This is EvilPHish from the comics’ strip UserFriendly.org by Iliad. I was a big fan of UserFriendly.org when EvilPHish was featured there, and it was so me, so I decided to make it my emblem. After downloading the big version of the comic, and tampering with it a little with GIMP (= the GNU Image Manipulation Program), I was able to produce a transparent PNG file that I could use.

After a while, I realised that most people recognised this emblem and associated it with me (in part because my last name is “Fish”) and decided to standardise on it as a user-pic or “avatar” everywhere, and so I did. Note that the image is still copyrighted by Mr. Iliad, but I hope its use by me is acceptable.

As a child and a teenager, I’ve been a bit frustrated by my last name being Fish, and was often teased for it. But I feel OK about it now, and it’s good that people can associate my last name with something they are familiar with, and with a memorable emblem such as EvilPHish.

You can also find various versions of the EvilPHish image for download and reuse.

Update: There is now a vector graphics SVG version courtesy of the amazing Marc Jeanmougin (Mc) and Inkscape. It is placed under CC0 but may be a derivative work of the original by Iliad.