Thought the title meant
Runway Doodles... seriously, that is a blessed thread and I'm grateful for it every day
I've been participating in Runway for maybe a bit more than half a year, so nowhere as long as some other users here, but I think I've learned a lot since my first entry.
Here are most of my Runway entries.
- For most avatars, you'll want a background or simple backdrop. You'll do well sometimes with a partial background or even no background on occasion, but most of the time voters seem to want to see a background. A good background can help add interesting context to your avatar and make it stand out against the dark Runway page, which makes entries with transparent items and no background look especially bad. I learned this from
my very first entry (theme). It's good to build up a collection of backgrounds so you'll have something to suit most themes.
- Some of the best avatars are visually appealing and tell unique stories at the same time. I would vote for an avatar that doesn't quite match color-wise but has a lot of personality over an avatar that follows a strict color scheme but doesn't seem like an actual character that could exist.
- Voters love speech bubbles too for some reason, but make sure they actually improve the avatar. A good speech bubble can help tell the story of your entry, like I mentioned in the last point.
3nodding
- When in doubt, add a nose to your avatar (maybe not if you're cosplaying Voldemort from Harry Potter, though?) Detailed faces are something I particularly like to see and I think some others might agree with me
- Voters also seem to prefer a strict/literal interpretation of the theme in my experience, but I personally tend to go for anything, within reason. An unexpected interpretation of the theme can sometimes do unexpectedly well. Of course, I make sure to follow any restrictions (if a theme description says "No (x)" or "Cosplay only!" for example)
- Don't do set abuse (I would define this as using more than two of the same item to create your avatar). This won't necessarily keep you from getting votes, but it won't help your entries become more creative.
- Make good use of item guides. Here are some of the ones I consult most frequently:
The Misc. Item Guides Compilation
The Definitive Eyes and Faces List
Make-up & Facial/Muscle/Bust Definition
Guides with broken images
Some of these are kind of old but I still like them.
The MONSTER-sized Monster List
The Historical Items List (look on the thread's latest pages for eggoat's posts which have fixed the images)
Pet & Companion List
The Ultimate Hair Guide
- Needing to buy one particular item for your entry but finding out it's unlisted is so sad lol. I suppose you either have to get used to making do with imperfect substitutions, go on the Exchange early in the day and hope someone will sell to you, or hope someone will lend to you in the
Community Closet. I hoard items because I never know if I'll need it for an entry one day.
- Don't be so sad if your entry really flops. Thinking you made the best entry ever but then placing on the last page happens all the time. It doesn't necessarily mean your entry was bad. Sometimes a theme is very competitive. Sometimes the majority of voters on that day don't share your personal taste in avatars. Sometimes you get screwed by the randomizer.
- Post in the Salt thread or Honorable Mentions thread if you like. (Sometimes if you want to ask a quick question you can ask it in Salt even if your post isn't especially salty, but you didn't hear that from me)
Whew, that's all the tips I can think of off the top of my head. I hope there was something useful in there. The most important thing to remember is to have fun!
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