Avatar Design for non-designers

Posted on June 23, 2008 
Filed under Trends and tagged ,

When I first looked seriously at Second Life, it was self-evident that the avatar was the essence of the entire experience. This may be more the case in world-building environments than in gaming environments. It’s not only that learning is an embodied and social endeavor, turned topsy-turvy now that we can control avatars in a shared space, sitting thousands of miles apart from one another. It’s that selfhood and identity in these spaces becomes wildly complex.

In Meez and Spore Creator Creator we can create avatars. We can create selves, characters, personas; it’s all completely open. One of the initial critiques of QWAQ has been the lack of avatar customization.

There’s also been some research looking into avatar design from a functional perspective. What does an avatar need to be able to do to be an “effective avatar” in a given virtual situation?

I’m personally enamored with the aesthetic of Second Life avatars, it makes being there visually rich. I redesign my avatars more than anything else in SL. They are my playground. And in one sense, this might be a good entry into 3D design for non-designers.

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One Response to “Avatar Design for non-designers”

  1.  Avatar » Blog Archive » Avatar Design for non-designers on June 23rd, 2008 1:48 pm

    [...] Avatar Design for non-designers When I first looked seriously at Second Life, it was self-evident that the avatar was the essence of the entire experience. This may more the case in world-building environments than in gaming environments. It’s not only that learning … [...]

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