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Eshal's Guide to Making a Winning Avatar


For many people, creating an outfit for your avi is just throwing on your favorite items, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. But for those same people, often times they wonder why it's so hard to get an avatar that's highly rated in the avatar arena, well liked and often commented on, or that can win avatar competitions. Truthfully, the AT can be confusing for new people, who don't understand what it is that the expert avatar designers look for. Entering the avatar arena, also, can seem to be just a waste of money.

This guide is to help you design a beautiful avatar that has many of the aspects looked for in highly rated avatars. It will also show you things that aren't liked, particular items to use or avoid, tips for succeeding in the avatar arena, and how to buy a great outfit even when you're low on gold.

Hopefully, this guide will help you, and you will be winning the avatar arena in no time. :3

NOTE: Please don't steal any of the avatar outfits you see here, unless noted that you can use them. The low-cost avis are all free for use unless mentioned otherwise.

Updates
9/06/06 - Created and opened the thread with most of the info filled out.
9/07/06 - Added two avatar ideas for low budgets.
9/10/06 - I've entered the avatar arena under my mule's name, Peaches-chan! Let's try this whole avi area thing again, shall we? X3 I'll link once the competition starts.
9/11/06 - This week's avatar arena has started! Good luck to all the contestants! ^-^ My entry is here.
11/28/06 - XDD I did crappy on the arena! Not as crappy as some people, but no where near how good I did last time. This saddens me, but oh well. XD I finally replied to everyone, and I have a few things I need to edit about the guide that were suggested by joby.d. So male examples are coming! And I'll be reorganizing the basics into a summary for after the other posts.

By the way, people, if I'm not responding to you in a timely manner feel free to PM me. I'm kind of a ditz. XD

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The Basics


Things looked for in a great avatar:
-Color matching
-Color distribution
-Use of items
-Originality
-Flair
-Balance

These are the main things looked for in a winning avatar. I'll explain each briefly, then will go into detail in their sections farther down:

Color Matching
Color is one of the most important aspects of putting together an avatar. And just putting blues together doesn't count, unless your avi is entirely blue themed; you must do your best to match shades as perfectly as possible. Avatars with nearly all shades matching will get many, many points from voters, as this is very hard to do.

Color Distribution
Spreading the color is also important, though this mostly applies to avatars with multiple colors (otherwise, it's more of a balance issue.) The colors of your avi should be spread evenly from head to toe of the avi, if possible. For example, a black and white avatar might have a white hat, black hair, black choker, white shirt, black gloves, black belt, white pants, and black shoes.

Use of Items
Though the color of your items tends to be most important, what item they are also factors in. Some items are particularly hated, some are beloved, and using ones that are rarely seen can boost up your score. Also, whatever you do, try to avoid using sets of items. As sets already match in style and color, it's not considered impressive to use a bunch of them. As a general rule, two is the maximum you should use.

Originality
No one wants to see something they've already seen, and here's where the set thing comes in again. A full set of items is boring. Everyone and their mom has bought and worn the GLol top, skirt, and shoes set, for instance, and so it doesn't take much brain to figure out how to put it together into a matching avi. Try to use items people rarely see, or are notorius for being hard to make avis out of. The peasant clothes, Glol gowns, and some assorted acessories rarely see the light of day in good avis, but when done well, they'll gain you many points. Also pay attention to layers and odd combos you can make from them.

Flair
You may have an avi that matches, is original, and otherwise looks beautiful, and still gets no votes. Chances are it's just not flashy enough. There's a fine line between 'boring' and 'too glitzy', and if your avi lacks flair, it doesn't mean to shove a sparkly pair of Golden Laurels onto it. This often happens with black/white/grey outfits unless you can somehow make the colors really pop, or if you're using colors that are faded and dull.

Balance
This is usually the least important feature, but still looked for. It comes in two forms; color balance, and size balance. Color balance usually only applies to an avi that is made of one color, like an all blue avi, otherwise it falls under color distribution. For an avi of all one color, you need to make sure you have an item in that color in basically every important place; the head, top, gloves, skirt/pants, shoes, and a few acessories. Otherwise your avi will look like it has a empty space and it'll throw off the look of the avi. The other form is size balance, and this usually happens when your avi has big hair, a big hat, big top, and tiny skirt/pants and teeny shoes. It makes you avi look like it is way unbalanced and about to fall over, and this is distracting. It can happen in reverse (big at the bottom and smaller towards the top) but usually that's less noticable.

