Millions of people around the world are showing their
support for democracy in Iran by adding some green to their lives.
Paste wanted to make this easy and more interesting by enabling
users to make an "Iranicon"—an Obamicon-like image using the
colors of Iran.
Take your picture with a
webcam or upload a photo, choose your
message, and submit to the gallery. Show your support on Twitter (now even easier),
Facebook or wherever else you'd like.
"I have relatives in Iran, so this is very personal," said
Paste president Tim Regan-Porter. "But, fundamentally, this is
about the right to free and fair elections and the right of citizens
to express their views, and that's something all reasonable people
can get behind. These symbolic gestures may not have a huge impact,
but millions around the world want to show their solidarity with
those fighting for such fundamental rights and I think it's important
to offer whatever encouragement we can."
Paste has also added a few new features to its webicon site
(webicon is the generic name for these color-manipulated images).
Users can use their webicons as their Twitter profile pictures
with a single click, filter webicons by type (you can
see all the Iranicons here), and use a cut-out tool for uploaded photos to makes
webicons look better than ever.
Paste launched Obamicon shortly before President Obama's inauguration in
January. The site allowed users to make images of themselves in the style
of Shepard Fairey's iconic "Hope" poster. The site received over a million
visitors in its first month, with over 1.25 million webicons created to
date. Iranicon is the third official webicon, following "Luvicon" and Obamicon.
Paste has also produced webicons for Green
for All and the Atlanta Hawks.