For a while I have realised that your avatar is important. It is a physical display of your presence. It is how people know you and recognise you on social networks.
The main avatar I use is
The thinking behind the design is; I wanted to use my face to present a human connection, but I wanted it to be partial. Implying there is a lot more to see, or is it that I’m hiding a huge boil?
I chose a hard red because most websites the avatar appears on are soft blues and greens, even most other avatars have very soft, washed out colours. This means I stand out. Which is my intention.
However, on Digg, none of the successful avatars have a human face on. I think this is a cultural thing reflective of the user base. I have now changed my digg avatar to Iggle Piggle from the Night Garden, a kids show in the UK.
Recently I have been getting more front page success on Digg, however I have also changed my digging style. In the past I submitted stuff I thought cool, now I am more tactical and submitting only what I think the hordes like.
So, where are the avatar branding consultants? Does such a position exist? Is someone out there helping brand avatars in exchange for cold hard cash?
This post was inspired by an excellent post over at sitevisibilty.com, a bunch of people who offer seo in Brighton
You can see that the top avatars have visually striking images. Of course getting noticed isn’t the only factor, but if you do not get noticed. Well, you just don’t get noticed.