Koloboks
Koloboks are the creation of Russian artist Ivan Mantsurov, aka Aiwan. The kolobok is a famous character of an old Russian folk tale.[1] Koloboks got their name from a joke between Aiwan and his wife when she was teasing him one night. She said "I'll tell everyone that you, such big adult guy are drawing a silly koloboks."[2] Aiwan says that "since then, my family have never used another word for my smiles."[2]
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Physical Characteristics
Koloboks do not have any arms, legs or feet, however they do have hands. The first Koloboks were originally bald, but the newer Koloboks all have hair. Also, the girl Koloboks have pigtails too.
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An example of a typical boy
& girl Kolobok. |
Kolobok Minis
Kolobok minis are Koloboks that have been taken and shrunk down to very tiny proportions. They are intended for pagers and mobile phones, where receiving large images is undesirable because of the small screen format.
Big & ICQ Koloboks
Big Koloboks are slightly larger than the traditional Koloboks by a few pixels. They also have a different base colour from the traditional yellow Koloboks, which has led them to be described as "Koloboks with suntans." [3] They were orignally developed for use with the ICQ instant messenger program, however other people have made their own big koloboks since.
The ICQ Koloboks are a special set of 43 Koloboks that have been created for and licensed to ICQ Inc.. They were introduced with version 6. The set of ICQ Koloboks are available for free download from here.[4]
The "Big Koloboks" are actually not the biggest Koloboks available. There are even bigger Koloboks that have been made since. So what to do with this conundrum, when you already have "Big Koloboks?" Call them HD Koloboks, of course. 
HD Koloboks
HD Kolobok Smiles are a set of smileys for mobile devices with high screen resolution. They are based on Aiwan's original "Kolobok Smiles" and were remade by Sergey Egorov aka "StarWind", by permission. There are two versions of HD smileys included in the pack. LS - for light skins and DS - for dark skins.
Here is a comparison of the different types of Koloboks:
| Standard | Mini Koloboks | Big Koloboks | HD Koloboks | Description |
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The happy Kolobok |
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The sad Kolobok |
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The tongue Kolobok |
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The embarassed Kolobok |
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The good Kolobok |
Kolobok Philosophy
Aiwan does not create dirty, rude, or adult rated Koloboks. He also expressly forbids users from creating such Koloboks, which is why you will not see any Koloboks engaging in adult activities.
Everyone who draws kolobok smilies swears solemnly: "We are kind and jolly! We give joy to people!" A work that doesn't match to this requirement isn't a kolobok smilie! [5]
Kolobok Artists
Apart from Aiwan, there are a number of other artists that develop smileys in the Kolobok style.
- ViShenk@
- Just Cuz
- Laie
- Connie
- snoozer
- Viannen
- MotherGoose[6]
- Phil
Kolobok Website and GDK
The Kolobok website is 4 years old now, and attracts approximately 5,000 visitors per day.[7] Aiwan promotes his website as suitable for all ages, so there is no bad language; or offensive, racist or inappropriate comments or content permitted. There are also no "adult smileys" posted on his website. As Koloboks are intended to be good, clean, wholesome and fun, so too the Kolobok website and forums promote that same atmosphere.
The Kolobok forum is probably one of the most active of any smiley boards and has 2,000+ registered members. There users can receive helpful tips on making their own smileys, as well as tutorials on using various graphics and animation programs. Aiwan welcomes the development of smilies in Kolobok style, and provides a Kolobok Graphics Development Kit (GDK) and Kolobok Mini GDK for users to do this. The Kolobok website also includes a section for Visitor's smiles, where users can submit their own original smileys.
Further reading
- Aiwan - Kolobok's GodFather about itself and about their own children...
- What is a Kolobok Style Smilie?
Notes and References
- ^ Kolobok Russian folk tale (English Translation)
- ^ a b Aiwan, (2005-11-25). The Kolobok's site is one year old!. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
- ^ Just Cuz, (2007-07-30). New koloboks from Aiwan. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
- ^ Exclusive rights for this format Kolobok for Instant Messaging (IM) (e.g. MSN, Skype, Yahoo, Miranda, QIP etc.) belong to ICQ, Ltd.
- ^ Aiwan, (2007-12-06). What is a Kolobok Style Smilie? Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
- ^ MotherGoose does not create smileys strictly in the Kolobok style, however she is listed as a member of the Artists Group on the Kolobok website.
- ^ Email correspondence with Aiwan. (2008-11-25).
| Article Information | |
|---|---|
| Author: | BradLee |
| Date Published: | Article has not been published yet |
| Other Contributors: | None |
| Last Modified: | October 8, 2015 |
*** This article has been approved by the referenced website's owner ***
