A simple and fun avatar design based on a 6x5 circle grid.

Modular design fun

Foundational grid thinking and how to apply it as a concept

Modularity is the cornerstone of current digital creative production. Modular thinking serves us to bring some sort of reference into chaos and overstimulation.

The setup of a basic grid can bring much needed clarity of design. And the results can be surprising.

Grids can get created based on columns, rows and shapes. For digital screen set-ups, its base value element is a rectangle, referred to in width and height in various size specifications (px, rem, vw, vh, %).

For our illustrative and fun-based approach, we use circles as a grid design element.

Set a grid based on an elemental circular shape and build out a number of columns and rows.

Choose a color scheme. Start color coding your grid shapes and fill in the negative spaces.

Figure 1: Composing a portrait avatar

In this modular grid of 5x5 circles with a minimal in-between space, two adjacent circles are rendered as eyes or eye-glasses. Unique faces appear out of blending other circles within themself.