what does "too harsh" mean?

I usually give most stuff a 2 as well... sometimes a lot of things are just average :-/

I usually go by 0-5 depending on how talented the designer is and how well thought out and executed the design is and indicate if I would buy it by the $. So there may be something that I don't like and would never buy, but if it's really well done, I wouldn't give it a 2, more like a 4.

i'm a yay or nay person...i give lots of 0's and lots of 5's....not because some designs are really bad, just because there are so many and my big question is first reaction, would i want to see this on a t-shirt, do i like or dislike...and again the reasons are totally varied, not always logical, TOTALLY subjective...BUT, when a design gives me REASON to pause from my yay/nay system, AT THAT POINT I begin to access within the 2-4 range to QUALIFY just how much I like or dislike it for any number of reasons....I think it all evens out, everyone's methods...my average is 1.36 so it's almost the same as consistently giving out 2's...............I just think there are so many "good" designs on the site that to me it has to be a very decisive method i use. DBH uses same method, no in between, either you think it's worthy of being on a shirt or you don't.

"access" should be "assess"

Agreed with above - it pretty much evens out. The few awesome ones stand out. My average is something like a 1.53 so it's not as though I deem all THAT many subs to be really well designed, thought out and executed.

I reserve 0's for something that's either super offensive and/or plagiarized.

1 is for things that don't have much of an effort to put them

2 is for things that probably had some effort put into it

3 is usually for good artwork but doesn't necessarily work on a shirt

4 is for something that's definitely good, possibly buy, but might need a little extra something

5 is really great artwork that looks good on a shirt. $ if I'd buy it. Duh!

I score 0-5, depending on the design.. .and a $ if I'd buy it.

Now that there are up to 500 designs up at a t time (there used to be around 150 when I started here), I look to the blogs to see what is being scored and let the natural selection process help me. I only score ones I really like.

I give $5's or no score.

Although there must be quite a few people who go around giving only 0's to everything because even the most beautiful, clever and amazing designs rarely break a 3.0 - usually a 2.5-2.9.

i don't think that would be because a lot of people give 0's (and just to clarify, although i give a lot of 0's i also give higher when i think a design warrants it within my system)....i think the reason designs can't break a 3 too easily is just because there are so many people scoring with all kinds of "value" systems in place...it's just the way things seem to average out on the site...so to break a 3 is actually pretty good because there is such a wide range of subjective scoring going on!

That's actually damned close to my scoring policy, but i've even given a 3$ to certain designs that i thuink need one thing changed and i would totally rock them, so i give the artist the benefit of the doubt that they will change it if it's something glaring enough.

I tend to vote 0 for anything that is: offensive, plagiarised or espouses some kind of political religious or ideological viewpoint (whether I agree with it or not).

1 for designs that look like they need serious work.

2 for designs which are executed ok but not superbly or which are not particularly original. A lot of stuff that could be better developed ends up here too.

3 for designs which are really well executed but not particularly original, or fairly original but could be better executed.

4 for designs which are both original and well executed but which still has something that could be improved.

5 Original, well executed and fully developed.

$ If I would buy it, which tends to be ore about my personal taste than artistic merit. I know I've scored a few $3 in the past but it tends to be 4s and 5s that get a dollar sign.

its a t-shirt comp site. if it doesnt look good on a shirt, then it shouldn't get a high score. about 95% of the stuff ive scored gets a 2 or less.

Recently I only score 5's and skip the rest... pointless really

to score like me:

1. Take Pants off.
2. Wait.
3. ????
4. Profit.

I have a point-value based system that I use when I have some time on my hands. much like some of the ones above. But when I just want to get thru everything, I vote by initial instinct.

if i love it and want it : 5 and buy

if i think it is cool: 3-5 depeding on how cool.

if i think it is cool: 1-2

if it is dumb: 0

yeah, i agree with Pizazz...i think my system has evolved because of time limits, just want to get through the mass of entries, so i vote by initial instinct and whether i think it would make a good tee. it would be nice to be more sensitive to the artist in terms of effort they put out, but i don't think it's the way the site works. i've certainly put loads of effort into my designs and they haven't been printed or had exceptionally high scores...the artwork isn't bad, but the voices of Threadless have spoken. so I too, have become more subjective and decisive.