http://i.imgur.com/OKSMUA5.png

What's the point? Why did you pick this font in particular over the other two million, practically-identical condensed sans-serifs that are actually suited for purposes like these? Oswald seems like it'd be much better suited for web journalism and blogging; it looks as if it wasn't designed to be set in uppercase at such large sizes. Why not just instead choose some Helvetica Condensed knockoff and be done with it?

One of the most ridiculous and memorable plays I remember was done by b4nny in the Alienware Arena tournament, which was held sometime around season four or five of ESEA -- right before his ascent to the very top. At Badlands mid, he sensed that he was about to be jumped by two soldiers and fell back. Retreating to choke, he fired two prediction pipes high into the air, which miraculously managed to connect with both aggressors at the apex of their jumps, denying them both and singlehandedly crushing the opposing teams' presence at mid. I like to think of those two pipes as a symbolic hint of things that were to come in the future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_JglWcFxA4&t=2m27s

Here's what I do when I'm down.

First of all, I clean my bedroom. Depending on how messy or neat you are, it can be relatively quick, or take more than a hour. Make sure you don't half-ass it -- it has to be thorough. Cleaning might seem rather menial or superficial to you, but the feeling of openness and space, combined with the short-term sense of accomplishment helps to lighten my mood a lot. Plus, the act of cleaning forces me off my ass, and once I'm up I feel more motivated to get other things done.

Then, I go for a jog. Nowadays, I run daily for around thirty to forty-five minutes a day during the evening. It started out as a chore, but after a few months it became a habit because I particularly enjoyed the benefits. Immediately after a run, my mind is sharper, I feel more energized, and these effects usually linger for a few days. Whenever I skimp on exercise, it noticeably sours my mood and I feel shittier and less capable. It is up to you whether you want to listen to music while you jog. Personally, I like to leave my earbuds (and my phone if I can) at home, because the feeling of being unconnected and free from electronics is relaxing and makes me pay more attention to my surroundings.

Devote a certain amount of time a day to your hobby. If you don't have one apart from TF2, go to your local library and check out books that look interesting to you. Eventually, you will come across an activity or a topic that you enjoy. Don't keep it to yourself -- that's one of the quickest ways to lose motivation and drive. Join a local or online community regarding your hobby. Keep your buddies and friends updated on projects you're doing, or even try and get them interested in the same hobby. If you've taken up painting, showing off a finished painting to your close friends makes you feel good. Stick to it and you will eventually notice clear improvements and progress; it will boost your confidence and make you feel even better.

I'm sorry about your situation, and I sympathize with you. I know I have been in similar situations where I feel hopelessly down and unmotivated, sometimes for months at a time, and I hope my advice will help you feel better. However, please don't feel like you have to follow everything in my post. This is only what has somewhat worked for me; only you can know what it will take to make yourself happy.

ESEA Invite LAN Champions since S6:

Season 6 - Blight.own (harbleu's team)
Season 7 - eMg (b4nny's team)
Season 8 - x6 gaming (harbleu's team)
Season 9 - eMg (b4nny's team)
Season 10 - Classic Mixup (harbleu's team)
Season 11 - Leviathan Gaming (b4nny's team)
Season 12 - Classic Mixup (harbleu's team)
Season 13 - HRG (b4nny's team)
Season 14 - ???

Here's a revised version with commentator and cameraman info, and changed title.

http://i.imgur.com/3z4phP3.jpg

I was thinking of putting boxes under the team pictures with further information about the teams, such as current match record, nationality, etc, but it seemed like it would be too cluttered. How does that sound?

Very nice designs, ExMachina. It looks very accessible and clear, but how is the viewer going to be able to tell which color corresponds to which team?

You're right -- JPEG does not support transparency. I've saved my pictures in that format, however, just to reduce file size and make them easier to view. By no means are they intended to go on stream right away.

Here's the PSD file, if anyone is interested in testing it out:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/25218239/TFTV_MOCKUP.psd

Thanks for the comments. Having the map in the title instead of the team names is an excellent idea, but I'm not sure about having the commentators on the upper right. I was actually thinking of using the space below the players to list the commentators and cameraman since it seemed sort of empty to me.

It's already transparent. The splash screen works independently from its background. Between the different mockups I've posted, the only difference between them is that I used a different picture for each one. Here it is (http://i.imgur.com/8cDrmHm.jpg) without anything underneath it. I'm not familiar with the process of streaming so I can't say whether it will work properly as an overlay, but right now I'm uploading the .psd file if you're interested in testing it out.

Definitely.

I hope you're not bothered by myself posting this in your thread -- if so, then apologies in advance -- but I was pretty intrigued with your idea of a splash screen with team and player names. I make no claim that I am a professional or an expert at Photoshop, but I spent a little bit of time putting together a basic mockup of some ideas I had in my mind.

http://i.imgur.com/pyF3QBs.jpg

Most of the ideas and colors for the mockup were derived from the modular design of the TF.tv website, which I tried to recreate, rather unsuccessfully. The splash screen is also fully integrable onto any stream; it can be overlayed on top of gameplay and footage, like so:

http://i.imgur.com/iXbXTbS.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/CSxqEZ6.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/SZyghqc.jpg

Any suggestions? I'm aware it's missing a section for the commentators and cameraman, but that can be retrofitted into the design perfectly fine in the future.