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Color Matching and Color Distribution


As said above, these are the most important aspects of your avatar. Pay attention to these, and even if you ignore the others, you'll have a better avi than if you decided this was unimportant.

Here is a slightly variated example of my most successful avi. (My other version lacked the sunflower and golden laurels, and had different eyes and hair, as you can see here.):
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This/these avi/avis often got compliments on color choice and spread. As you can see, there are three main colors in use: Gold, brown, and blue. But there are also two sub shades: brown-gold and light blue.

Great care was taken to spread the color evenly through the avatar, and to match those exact shades together.

Head: Gold (Golden Laurels), blue (hair), brown (puppy ears), light blue (eyes), and brown-gold (gold head gear.)
Top: Brown (brown vest), blue (swimsuit), gold (jingle bells.)
Arms: Blue (gloves), gold (angelic bracelets), light blue (angelic bracelets.)
Hands: Brown (sunflower), gold (sunflower), brown-gold (sunflower.)
Legs: Brown (pants), gold (pants), gold-brown (pants.)
Feet: Brown (socks), blue (shoes.)

Now, there were a few issues with this avi. Most obviously, the shoes didn't match. I couldn't find any blue shoes to match the colors correctly, so I went with the closest, and this was the most noticed problem with this avi by everyone who critiqued it. Also, though I think the sunflower is a great addition color and flair-wise, it unfortunatly covers the light blue on the pants (which you can see in the original version of the avi) and makes the blue swimsuit less noticable.

However, it's still a good example of even color distribution and color matching.
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The next example is a very old avi I made for Halloween last year.

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This avi was never made for competing, just for attention, so there are some major flaws I'm going to point out to help you notice some mistakes you might make.

At first glance, this avi has nice colors, good distribution, etc. However, there are three main problems: Hair color, the Goti Clips, and the Cocos.

The hair color doesn't match anything but the Goti Clips. So it definately stands out. This is fine for casual avis, but usually not for competing. The Goti Clips, though great for bringing the black color up to the hair, have red 'eyes' which further add to the color problems, not to mention that all of the red in both the hair and Goti Clips is at the top of the avi.

The other problem, though very minor, stand out at times. This being the Cocos. Now, Cocos on their own can cause issues, but the main problem here is their eyes. Which are yellow. There is no yellow anywhere in this avi aside from the eyes, which will often get your points docked by picky voters.

And, as yet another problem, there's blue in the Discman. Usually that won't get noticed, but sometimes it will, and it'll cost you points too.
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Here is an avi I made for fun one day on Tektek:

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This one is very flawed, and you should be able to tell why. However, the color balance is pretty good, and that's why it's posted here. The shades don't match worth beans, though.

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Use of Items/Originality/Cost


There are some items that will gain you points, some that will lose them for you, and some that will make people not even pay attention. Hopefully this will help you a bit on figuring those out.

Note however that there are MANY EXCEPTIONS to this. Many people don't believe in voting on what the items are, and just care on how they're used. Some people love donation items, some hate them. Some will give you points for creativity for using buck teeth, some people will vote you a one because they hate them. This is only in general, and based on trends I often see.

Items that will loose you points:
-Very fancy/commonly used donation items. Kikis, Cocos, Demonic Pitchforks, Golden Laurels, Nitemare Scarfs, etc. All are often down voted because people think you're using the item just to scream about your wealth, rather than anything else. Usually you can escape this problem if the items perfectly match your avi and are obviously there to add effect. Just slapping on a Kiki or Golden Laurels when the rest of your outfit has nothing to do with them will not only loose points for color matching, but also because of what they are. And more than one expensive item, even if they're used for a purpose in your avi, is usually considered as 'excessive use of donation items'.
-BTK. Don't ask me why; I've got no idea. XD
-Buck teeth/Clown nose/Silly items. People seem to hate these items, so if you're going to use them, be very careful.
-Cheapo items. Flame pants are a no-no. XD However, this doesn't mean that you can't make a good outfit out of cheap store items, just that if every newbie in the world buys that particular item (in the case of flame pants, many newbies bought/buy flame pants as a starting item), it's not a good one to enter with.

