Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The Profile Picture Debate Continues!

So last month, based on a suggestion from Samantha (one of my darling and loyal readers), I posed a question to you, my (well-dressed and intelligent) virtual audience.

Namely, should I change my profile picture from this:


To this?


My original rationale for the current profile picture was that it was just so god-awfully bad that, when people saw it, they would (hopefully) want to stick around to see what this little blog was all about. Also, I liked that the blue backdrop matched my blog's color scheme. Finally, I was hoping to build some sort of "cross-platform brand recognition" so that I could eventually feature that picture prominently in the submission packet for my book. Heck, maybe even use it as the author's photo. And for future driver's licenses.

I pointed all of this out to Samantha and her response was that "Doc Brown - though interesting - is not as hot as 'not Doc Brown'". A good point, and one I did not take lightly (especially considering I don't want to drive away my key, core demographic: sexy ladies).

Anyway, I ended up getting a surprising amount of feedback (surprising to me, at least) and the overwhelming answer so far is: neither.

(Sorry, Sam. Sorry, Matt's Cuban-Style Roast Pork Sandwich. Sorry, bad Doc Brown picture.)

Several reasons were given. (My favorite being from a reader who thought that, while my new picture looked good, it was an odd way to hold a slice of pizza.) But, overwhelmingly, people still wanted to see me as Doc Brown. Just not a Doc Brown that was so - as Shannon (a ravishing and provocative new reader) put it - "poopy pouty face".

Faced with the task of finding a new profile picture, I couldn't help but think about how much easier the whole process would be had I performed in a country heavily populated with high-tech, top-of-the-line camera-toting shutterbugs who would take pictures of me several times a second from every possible angle and then frequently present those pictures to me as gifts.

And then I remembered I'd worked in Japan.

So, I busted out my massive box of fan pictures and started searching. Some of the fan pictures were, quite literally, "fan pictures":

These, while humorous (and useful on hot days), would not make very good profile pictures.

Most of the other pictures were scary. A remarkable number had me with my mouth open. But, there were a lot of good ones. So, I picked a nice handful, scanned them and I present them to you now. There are a lot in this post but it's because I tried to include a large variety. These were taken at various stages of my Doc Brown career. Different shows, different wigs, different levels of tolerance for my Japanese superiors.

So, if you don't mind and if you've got a few seconds, take a look and let me know what you think. If you'd like a closer look, click to biggify them. I did touch them up a bit to try to get rid of the dust and the yellow of time but, bear in mind, most of them are scans. Once I have an idea of which ones you all like, I can probably track down the original digital copies.

So, without further ado, let the competition begin!

This first picture was taken by my (ever-so-handsome and talented) brother and I'm currently using in the background of my Twitter page:

Back from the Future

A few suggested that I should be smiling. This one feels a bit forced:

"I love my job. Honest."


Here's one that's a bit more natural:

Smiley Profile

It was also suggested that I use a picture of Doc doing the very-Japanese "peace sign pose". Here are two that I found:

Peace Doc #1


Peace Doc #2

Here are a few shots from the "Doc and Robot" show:

Doc and IB4E
(don't worry, the Japanese
didn't find that name funny either)


Doc and remote

This may not make a great profile photo but, I love this picture:

From the look on her face, I'm either being really funny
or I'm sexually harassing her.

Here are a few pictures from the DeLorean show:

Doc's model pose.


"I need fuel!"


Doc considers buying a Mac.


"Great Scott!"

And some from the "In Search of the Fifth Element" show:

He's got the whole world...


Goggle Doc


Conductor Doc


Doc and Megaphone

Two pictures with the Segway:

Segway Doc #1


Segway Doc #2

And finally, a couple of random poses:

"You talkin' to me?"


Can I get a what what?


Doc and Einstein

So, what do you think??

[Special thanks to Ken, Ai, Mai, Yoshiko and Asako for the pictures, the applause and the memories.]

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I think any from "Conductor Doc" down are good ones. I like "Segway #1", "Conductor Doc" and "Doc with Megaphone", but I think a photo of you looking at the camera is appropriate. I choose "Doc and Einstein"!

Matt Herold said...

One vote for "Doc and Einstein"!

Anonymous said...

My favorites as profile pictures would be a toss up between "Smiley Profile" and "Peace Doc #1", since they are close ups of your face. Yet, "Peace Doc might be a little too white washed.

"Doc with Megaphone" has the best smile, though.

And, Ken's right about "Doc and Einstein" being a great picture. It looks very professionally done.

They're all great pics, though! Your fans all have a great eye. Well, not one eye collectively. They each have a great eye... or I should say eyes, right? Unless someone only has one eye. Then, I'd be excluding them by saying eyes... "Great eye" it is, then!

Matt Herold said...

All excellent choices! Of course, this means that your vote has to be divided by four but don't worry, it still puts "Doc and Einstein" in the lead by a quarter of a vote! Excitement mounts!

And, in actuality, my fans had one large, collective eye.

It still haunts me.

Anonymous said...

Hello Matt, 元気ですか?

It was surprised to read your Brog!!
私のとった写真がたくさん!!And Uchiwaも!!
ホントにビックリしたけど、メッチャうれしかった(^^)
"Smiley Profile"の写真はわたしのだいすきなしゃしんです!!

Thank you for using it!!

じゃあまたね。Take care.