Recently, I’ve been using Mybloglog a lot more and more. People keep banging on about it, saying how it’s “Myspace + Blogs - Emotionally Unstable Teenagers”. I am not 100% sold on it, but I have noticed that more and more of my readers are coming here through Mybloglog. So, I’ve thought about refreshing my Mybloglog Page for a while now, not least the little “avatars”. I’ll be honest, mine was thrown up as a stock image of me (the one on my “About” Page). It was a bit pathetic, plus I’ve lost about two stone since then. So I set about designing one that stands out from the crowd of faces, flags of nations that were former British Empire nations 100 years ago, and hideous Microsoft Clipart images of those stickmen with the hat doing stuff that crop up on every Powerpoint Presentation Ever. So, with that in mind, I had a look at a few avatars that stand out, and then go onto mine.
Dgeezer from Diamond Geezer
Simple and effective, not only does it stand out, but it’s also instantly recognisable and you know exactly what’s associated with it (he uses a playing card in his header image), it’s almost like a brand name and image. Ironic really that this in my opinion is one of the best Mybloglog avatars, because he doesn’t seem to use Mybloglog much!
Kumiko from Cash Quests
Bold, bright and straight to the point. You can kind of guess something about the blog is going to be “Kumiko” (in this case, the author). She also blogged about her avatar here, and it is very effective. See it on your “recent readers” list and it stands out like a sore thumb.
Mike from Mike Money’s Making Mission
Some people like using their photo, as it gives a personal touch, like Mike for example. However, just by sticking a bright border around his photo, he makes it stand out, and more likely to be clicked on.
Sonja from Quantum Leaps
Of course, you could forsake the whole human thing, and go for a different creature. This is exactly what Sonja has done with her avatar, with a picture of a parrot. It is associated with her (she loves birds), but also it is bright, and a little mysterious (I couldn’t work out what it was until I took a closer look at it)
Merrick from Perfectly Flawed
Of course, you could always post a picture of yourself naked to get more clicks. Only applicable really for 50% of the population, and you’ll get chatted up by people like “Mysterio” - somebody who probably couldn’t get laid in a women’s prison. But if you’re building your blog, and if you’ve got it, why not flaunt it? 
So, looking at the above (first three especially, largely because I don’t own a parrot, nor if I was naked in an avatar the women of the internet would drool so much into their keyboard it would break them), I decided to spend a bit of time coming up with one, then two avatars.
Damn my creative spurt! I don’t know which is better, but which one would you more likely click on? The one on the left, or the one on the right?
Popularity: 5% [?]
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Rhys Wynne, the author of this blog, is a 20 something web designer from Colwyn Bay.
You’re right - if you want your avatar to stand out, don’t make it a head and shoulders shot.
I prefer the second of your avatars, although I’d only have *one* row of letters (maybe “tGatR”) just so that the text doesn’t dominate too much.
Do people really use MyBlogLog as a community? I only use it to keep track of which of my links people are clicking on. (Answer: not enough of them!)
the left one attracted me the most cos ofthe boldness, not cos it covers your face!!
Do I even have an av over there..*goes to see*
I’m gonna go with Han on the left one. The two lines of text on the right one, with the space between them, is visually cluttered and confusing. The left is just more bold, despite my wanting to read it as “gart”.
And yes, nekkid chicks ALWAYS get the clicks! At least with me it’s not an empty promise of an avatar. ;D
I’m another vote for the left one, though I think either would stand out - much better than those faces!
Thanks for the link.
Mike.
Yeah, the left one get the vote from me, but I think they both need more pink. Pink = Awesome
Ok, your commenting thing isn’t working properly, it keeps not re-loading so its confusing to know whether the comment got through or not
I know, I think it’s a database issue, so nothing I can do.
OMG Ilove Sibz!!
Just testing where this php download comes from
Count me as another vote for the left one
Get Al to make you one, he is far superior on photo shop than you are.
you should add some edge to the text, like a slight shadow or something, nothing dominating, just something that lifts the text off the avatar a little.
i actually preferred the one on the right, but the one on the left is more of a slap in the face so it would stand out better
SO what does GATR stand for, again?
I think I have made my point.
Hey Rhys,
Thanks for spotlighting my avatar. That’s Gizmo, my Black-Headed Caique (ky-EEK)parrot. Gizmo will be happy to know that she is perceived as mysterious!!