Show HN: Blobz: generate playful, deterministic SVG avatars from any string

Posted by lirena00 on Wednesday October 14, 2026 @07:52AM
from the show-hn dept.

https://blobz.lirena.in

hey everynyan,

i've always found it funny how much effort goes into making websites look good, only for every new user to be greeted by the same boring pfp.

and if you're building an app with hundreds of users, you're probably either assigning random images from a small collection or asking users to upload their own.

i wanted something better for the default state.

so i built blobz.

it turns any string into a playful svg avatar. same string will get same avatar every single time and you don't need to store the generated images.

i ended up making a react package, shadcn-compatible components, and a hosted api so it could be used in different projects.

it's open source as well

wdyt of the designs and will you use it for your projects?

( 6 comments | 4 points | on HN )

Re:Show HN: Blobz: generate playful, deterministic SVG avata... by yxshv on Wednesday October 14, 2026 @09:02AM (#50087103)

I say add a large variety of pfp.

Add color and theme customization, so that a icon and color can match the theme/brand of some product.

Current pfps may not fit everywhere.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Show HN: Blobz: generate playful, deterministic SVG avata... by lirena00 on Wednesday October 14, 2026 @11:00AM (#50088703)

Oh I will add a lot of other blobz as well in here and as for customization yes you can do that already ... Change the color and all you can visit /create to know all the customization available for now

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Show HN: Blobz: generate playful, deterministic SVG avata... by souls-syntax on Wednesday October 14, 2026 @09:03AM (#50087113)

I particularly like the on fly rendering which saves space, and well unique cute avatar is certainly a win.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Show HN: Blobz: generate playful, deterministic SVG avata... by lirena00 on Wednesday October 14, 2026 @11:00AM (#50088707)

Thanksies :)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Show HN: Blobz: generate playful, deterministic SVG avata... by wireguard on Wednesday October 14, 2026 @09:13AM (#50087246)

very interesting, since the pool of facial features is limited there's only so many combinations that can be made, eventually two strings will return the same face and it won't be unique. am I missing something?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Show HN: Blobz: generate playful, deterministic SVG avata... by lirena00 on Wednesday October 14, 2026 @11:01AM (#50088723)

No, the pool ain't really limited it converts the string to hash and then based on that it chooses a avatar from 4.9b+ avatars that can be generated from combinations

[ Parent | on HN ]