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What makes a good avatar?

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Green Platinum

Scioness wrote:

Green Platinum wrote:

I think an adapted version of the 5 basic principles of flag design could be made for avatars honestly.
What would those be?
https://portlandflag.org/good-flag-bad-flag/

Adapted it would probably become:

1. Keep it simple. So you can describe in a single sentence.
2. Make it personal. An avatar is a visual representation of yourself so it should say something about you.
3. Make it clear and distinct. Easy to comprehend what the avatar is of, as well as different enough from the avatars of others.
4. Use the space meaningfully. No text or borders as they waste it. Also use a square if avatars are displayed in a square/ circle in a circle etc.
5. Highest quality possible and minimal artifacts.
Foxtrot
2. Make it personal. An avatar is a visual representation of yourself so it should say something about you.
If all our avatars are anime girls, what does that say about us?
Green Platinum

Foxtrot wrote:

2. Make it personal. An avatar is a visual representation of yourself so it should say something about you.
If all our avatars are anime girls, what does that say about us?
Well I can't speak for most since I actually watch anime and use relatively obscure characters I like as avatars. Maybe they are unoriginal hack frauds or have terrible sense when it comes to avatars or wish to conform.
Akanagi
1. No nametags or borders. Your name will always be displayed next to your avatar anyway, so why do you want a tag on top of it? (Score / MP / Forum / Profile)

2. Avoid using an avatar that everyone and his mom uses. Popular examples: Rika Shiramine by Coffee Kizoku or that one blackhaired neko girl in that submissive position.

3. Obviously shouldn't break the rules

4. High Quality

5. The background and the character should have a certain contrast so the character is more distinguishable and generally more visible. The character should be the thing that stands out after all. A girl with green hair on a green and yellow background doesn't look very good.

6. Transparent background is preferable. It looks nice on the ingame tab, the scoreboard, and the result screen in MP. It's also really easy to do with most painting programs. It also means you won't have to deal with the background contrast issue.

7. The image should be 128x128. Avoid compressing unless it's in really small dimensions, but preferably none at all. (Meaning: Don't use a 700x200 picture as an avatar because it will get squished and look horrible.)
loveleft

Rayne wrote:

7. The image should be 128x128. Avoid compressing unless it's in really small dimensions, but preferably none at all. (Meaning: Don't use a 700x200 picture as an avatar because it will get squished and look horrible.)
avatars can be as big as 256x256 so long as the file is within 88kb, like the user's avatar above yours.
Topic Starter
Scioness
A lot of people have been saying that text makes the space more cluttered, but honestly I prefer profile pictures that have some text in them, or a letter. It makes it more recognizable.
HootOwlStar

Scioness wrote:

A lot of people have been saying that text makes the space more cluttered, but honestly I prefer profile pictures that have some text in them, or a letter. It makes it more recognizable.
people tend to make avatars cleaner and focus only on a specific character so that the degree of emphasis is the highest. if text is not used, the character could have more space and hence more focus will be implemented on the character. but these are just general ideas though, everything depends on your personal preferences alas. it should be fine as long as you feel comfortable with the overall design of your avatar.
anyway consider browsing the Art subforum https://osu.ppy.sh/forum/103, this might be beneficial in one way or another. you could refer to examples given in various queues, or even make requests if you wish to.
Penguin

Green Platinum wrote:

2. Make it personal. An avatar is a visual representation of yourself so it should say something about you.
Listen, I'm not actually a fishman, okay?

ot: I know what you mean, and I do agree. Not really sure how I'd explain mine fitting in that category though.
Topic Starter
Scioness

HootOwlStar wrote:

anyway consider browsing the Art subforum https://osu.ppy.sh/forum/103, this might be beneficial in one way or another. you could refer to examples given in various queues, or even make requests if you wish to.


Yeah, that’s definitely something I plan to do eventually. I’ve peeked at a few threads, and most of the example avatars they show are anime characters with some effects and text, something that I don’t think I quite want.
On a side note, HootOwlStar, I think your profile picture is quite cool!
Buster
charaters you like or ANIME
abraker
Before we dive in, there is a lot of subjectivity involved such that you may prefer what I see as low quality meme avatars over what I think high quality are. One avatar can prob fit into multiple categories and some may even contradicting with other examples (likely the typical good quality avatars and Generic/Misc/Self interest avatars). The descriptions explaining my reasoning are likely very flawed and I can't be bothered to make sense at 3am.


High Quality Avatars:


This is the self drawn/made category. The person who has the avatar drawing shows that they are devoting their time, creativity, and care to make something that stands out and unique to them. They will almost certainly never change their avatars.


Logo type avatars. Identifies the person's style and is unique to them. These rarely change if at all


These are just eye catching, making it easy to identify a person to. Either something sticks out or something isn't right, but it got your attention and you get who it belongs to burned into your memory.


These are the typical good quality avatars that are subject to change every now and then. They are high quality (not pixelated or smudged like mine), and pleasant to look at.


Medium Quality Avatars


Avatars with beautiful artwork, maybe a bit complex, that doesn't really relate much to the identity of the person

Cool looking avatars that have maybe too much going on

Generic/Misc/Self interest avatars. Convey what the person is currently liking and is subject to change. Often the image is not the best, but they do serve their purpose.


Selfies/Photos. Whether they have your identity or not, it's not as good to look at most of the time unless you make art of it.


