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some random musings on icons
(Presented in no particular order - just as they occur to me.)
Animated Icons
I am so extremely happy that my browser allows me to freeze images just by hitting the escape key.
Because when I'm looking at a page with animated icons, I can't look at anything else. Nothing at all. (Silly ADHD and its restrictyness.)
So, those of you who carefully use your lovely animated icons in comments to make a lovely animated point of wonderful subtlety? Sorry - but I'm not going to see them.
Default Icons
My first LJ icon was a photo of me. (Because what else would you put in an icon?)
Then came the 2007 writers' strike - and I changed it, in support, to a little yellow round person holding a protest sign.
This was around about the time I first entered fandom. So almost everyone I knew on LJ got to know me as the little yellow round person - while I was busy discovering how fun fannish icons could be, and stocking up on them for the wondrous day when the writers' strike ended, and I could stop having a boring icon and start having pretty ones, and change my default EVERY WEEK!
...yeah. Didn't quite work out that way.
Mainly because my flist were horrified at my impending non-yellow-roundness, and insisted that I create a default on the same theme.
Hence my little yellow round person writing with a quill.
Since then, I have changed my default icon twice: once for my birthday - which also happens to be the Glorious Twenty-Fifth Of May, ala Pratchett - and once... right now. For another supporting-a-protest situation.
(Don't worry. My normal default will return eventually. I will once more be yellow and round.)
So, you people who change defaults regularly - how do you do that? And how long does it take you to get used to your new look?
Moods
I have icons for headdesking, and for being bitchy. I have some for when I'm angry, some for mad squeeing, one for hugs, one for being cool, some for looking scared, some for friendship, some for being busy, and a few for being sneakily snarky in my icons while being perfectly polite in my actual words.
I don't have a *facepalm* or a "Whoa" or anything for looking confused. (Really must find those.)
Of course, this presents a dilemma.
If I'm in a squeeful mood and I'm talking about Giles, do I use my icon of Fred squeeing, or Giles studying? Or what if everyone's discussing Dawn and I use my main Dawn icon, and everyone assumes I'm "demanding an explanation for this bullshit" when I'm just wanting to go "Yay! Dawn!"?
Clearly the answer involves getting more icons...
Animated Icons
I am so extremely happy that my browser allows me to freeze images just by hitting the escape key.
Because when I'm looking at a page with animated icons, I can't look at anything else. Nothing at all. (Silly ADHD and its restrictyness.)
So, those of you who carefully use your lovely animated icons in comments to make a lovely animated point of wonderful subtlety? Sorry - but I'm not going to see them.
Default Icons
My first LJ icon was a photo of me. (Because what else would you put in an icon?)
Then came the 2007 writers' strike - and I changed it, in support, to a little yellow round person holding a protest sign.
This was around about the time I first entered fandom. So almost everyone I knew on LJ got to know me as the little yellow round person - while I was busy discovering how fun fannish icons could be, and stocking up on them for the wondrous day when the writers' strike ended, and I could stop having a boring icon and start having pretty ones, and change my default EVERY WEEK!
...yeah. Didn't quite work out that way.
Mainly because my flist were horrified at my impending non-yellow-roundness, and insisted that I create a default on the same theme.
Hence my little yellow round person writing with a quill.
Since then, I have changed my default icon twice: once for my birthday - which also happens to be the Glorious Twenty-Fifth Of May, ala Pratchett - and once... right now. For another supporting-a-protest situation.
(Don't worry. My normal default will return eventually. I will once more be yellow and round.)
So, you people who change defaults regularly - how do you do that? And how long does it take you to get used to your new look?
Moods
I have icons for headdesking, and for being bitchy. I have some for when I'm angry, some for mad squeeing, one for hugs, one for being cool, some for looking scared, some for friendship, some for being busy, and a few for being sneakily snarky in my icons while being perfectly polite in my actual words.
I don't have a *facepalm* or a "Whoa" or anything for looking confused. (Really must find those.)
Of course, this presents a dilemma.
If I'm in a squeeful mood and I'm talking about Giles, do I use my icon of Fred squeeing, or Giles studying? Or what if everyone's discussing Dawn and I use my main Dawn icon, and everyone assumes I'm "demanding an explanation for this bullshit" when I'm just wanting to go "Yay! Dawn!"?
Clearly the answer involves getting more icons...
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