Round or circular avatars seem to be a trend now. Prominent sites that use round avatars are Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google (Gmail, Google Inbox, Google+, YouTube, etc), and many more.
Some people either love them or hate them. I for one welcome them but have you ever wondered why some sites use them? Is it just personal preference or was there an underlying reason?
Here are some arguments that I found from my googling.
Whether you agree with those arguments or not, you may want to try making round avatars in your forum and see how your users react.
Add the below CSS in css_additional.css template in AdminCP or in Sitebuilder > Style > CSS Editor.
Demo:
Look around this site to see round avatars.
How about you, do you prefer round or square avatars? Let me know in your comments and replies below.
Some people either love them or hate them. I for one welcome them but have you ever wondered why some sites use them? Is it just personal preference or was there an underlying reason?
Here are some arguments that I found from my googling.
Round avatars clearly distinguish at a glance people from content or other entities like apps, albums, photos, and so on. Curves and rounded shapes are perceived to be "softer" or "friendlier".
After some research it turns out weβre pre-programmed to prefer rounded corners. As children weβre quickly taught that sharp corners are dangerous and hurt but rounded corners are safer and friendly.
Another reason is that the flowing nature of a circle and rounded corners take less cognitive effort, or brain power, to visually process. The less brain power required the easier user interfaces are to use.
Finally, the box appears to make you focus on the outline instead of the content inside. By using rounded corners the brain is less distracted and as such we process the important information.
Whether you agree with those arguments or not, you may want to try making round avatars in your forum and see how your users react.
Add the below CSS in css_additional.css template in AdminCP or in Sitebuilder > Style > CSS Editor.
Code:
.avatar img, .avatar:not(.medium) > img, .b-avatar:not(.b-avatar--m) > img, .b-avatar--thread > img, .b-avatar--s > img, .b-comment .b-avatar img, .b-comp-menu-dropdown__trigger-avatar, .profile-sidebar-widget .profileContainer .profile-photo-wrapper .profile-photo, .b-avatar--pmchat, .b-pmchat__participants-avatar, img.avatar, img.b-avatar { border-radius: 100%; } .avatar, .b-avatar, .b-avatar--thread { border: 0; }
Demo:
Look around this site to see round avatars.
How about you, do you prefer round or square avatars? Let me know in your comments and replies below.
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