# Avatar criticism thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 12, 2018, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453 "2018-08-12T04:01:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/41 "2018-08-12T12:18:25Z")
The main problem I ever see with avatars is a lack of contrasting backgrounds, which make it hard to make out what they are. (That’s why mine are usually completely cut out from the background.) I haven’t seen any content I don’t like. I doubt anyone cares, but I honestly don’t remember now why I started the Monopoly piece thing. I made it my profile pic a long time ago, back when I was a (gifted) membership twice. I do remember having this idea of making all my avatars (across various sites) into Monopoly pieces, but I never really got into it. It’s also an easy avatar to change around a bit for various holidays and stuff. I’ve considered just a visual pun, but I never found one I really liked. Conveying a large size in a small avatar isn’t easy. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/42 "2018-08-12T12:19:53Z")
I’ve seen someone with Aang, though I can’t remember who it was. I haven’t seen any Na’vi yet, though. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/43 "2018-08-12T12:23:57Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I liked **Gatopescado** ’s catfish one, as it made such perfect sense but I cannot tell at all what their current one is. Maybe two people posing together? **Drunky Smurf** ’s above is also good as are **octopus** ’s and **Troutman** ’s both by design for the space and telling us who they are. And some likely have personal significance or are attempts to say something about themselve ( **kayaker** likes beer). Those are potentially fun. But many are simply poor choices for the size of the canvas. > > I’m not proud of my own choice honestly but then my screen name also reflected my lack of creativity at this sort of stuff as well. You read **Drunky Smurf** ’s posts? My condolences. Mine is part of a commission piece I had done for my general web presence, the large version of which can be found [here](https://static.tumblr.com/02d95158ffe3efb3c1698f60980dda6a/twarfhg/Eebpaclqr/tumblr_static_tumblr_static_a0z23ni8rp4w08k0c8swgg4wk_focused_v3.png). I love how it came out; I feel like it really captures what I’m going for. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/44 "2018-08-12T12:49:39Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Mine is part of a commission piece I had done for my general web presence, the large version of which can be found [here](https://static.tumblr.com/02d95158ffe3efb3c1698f60980dda6a/twarfhg/Eebpaclqr/tumblr_static_tumblr_static_a0z23ni8rp4w08k0c8swgg4wk_focused_v3.png). I love how it came out; I feel like it really captures what I’m going for. 🙂 Yet for the 50 by 50 canvas it is a fail. The content is just not comprehensible on that smaller scale. Until I clicked on the larger version I could not tell what it was at all. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/45 "2018-08-12T13:01:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Wait, **USCDiver** , you’re female? Or are you just transavataral? Transavatarian. There was a news article about this woman smacking her head on the diving board a few years ago so I grabbed the picture. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/46 "2018-08-12T13:52:14Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > You read **Drunky Smurf** ’s posts? My condolences. > > Mine is part of a commission piece I had done for my general web presence, the large version of which can be found [here](https://static.tumblr.com/02d95158ffe3efb3c1698f60980dda6a/twarfhg/Eebpaclqr/tumblr_static_tumblr_static_a0z23ni8rp4w08k0c8swgg4wk_focused_v3.png). I love how it came out; I feel like it really captures what I’m going for. 🙂 Unfortunately, yours is one of the ones where the contrast is low enough that I couldn’t figure out what it is. I think you cropped it well, but I think you might want to play around with contrast and sharpness to make it easier to parse at 50px. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/47 "2018-08-12T13:53:18Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I’m not happy with my own. It’s a really cool picture I took at a backyard fire-pit where the flames kind of look like an imp holding a pitchfork with an arrow floating over its head. At 50x50 pixels it looks like an orange booger on a specimen slide. Got a link to the original? ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/48 "2018-08-12T14:05:25Z")
I had fun with mine, I drew it myself then photographed it ( actually I drew the self portrait in a hippy-dippy workshop I took recently) and I cropped it to a head shot. I had to download an app to get it to 50x50 but it was amazingly easy. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/49 "2018-08-12T14:22:36Z")
IMHO the 50x50px avatars should be considered more as icons rather than pictures. Taking a picture that you like and reducing it down to 50x50 may just make it illegible if there’s too much detail in it. Better to go for simplicity. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/50 "2018-08-12T14:22:54Z")
I’ll defend mine to the death. Or change it. Either way. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/51 "2018-08-12T14:40:34Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Why a hippo at all? Why a duck? ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/52 "2018-08-12T14:44:46Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Why a duck? Because, Oh Captain My Captain — goose doesn’t rhyme. (One of my favorite Dharma and Greg moments, I could not resist) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/53 "2018-08-12T14:46:10Z")
Did you try? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/54 "2018-08-12T14:51:20Z")
My general criticism is that people aren’t also uploading a 125x125px version of their Avatar pic as their Profile pic, so that people can just click on the smaller pic to see the larger one. (Like mine) ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/55 "2018-08-12T14:56:36Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Did you try? Resistance is futile. And when I see Mace’s avatar, I think “Footprint of the American Chicken.”😃 ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/56 "2018-08-12T15:09:25Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > My general criticism is that people aren’t also uploading a 125x125px version of their Avatar pic as their Profile pic, so that people can just click on the smaller pic to see the larger one. (Like mine) Is that supposed to be ironic? There is no large version of your pic visible on your profile, unless something is busted. But I can see 125x125 pics for DSeid, Drunky Smurf, and some others. I have one, too. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/57 "2018-08-12T15:09:46Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I’m not happy with my own. It’s a really cool picture I took at a backyard fire-pit where the flames kind of look like an imp holding a pitchfork with an arrow floating over its head. At 50x50 pixels it looks like an orange booger on a specimen slide. OrangeBoogerSlide, however, would be an interesting username. Just sayin’, you might think about that solution… ---
**Author:** ![Panther\_Modern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@Panther\_Modern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panther_Modern)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/58 "2018-08-12T15:10:15Z")
This is my avatar. There are many like it but this one is mine. My avatar is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my avatar is useless. Without my avatar I am useless. I must fire my avatar true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy, who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will. Before God I swear this creed: my avatar and myself are defenders of my country, we are the masters of my enemy, we are the saviors of my life. So be it, until there is no enemy, but peace. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/59 "2018-08-12T15:18:51Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Resistance is futile. > > And when I see Mace’s avatar, I think “Footprint of the American Chicken.”😃 That was then, this is now. It is now the battle flag of the non-partisan centrist. Shit happens. Well, _mostly_ its shit. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453/60 "2018-08-12T15:27:27Z")
I call out **John Mace** for posing as a hippie, sez the guy posing as a cartoon horse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-criticism-thread/819453.md?page=4)