Why Avatars?

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Why do people use avatars?
In Collaboration With:
GRID

Why do people use avatars?

There are many reasons avatars are used.

Some people like the anonymity they provide.

Some see them as masks or costumes and change them quite frequently.

Some use them as a show of support for a cause or a favorite media series.

Some like them because they let you showcase yourself in new ways!

Others like to explore different aspects of themselves, or experiment with ideas they're not ready to try in real life, such as exploring parts of their identity.

Some companies have custom avatars created for their staff, either to create a shared sense of community or to allow their staff to show off their own personalities.

I was briefly the art director at CodeCombat, a game-based-learning company that used avatars, and assisted our staff with creating avatars. Some had very specific requests (showing support for a sports team, or themselves as a character in a favorite game), while others shrugged and asked me to come up with ideas. The avatars had different meanings to each person but some became very attached to them and I've seen avatars I helped create used years they left the company. Below, you'll see mine, which I still use today.

And of course, some avatars are just for fun. There doesn't have to be a meaning behind it!

Here are a few of the avatars I've used over the last couple of decades.
Realistic cartoon avatar for Maka Gradin

This avatar was created when I worked for CodeCombat, a game-based-learning company.

Maka in a welding helmet - face is hidden

This avatar was created when some of the teenage customers I worked with at Repl asked for me to upload an avatar. They later had a great deal of fun editing it and changing what was seen in the glass area of the mask.

Mountains

This avatar was created using ReadyPlayer Me and I created it to be used within Hubs, our Virtual Worlds engine.

Mountains

This one was created using the Stardew Valley Character Portrait maker inspired by the very popular Stardew Valley game. If you'd like to learn more about Stardew Valley and other games, reach out to GRID Labs!

If you'd like to create your own avatars, you can visit sites like the Stardew Valley Character Portrait maker or ReadyPlayer Me or any of dozens and dozens of other avatar creation tools on the web. If you are, or know, an artist, you can create your own custom avatar limited only by your imagination and skill.