London, 1891. The fog is thick and the case is yours.
The Victorian detective is one of the most enduring figures in fiction: the sharp mind in a tweed coat, the magnifying glass, the gaslit street at midnight. This universe does not borrow any particular character. It recreates the period itself, and casts you as its finest investigator, at your own age and with your own face.
It is also one of the most flattering universes we offer. Period clothing frames the face without hiding it, and the low, warm light of gas lamps and oil lamps is kind to every skin tone. In our first measurement this universe preserved the face and glasses perfectly, and glasses look entirely at home on a nineteenth-century detective.
Three styles
Study at Baker Street is the default: a cluttered Victorian study with leather armchairs, a crackling fire, shelves of books and chemistry glassware, and you in a waistcoat with a pipe or a magnifying glass. It is a calm, painterly portrait, perfect for a profile picture.
Foggy London Street takes the investigation outside. A wet cobbled street at night, a gas lamp haloed in fog, a long dark coat and a top hat or a bowler. The most cinematic of the three.
Detective Studio Portrait is a formal studio portrait in the style of the 1890s: tweed, a high collar, a pocket watch chain, against a dark painted backdrop, with the restrained palette of an old photograph tinted by hand.
What makes a good photo
A sharp, front-facing photo with even light gives the best likeness. One person only. Glasses, beards and moustaches are all kept, and suit the period. If the first take is not quite right, every paid image includes two free regenerations.
Use
Your avatar is yours to use personally: as a profile picture, in a message to friends, or printed and framed. Commercial use is excluded. This universe is a generic period style and does not depict any protected character.