Avatar Design

[Chu]

Whenever you make an avatar, what do you go for? Color coordination? Simplicity? Richness? What makes an avatar really appeal to you?

I like really balanced avatars. :3 The theme has to be consistent, and the colors should match fairly well. I like avatars that look more like a picture rather than items thrown onto a base.

[Overlord Branny]

It depends I guess..
My current avatar (The mix of Deity and Lower Deity) was brought on by my love of the small back story on the deities and the items themselves. I wanted to mix them together and see how well they could work with each other. Its alittle off but I like how the Lower wings go under the Deities.

I guess I was trying for a tribal deity. <3

With my other outfits I usually go with a theme from the items, Royalty, Deity, fallen deity..ya know.

Sometimes I mix with the commons but I don't think I have a really simple outfit. Most of them are usually use a ton of relics/event/bmi items.

I like balance, color coordination (especially with the deity items) and richness, but only because I enjoy the items..

[Weaseldale]

I like my avatars to be balanced and color coordinated. They can't be too crowded either.

I'm feeling a little newbish and silly for asking, but... what exactly do you mean by richness?

[Overlord Branny]

She most likely meant Item wealth, like the rarer Relics and Event/BM Items.
You could say my outfit is very...rich..in appearance because I'm using a great deal of rare and valuable items. lol

I don't mind clutter either if I think everything blends together..

I'll use my old Mene avatar as an example:


Very cluttered yet it works. I was really good at making outfits on mene..
STUPID MENE! *Hugs Midorea*

[Chu]

I don't like clutter very much. I guess you could say that this avatar is cluttered, but it has balance that makes up for it. Not color balance; a physical and proportionate balance.

And yeah, I did mean wealthy. ^^; Sorry.


I also try to stay away from sets, but it doesn't always work out very well. I don't really mind using multiple poses from one item as long as they don't take up the majority of the avatar.

[Overlord Branny]

I guess I'm the opposite..
I love sets and I don't mind clutter if the over all appearance works.
I used to be very simple with my outfit designs but after so many years on many sites I've gained a sense of heavy fashion. lol

I think my most cluttered is the Fallen outfit..

[Weaseldale]

Oh, okay. ^^;; I probably should have been able to figure that one out.
The richness of the avatar has never been a big deal to me, but I do use relics or old EIs in most of my avatars.

I don't think your avatar is too cluttered, Chu. I can tell what's going on it, so it doesn't bother me. And Branny, your Mene avatar is good, but... the cluttered thing really bothers me. I think one of the reasons I like the Mido avatars is because they're bigger and don't seem to get as cluttered as the smaller ones.

(You know, I need a new avatar, but... I'm too lazy to get around to making one.xD)

[Overlord Branny]

Idk...I still like small avatars, I find them more easy to work with. When it comes to larger Avatars the pixel/artwork of the items is much clearer and noticeable, yes. But the items are rarely pixeled at this scale. The traditional small avatars are easier to pixel..which I prefer more.

It took me awhile to like and appreciate the item art style here.

[Chu]

I like being able to imagine my avatar walking around like a normal person would. XD I guess that explains most of my preferences - clutter makes it look like it'd topple over, little avatars look too stubby, etc.

And yeah, my preference is definitely with bigger avatars. I feel that they offer more detail, and I don't have to strain myself to see what's going on. I can take a quick glance and name most of the items, or at least explain what they're supposed to be. Not so with smaller avatars.

[Overlord Branny]

Well I guess its all based on style and where you've been and how you've worked on other sites.

I like the small scale because it allows you to blend items together...its hard to explain but at a larger scale you might try to use a belt just to cover a certain area and with a glance you could tell it doesn't work because the color is off but with smaller avatars you can use an item, cover a area and probably not notice it doesn't match unless you look real hard.

Also, it takes a very good artist to work with pixel/cell/shading at this scale. Cat has gotten really good though. lol

[Chu]

Yeah, you're right. I guess I'm more selfish than you in that aspect? XD I kind of just expect everything to be pixeled well. Looking at it now, I feel kind of bad.

[Overlord Branny]

I don't think I would go as far as to call you selfish..
I can understand how you feel, I honestly can't imagine the midorea avatars or their items any smaller then they currently are. lol

They've grown on me...like a tumor..lol
That's so horrible... >3>

None of my friends would actually join Midorea because of the avatars size..lol

I didn't like it either at first to be honest. I had always been accustomed to small scale avatars and real pixel work. So when I first met Cat and she linked me her site...I wasn't really keen on the size...or style...
So I never choose to be active here...I also had alot of personal life issues at the time along with other problems...but around the end of October of last year I came back and made this place my home and I grew to really like the style of everything.. Now I'm sitting proud on a complete collection of items and happily sporting a avatar I like. lol

[Chu]

It was never hard for me to get used to the avatars here. Granted, I was only active on Gaia and Roliana before Midorea, but still.

Anyway, I feel we're getting a little off topic, and I have to go read anyway. See ya.

[Overlord Branny]

We're still talking about avatars so I don't think we derailed too much..besides...lol.. *looks around the empty dead forum*

Anyways, I'm thinking about making a new avatar...not sure what yet...I wish we could get some new commons..

[DrunkenShark]

Interesting view, really

As for me I think people can tell: I like to put many details and layers of items. I try to go for themes and matching colors, but I mostly monster-like or warrior-like avatars. I just can't put a few piece of clothe on the avatar and call it a day (XD) it's as if I had to add more and more to please the eyes (at least mine) and make the character look impressive or strong (oh noes, god-moding in a picture XD). I've been told I put too many items on my avatars though

I also like playing with illusions or details on the items. For example: my avatar of the moment have a bif round jewel on the forehead (comes with the hat) but right where the smaller one ends, I had a white mask on the face so the nose would look to be covered by a gem as well. I also picked eyes with the highlights in the middle of the holes in the mask so you only see the lighter part of it, thus giving shiny looking eyes. I did similar things with shoulders pieces and various hats