does not suit the piece.
Now of course, you're most likely going to say I made these up. Say what you will, I know the truth, and the truth states that if you like Ethereal's piece more than mine, you either don't know what looks good, or you're a very small portion that actually prefers it. If you really want the proof, PM me and I can show you screen caps of the original thread.
Thanks.