5 Cool Online Avatars To Inspire You When Making Your Own

class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/CoolAvatar06.png" alt="cool avatars" width="210" height="235" />An avatar is a graphical representation of yourself. In a game it is the character you play. Online, for example in a user profile, it is the picture you upload for that profile. In other words, it is the image other people associate you with when you are participating in online activities.

The obvious thing to do is to use a picture of yourself. However, if you want to be a little more creative, why not make a custom avatar for yourself? Need inspiration? This article has it! Along with examples I will also point out tools that let you create a cool avatar online.

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/> Note that the copyright of some of the avatars shown below belong to the people they were created by. Please do not copy their avatar!

Cool Online Avatar Examples

title="Facebook Avatar" href="http://picasaweb.google.com/theblasto/D_silhouette">Facebook Avatar

Are you in need of a new Facebook avatar? David has created some very cool avatars as knockoffs of Facebook’s default avatar. They are definitely inspiring.

style="text-align: center;">

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/CoolAvatar01.png" alt="cool avatars" width="530" height="130" />

title="Cartoon Avatar" href="http://adland.tv/adgrunts/neaner">Cartoon Avatar

The most popular online cartoon avatar creators are href="http://www.simpsonizeme.com">Simpsonize Me and title="South Park Studio" href="http://www.sp-studio.de/">South Park Studio. The following avatar found at Adland.TV was probably created using title="Face Your Manga" href="http://www.faceyourmanga.com/faceyourmanga_eng.html">Face Your Manga.

style="text-align: center;">

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/CoolAvatar03.png" alt="make a avatar" width="369" height="156" />

For more online tools that can help you create a cartoon version of yourself, check the resources at the bottom of this article.

title="Geographical Avatar" href="http://www.liveleak.com/user?a=profile&user=yaleoo">Geographical Avatar

This user over at Live Leaks made a photo of a flag pointing to a spot on a map to indicate where he lives.

style="text-align: center;">

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/CoolAvatar02.png" alt="make a avatar" width="460" height="121" />

title="Banner Avatar" href="http://www.joystiq.com/profile/29928/">Banner Avatar

Your avatar can be a message. The Transformers avatar shown below was inspired by Obama’s Change posters. You can create a similar avatar using title="ObamiconMe" href="http://obamiconme.pastemagazine.com/">ObamiconMe. The site also offers alternative themes, like ‘Free Iran’ or ‘I’m with Coco’.

style="text-align: center;">

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/CoolAvatar05.png" alt="make a avatar" width="398" height="154" />

title="Action Figure Insider" href="http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/ottertorials/2009/04/22/behold-the-power-ofgravatar/#comments">Logo Avatar

Got a favorite product or service to promote? You could make the logo your avatar like this user over at AFi (Action Figure insider) did.

style="text-align: center;">

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/CoolAvatar04.png" alt="cool avatars" width="356" height="75" />

How To Create Your Own Avatar

There are many sites out there that offer free avatars or tools to easily create a custom one if you’re lacking the skills. Now to be honest I don’t know which tools exactly were used to create the above avatars. However, MakeUseOf has previously featured many ways you can create your own cool avatars online. Read all about it:

title="Build Online Avatar" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-fun-avatar-creators-to-represent-you-online/">3 Fun Online Avatar Creators to Represent Yourself
title="Cool Avatar Builders" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/build-cool-avatar-4-awesome-sites/">Build Your Own Cool Avatar With These 4 Awesome Sites
title="Create Avatar using Webcam" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-cool-animated-avatars-using-your-webcam/">Create Cool Animated Avatars Using Your Webcam
title="Create Avatars without Image Editing" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-create-cool-online-avatars-without-any-image-editing/">Create Avatars Online Without Any Image Editing
title="How To Build 3D Avatar with Avatara" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/build-your-own-awesome-personal-3d-avatar-avatara/">Build Your Own Awesome 3D Avatar with Avatara

How To Show Your Avatar

Now that you have an avatar equally cool as the ones above, how do you show it to the world? Well, if the forum of your choice does not let you upload your avatar, but you can see others using one, they may well be using a service called title="Gravatar" href="http://www.gravatar.com">Gravatar. Gravatar lets you associate a picture file, i.e. your avatar with your email address. What you do is sign up with Gravatar, add the email address/es you use to post on forums, and link your email address/es to your avatar/s.

If this brief walkthrough was too short, you will find screenshots and better explanations in the articles below:

title="How To Use Your Avatar Anywhere" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/get-a-pic-next-to-your-comments-on-makeuseof-other-blogs/">Get a Pic Next to Your Comments on MakeUseOf & Other Blogs
title="How To Use Gravatar" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/gravatar/">How can I use Gravatar?
title="Avatar in Comments Without Signing Up" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/incarnate-visitors-find-avatars-web-wordpress/">Allow Your Blog Readers To Add Their Avatar In Comments Without Signing Up For Anything [WordPress]

MakeUseOf supports Gravatar. Want to show off your (new) avatar? Just post a comment below!

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