Rounded Avatars: Here to Stay?

[Nicolas King]

Well, we've been on Xenforo 2.1 for almost a month now! Which is plenty of time for us to have acclimated to some of the changes that entailed.
Now that the shock of "this thing is new!" is past, we want your opinion on which shape avatars on the board should be. (N.B: This poll is not binding on the admin - that's why we're admin - but we'd like your input and for us all to know the issue is settled once a long term decision is made.)

There are essentially three options:

Round Avs	Rounded Corners	Square Avs
View attachment 383	View attachment 384	View attachment 385

Click each image to get a better sense of what it'd look like for a few different avatars, and then cast your vote! Only one vote per roleplayer (we'll be checking)!

Feel free to leave any ideas or more nuanced opinions you have below!

 

[Ainsley Lynch]

I voted for square, but rounded corners would suit me just fine as well. I'm not a fan of circular avatars on any social media in general, but in terms of making avatars it makes it much harder to know how to crop a gif, as there's no way to make a circular image. I can guesstimate, but there's no way to know what will get cut off until it's actually uploaded, which takes a lot of trial and error. And for edited still icons, like Ainsley's or Nick's, the design can get lost easily as is pretty clear. I know some people like circles (even if I disagree personally) but from my perspective image editing software just isn't set up to design for a circular layout easily.

 

[Professor Elvera Le Fey]

would be able to have a few days trialling the rounded corners be able to see how they look like on different screens so that we can be informed when we vote? we have had months on square, and weeks on round. I feel at least a few days should be available to trial the third option.

 

[Jace Blade]

would be able to have a few days trialling the rounded corners be able to see how they look like on different screens so that we can be informed when we vote? we have had months on square, and weeks on round. I feel at least a few days should be available to trial the third option.

Like this.

 

[Nicolas King]

Errm, @Jace Blade - there's already a preview in the first post ( https://hogwarts.nz/attachments/rounded_corners-png.384/ )
Mia is asking about having rounded corners live on the board to feel it out.
Which, while I appreciate the reasoning of, I don't really want to do - because then we'd have to run this poll again, essentially.
Rounded corners is if you don't like round and prefer square, but think square is perhaps a bit too web of the 00s or too jarring given current design trends (it's essentially square, just no sharp points for cutting one's self).

 

[Nicolas King]

If we were going to do multiple polls, I also would have included the most resoundingly hated of the options I trialled with the admin - rounded squares.
View attachment 388

 

[Elliot Briar]

Interesting, I like rounded squares more than rounded corners

 

[Nicolas King]

Interesting, I like rounded squares more than rounded corners

What do you think of another shape that isn't on the table for consideration:
View attachment 389
We could do tonnes of things with it - the two things we've experienced so far (circle and square) were because they were software defaults on whatever software we were on.
Now we're presenting circle, square, and a slightly more gentle-feeling square as options instead of the infinite other options that could be on the table.
I'm sure I'd like something more than the three presented, too - but it's more a question of which of those three that make the most people the least upset.

 

[Nicolas King]

would be able to have a few days trialling the rounded corners be able to see how they look like on different screens so that we can be informed when we vote?

I decided to make this possible.
There is now a "HNZ - Rounded Corners Avatar" and an "HNZ - Square Avatars" theme for you to select (temporarily) and see how they feel.

 

[Hezekiah Mowry]

I really love the rounded corners after seeing it live. (It makes hezekiah look more cute).

 

[Aeon Summers]

I actually love the "sideways leaf" shape (I have no idea what else to call it )
I tried the rounded corners but it feels too...modern? Whereas to me your basic shapes such as circles and squares fit more with the overall theme, particularly with the wood and parchment motif.

 

[Kinsey Wilde]

I prefer the circles because the squares look awkward as they are now smaller than they were before the site change and I don't care for the rounded corners in general.

 

[Nicolas King]

the squares look awkward as they are now smaller than they were before the site change

In topics, in the default theme, the squares are precisely the same size as they were before we moved softwares: 140px. They remain smaller in the HNZ classic theme, I believe.
I confirmed what I believed to be the case by checking against the way-back-machine.

 

[Willow Cullen]

I decided to make this possible.
There is now a "HNZ - Rounded Corners Avatar" and an "HNZ - Square Avatars" theme for you to select (temporarily) and see how they feel.

Thank you nick. that is awesome. It may take me a little while to get my vote in. but if I don't cast one in time let it be that I won't be too upset with any of them.

 

[Nicolas King]

I actually love the "sideways leaf" shape (I have no idea what else to call it )

It is fun, isn't it?

 

[Kinsey Wilde]

In topics, in the default theme, the squares are precisely the same size as they were before we moved softwares: 140px. They remain smaller in the HNZ classic theme, I believe.
I confirmed what I believed to be the case by checking against the way-back-machine.

I don't like the default theme oops

 

[Nicolas King]

It was a fairly narrow vote, but rounded corners on square avatars won out and the admin are happy to oblige.
Thanks for your input, everybody!