Items that will gain you points:
-Peasant clothes. Sometimes people hate them, but in general, anyone who bothers to make a great avi out of peasant clothes gets a good vote. Peasant clothes come in pretty colors, too, so it's not terribly hard to match to them.
-Items worn in unusual poses. You can actually get around the hatred of Golden Laurels at times by simply turning off the sparkles. Since so many people wear them with sparkles, turning them off gives you originality, AND can match better than with them turned on, as the shade is slightly different.
-Small acessories. Little items that people don't often use, like cigarettes, can give you bonuses if you use them right. Or, they can be downvoted because people hate smoking. XDD;

Again, these are all in general, but seem to be in effect a lot of the time. Some random notes: The only donation items I know to consistantly escape hatred based on being donation items are Winged Anklets, Emo Bag, Chain Wallet, and a few others I can't think of right now. Usually minis also escape, but not always, and it's usually 50/50 with Halos.
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Originality is super important. As awesome as your avi is, if it's been seen a bazillion times, it won't get many points. For instance, everyone and their mom has seen this look:

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Even ignoring the other problems with it. XDD; Point is, if lots of people have seen it before, it will loose points. And please, please don't enter will full sets of clothes. Wearing an entire set of Jack clothing (no matter what year) will not get you votes, because any idiot could slap on an entire premade set of clothes and have it match.
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It can be hard for newbies to Gaia to make an avatar they are very proud of with their limited amount of gold. Donation items are usually far too expensive for newbies to get their hands on quickly, and it seems impossible to make a nice avi without them. I'm going to show you how to make avatars using only store items, or low-value donation items. After each sample avi, I'll include a total cost.

Creating a low-cost avi simply takes patience. Load up the TekTek Dream Avatar Creator (which is linked lower down) and start putting together and outfit just using store items. Be patient! You may have to look for some time to match your shades of clothing. But you can make gorgeous outfits out of just store items.

Tips:
-Remember to play with swimsuits, undershirts, pajamas, and vests. They'll add whole new layers to your avi and provide more color.
-Mess with skirts over pants! Many skirts can be layered over pants for better color distribution. The Basic Skirts of all colors, along with the G-Lol skirts, are known to be layerable, and many others are as well.
-Try choosing a item you particularly like and create an outfit around it.

This particular avatar is made of two colors: dark blue and white.

User Image


I bothered to match the hair to the outfit in this avi, mostly because I knew there was a hair color that matched. The shades are slightly off on the armbands of the shirt and of the gloves, and also the eyes, but they're similar enough to be looked over by less strict judges.

Item List:
Blue Bannded Shirt
Lex's Blue Gloves
That Blue 90s Vest
Those Blue 90s Pants
White Beret
White Sporty Sneakers

Estimated Total: 7,989 Gold

This avatar is mostly white, bright yellow, and light violet:

User Image


I didn't match hair and eyes on this avi, because I thought it looked better this way. I'm not entirely certain you can wear the daisy over the bandana, but I think you can, and if not you simply can choose one and try to substitute the other. The shades are slightly off between the scarf and skirt, but as the skirt has multiple violet shades it may not be counted as not matching.

Item List:
Decorative Daisy
Green Grecian Sandals
Loose Knit Canary Yellow Top
Pink Scarf
Violet Ruffled Skirt
Violet Winter Wrap
White Mid Sock
White Wool Top

Estimated Total: 6,009 Gold

You can use either of these outfits if you like. :3

More will be coming soon!

