Background : Avatars

Avatars

In order to develop our knowledge of Illustrator further this week’s assignment is based upon creating a personalised avatar that reflects your personality in some way.

 Before we start let’s learn a little about avatars.

History of Avatars

The word avatar comes from the Hindu faith. An avatar is a manifestation of a deity or god in bodily form on earth.

More information about the term "Avatar" can be found here: https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/avatar

In the digital world, an avatar specifically refers to a character, icon or figure which represents an online user. Avatars are commonly used in multiplayer gaming, online communities, and forums.

The first use of a digital avatar was in 1979 in the role playing game cleverly titled Avatar. The term was coined later in 1985 by games designer Richard Garriott in his computer game Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar.

Typical digital avatars are simplified graphical images:

Take a look at Diana Hernandes work on Behance for further inspiration: https://www.behance.net/gallery/22433737/Super-Heroes-Avatars

In the next step, teacher and designer Kevin McMahon will show us how we can create simple personal avatars using Adobe Illustrator.

Illustration by Kevin MacMahon

In the digital world, an avatar is a simple image which represents an online user. They can be either 2D or 3D, and often don't even have to look much like the person they represent.

Avatars are commonly used in online communities, games and forums as a stand-in for a person’s actual appearance - it’s both a practical security measure and an opportunity for creativity.

Before we move on the creating own avatar, check out some more examples of avatars representing well-known fictional characters in Diana Hernandez’ 'Super Heroes Avatars' project on Behance.