Brands are no longer recognized by just a logo or a tagline in the 21st century. As a result, the rise of many businesses, the scattered attention span of buyers, and the need to establish themselves uniquely brought in avatars. There has been an immense spike in the usage of 3D avatars as the face of businesses. Consequently, it has become an important identity of brands and is one of the top digital marketing trends for 2021.
What is a 3D Avatar?
A 3D avatar is an alternative representation of brands that can promote and communicate in virtual spaces. In other words, it is the digital persona of brands that reflects all of their qualities, values, and vision.
Brand avatars offer multiple benefits – amazing storytelling, quick recognition, and humanized connection. In addition, they can express themselves fully, even the most complex aspects of themselves. Some of the most iconic virtual characters of 2021 are Knox Frost, Guggimon, and Lil Miquela.
How to Create a Virtual Avatar
Step 1: Concept Ideation
Firstly, designers and brands develop the concept idea for the 3D avatar. Brands have to decide the features and qualities that will define the avatar. This is a crucial step as this reflects the entire brand identity.
Step 2: Base Figure Selection
After the avatar has been conceptualized, 3D artists must select a base figure. This refers to the physical shape of the avatar. There exists multiple software that readily offers many base figures.
Step 3: Selecting Pre-sets
Morphs are the parameters that change how a character looks when values are adjusted. Most pre-sets include body size and facial structure. Each pre-set is like a pose for the avatar. This helps 3D avatars look more realistic and ease the transition from one movement to another.
Step 4: Fine Adjustments
The step involves a trial and error process. Brands can try various morphs until they find the perfect one that reflects their identity.
Step 5: Avatar Rigging
Avatar rigging is the process of creating the bone structure of the 3D avatar. In other words, after creating a 3D model, avatar creators can construct a series of digital bones. Rigging helps them to control the movement of the avatar to pose and animate it realistically.
Step 6: Texture Application
This is the step that brings the virtual avatar to life. Subsequently, designers can apply various colors to the eyes, face, and body to bring a brand’s imagination to reality.
Step 7: Suitable Dressing
Designers add hair to the character if the brand avatar resembles humans. They dress up the avatar in different garments, reflecting different brand colors and elements. Avatars can wear digital clothing that has been specifically created for them or use pre-made looks. This step makes the avatar more visually appealing.
Step 8: Final Rendering
At last, elements like lighting, textures, and camera angles are adjusted to create the final rendered image of the avatar. The avatar is now ready to go onto the brand’s website, social media platforms, and digital marketing channels.
Lil Miquela is one of the most loved virtual avatars in 2021.
Benefits of Avatars
- Clear Communication: Avatars help brands communicate their vision, consumer care, and promotions clearly. The animated characters further add an element of innovation to the brand identity.
- Easy Recognition: In the digital age, recalling and recognizing brands by words and audio has become difficult. On the other hand, the audience can easily associate virtual avatars with respective brands.
- Digital Compatibility: These 3D avatars go on any digital platform like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube without extra effort. Brands can promote themselves uniformly in cyberspace.
- Unique Positioning: Consumers are more inclined towards companies that stay updated with new technologies and trends. Through avatars, brands can once again position themselves as trend makers.
3D Avatar: A New Dimension for Brands
Today, it has become challenging to capture the wandering attention of target audiences. Thus, to keep the customers hooked, brands have included 3D avatars in their marketing strategies. These virtual characters, highly adaptable and customizable, evoke strong interest in consumers. Therefore, as a brand representative in the 21st century, expect to see more avatars coming to life behind your digital screens.
