I have anonymous Memoji from my Apple account as my profile picture. It shields me and it’s a way of staying invisible. But my face could be signal in a world of noise. So I decided to change this into a real photo of me. How good was creating a new profile picture from an excisting one currently with AI?
I had a very nice head shot taken a while ago, but it was in a suit and tie. The suit represents something I like, but not how I want to be perceived on X. I like to wear a a fine suit and tie, every so often. Guy Ritchie has this great take on the ‘death of the suit.’ Let me go on a tangent, bear with me.
He says the suit died when it became the uniform for number crunchers who just wanted blending in. He argues you have to ‘reclaim’ it. Make it a creative choice. That’s exactly my problem with my old headshot (below). I love the suit, but the photo makes me look like I’m hiding in it. It feels safe. It feels like I’m reporting for duty, not having a conversation online.
I realized that using the “safe” suit photo was just another version of being invisible.
As said I think it is too formal for having it on my X account. I do want to own my suit though, so I even considered just using the formal photo with suit and tie. But still I figured it better to not do this. I asked Gemini to make a new photo specifically for my X account.
This was the first result. Great photo and nice look that nicely blends in. But then something struck me. I don’t want to blend in. I want to make an impression with my profile photo. I want people that are scrolling their timeline think, wait, I have seen this profile picture before. It made some sort of impression on me. For this having it blend in, is not the way to go.
So I asked Gemini again to make a photo that is actually popping out for some reason. Not boring and bland. I added this to the prompt:
Style: bold editorial magazine portrait. The subject is wearing a crisp, high-quality white dress shirt, top button open, relaxed but tailored fit. Lighting: high-contrast “Rembrandt” studio lighting, creating sharp highlights and deep, dramatic shadows for a striking, three-dimensional look. Background: solid, bold e.g. deep emerald with a subtle vignette.
The final result was exactly what I needed. It’s bold and lively without being a crazy AI photo. It matches the conviction and energy I want to bring to my X account. So I updated my profile picture. Now let’s see if it makes a difference in my stats in the next couple of days, now that a real person and face is shown on the account.
Key Insight:
A profile picture is rarely just showing what you look like. It’s a signal of how you want to be perceived. A photo could be technically flawless, but not doing the work of sending the signal you want. If a picture doesn’t carry an opinion, it falls flat. Changing my clothes was just another way of me wanting to be heard.