Collab fever avatars. Some decent effort goes into those, but they are just a fad and don't do justice in connecting to the person's identity.


Low Quality Avatars


These likely means more to the person who's avatar it is than to other people. They are not memorable, however.
1
sorry for one example, these are hard to find.


Meme avatars that can probably be found online somewhere. If not, it likely took enough effort to qualify as a high effort shitpost.


I have no idea why...
Kahvichi
I just use what ever avatar i want.
It just depends on eye of the viewer. Other then that. every avatar is good avatar in its own way.
Penguin

abraker wrote:

High Quality Avatars:


These are just eye catching, making it easy to identify a person to. Either something sticks out or something isn't right, but it got your attention and you get who it belongs to burned into your memory.
I've done it. This is officially my peak in the osu! community. My avatar getting recognized as high quality by the one and only abraker. :o
Topic Starter
Scioness

Penguin Sanchez wrote:

I've done it. This is officially my peak in the osu! community. My avatar getting recognized as high quality by the one and only abraker. :o
Haha, GG man.
But I'm actually curious about something in abrakers post. He mentions how there are different"tiers" of quality, but what exactly is quality? In general, it seems like quality is a combination of effort and polish. Is it possible for something that is low-quality to be classified a "good" avatar?
Heck, what does good really mean in that regard? As Kahvichi noted, every avatar can be good.
E m i

abraker wrote:

don't do justice in connecting to the person's identity.
That's ... Only because you don't know the story :( This is my most meaningful collab ever
Akanagi

Momi wrote:

abraker wrote:

don't do justice in connecting to the person's identity.
That's ... Only because you don't know the story :( This is my most meaningful collab ever
Well, let's be real. Anyone rating Ephemerals or Toms avatar as HQ can't be taken seriously anyway.
Pls don't nuke.
keremaru
what makes a good avatar
obviously hd waifu pics
mulraf

Shurelia wrote:

I like my avatar to be clean and clear.

No disturbing name tag.
No weird edits.
No fancy borders.

Green Platinum wrote:

4. Use the space meaningfully. No text or borders as they waste it.
Green Platinum

keremal wrote:

what makes a good avatar
obviously hd waifu pics
New thread: What makes a good waifu?

Answer: One I pick for you because none of you can be trusted to make that decision.
himiken
Usually its made by the person who is looking for an avatar. Take a look at the masterpiece that I made.
Topic Starter
Scioness

dedKK wrote:

Usually its made by the person who is looking for an avatar. Take a look at the masterpiece that I made.
I have a feeling that's less common.
Kahvichi

dedKK wrote:

Usually its made by the person who is looking for an avatar. Take a look at the masterpiece that I made.

Taht probably the best Avatar to this date.
Amaineko
i heard not putting ur nick on it
abraker

dedKK wrote:

Usually its made by the person who is looking for an avatar. Take a look at the masterpiece that I made.
High quality
himiken

abraker wrote:

dedKK wrote:

Usually its made by the person who is looking for an avatar. Take a look at the masterpiece that I made.
High quality
IKR. But in all seriousness though a good avatar is usually something that is made by the user himself, or is something that is truly unique and incorporates what makes you you.
Green Platinum
So the fact you are an osu player is unique to you on this site?
Akanagi

dedKK wrote:

or is something that is truly unique and incorporates what makes you you.
Except that you can't possibly pick an avatar that is not "you". You can go ahead and pick a blank white image because you're some nonconformist, or just pick some character from a game / anime etc., which you do because you either like or identify that character, just like you'd pick a blank image probably because you want to be different and special.

Liking something is always based on, well, you. Just like being able to identify with a certain character, so that's that.
Shohei Ohtani
hot anime girl with big smile
Topic Starter
Scioness

Rayne wrote:

dedKK wrote:

or is something that is truly unique and incorporates what makes you you.


Except that you can't possibly pick an avatar that is not "you". You can go ahead and pick a blank white image because you're some nonconformist, or just pick some character from a game / anime etc., which you do because you either like or identify that character, just like you'd pick a blank image probably because you want to be different and special.

Liking something is always based on, well, you. Just like being able to identify with a certain character, so that's that.


That's really an interesting way to look at it. Though, I think that you can like something without identifying with a character or attribute of that thing. Sometimes we like something because were impressed by it, or motivated by it.
Flauxy
MS paint avatars are obviously the best avatars, come on now.
Husa

Kahvichi wrote:

I just use what ever avatar i want.
It just depends on eye of the viewer. Other then that. every avatar is good avatar in its own way.
Green Platinum
This thread has gone to crap like anime opinion threads.

Just boring post-modernist stuff now.
Topic Starter
Scioness

Green Platinum wrote:

This thread has gone to crap like anime opinion threads.

Just boring post-modernist stuff now.

Yeah. I'm glad it existed, though. I got to hear some ideas.
jacksonisiah
have a cute anime girl.
xXOsuPersonXx
the question mark avatar you get when you join the game is best
Dilectus
Somehow everybody is into close-ups of anime girls.
Renaylria
I guess my profile pic falls under Medium Quality by abraker XD
Personally I try to take the style of the image I have at hand and try and fit my name into it. Try and make it feel like it was there to begin with... This also makes it really transparent though...
DXPOHIHIHI
My avatar is better than yours xd
VinZentVanDough
A good avatar requires an anime girl

B-)
- Incarndine -
Needs to clean and suit you, if you like it, its good.
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