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Flair/Balance


Here's one of my avis I entered, which scored well on the votes it did get, but didn't attract many votes:

User Image


Colors match and are spread nicely, it's low on donation items, somewhat original... Problem is, there's nothing special. You forget this avi the moment you're done looking at it. That's why flair is important. Add something to your avi to make it stand out. Bright or sharp colors, an unsual look, an attention grabbing item, etc. Flair can be a rather difficult thing to get right at times, so keep working on it!
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This is a random avi I found in my save files:

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This is mostly just an outfit I like to use during the winter, since I like the blues. Please ignore the bao and kiki, as they're just random add-ons, stuck on there to add some flair and would probably be removed for competitions (definately the Kiki would go, at least.)

Otherwise, as you can see, this avi is made of shades of blue and blue-green. There's no worry about even spread of colors/color shades, because a one-color avi doesn't need that very often. What's more important is the spread of colors at all, not how they relate to each other. There are no 'empty spots' on this avi, where you'd be looking and wondering what was missing, as there would be if there was no bandana, for instance.

For size balance, I don't have a good example yet, but this will do okay for now:

User Image


The hair is very large, and imagine if there were very teeny shoes on! The avi would look odd and unbalanced, and you want to avoid that if possible.

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Themed avis/Base avatar


Themed avatars are a risky thing. They can be very awesome, or they can fail seriously, no matter how much work you put into them. So you're taking a gamble with them, but they can be a lot of fun even if you don't win anything with them.

This is my favorite of my themed avatars:

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The look is 1920s or so librarian, which is more obvious without the hat, but the hat was added for color balance purposes and people still have no trouble recognizing what it is. This avi did pretty well because it was original, the colors balance nicely, and are well spread out. So this avi did very well for a themed avi.

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This avi is obviously Indiana Jones/explorer inspired. This one did less well because it didn't have as much flair and the colors weren't well balanced, but it's still a fun one.

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This was a modern-day gypsy theme, and more for fun than anything else. I've never entered it in anything, because the colors don't balance or spread well. If at all possible, your themed avi should still follow the other rules of making a good avi, and simply be themed alongside that.
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A many times overlooked aspect, that isn't always important, is the base avi. In other words, the skin color, eye color/shape, and hair color/style. Usually, the highest ranking avis have hair that matches the particular outfit and it then factors into the color matching and color spread. The eyes are less strict, but if you have an avi of brown and black and then have bright green eyes, it can be distracting. The skin color usually doesn't matter in the slightest.

It's more or less random whether someone will factor these into their scoring of an avi, but chances are if you take the time to match them correctly, you'll get more points.

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Entering The Avatar Arena


The avatar arena can be a blast, but you should know a few things to succeed in it.

-The avatar arena is very competetive. There are TONS of people competing at once. Make sure your avi stands out.
-Make sure your description isn't stupid or annoying. Tell a story that relates to your avi, give a description of your idea and design of the avi, or anything else relevent.
-Advertise like crazy! Slap a banner in your sig and never let it out for the whole week. Then go do something like bumping threads in the Exchange or something, where you can get a lot of people seeing your sig and not be breaking any rules. You can do this in the chatterbox too, but most of the people there you may not want voting on your avi. XD;
-Make sure to note in both your avatar arena description and in your sig that you will vote for anyone who votes and leaves a comment, and make sure you actually do it.
-Vote and comment on lots of entries. Many people will return the favor.
-Try not to enter the same avi every week. It'll get boring. Have a few you swap between, and retire an avi that places.
-Have fun! The avatar arena is hard to win in. You may have more luck in later times you enter, once people start remembering your name.

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Links


TekTek Dream Avatar Creator - Absolutely amazing avatar creator. Play around with items before you buy them and design a gorgeous outfit! Use TekTek.org's price guide to see how much your dream avi will cost, too.

Avatar Arena - The Avatar Arena! New contests every week. Be certain to enter before the week begins to be included in the next week's competition!

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Avatar rates, etc.


I will be rating avatars at times, if asked for. However, this is at my own discretion, and I may close this feature if there are too many people asking at once, but chances of that are low in this section.

If you have questions about your avi, feel free to post and ask for constructive criticism, and I'll see what I can do.

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Reserved 10 heart

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Reserved 11 heart

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Reserved 12 heart

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I think that'll do it! You can post, now, while I'm setting up. :3

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All set up. heart

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I've updated the thread with some low-cost avi ideas and some tips for creating low-cost avis. :3
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