NamePlate

NamePlate is a Ruby gem for generating simple, Google-style avatar images from names or usernames. It’s a modernized successor to letter_avatar, built with maintainability, SOLID design, and Rails-friendly integration in mind.

Think of it as a quick way to give everyone in your app a unique, consistent avatar — without storing profile photos.

• 🔠 Generates avatars with initials (e.g., Tony Lombardi → TL)
• 🎨 Deterministic background colors from input strings
• 📐 Flexible sizing (from tiny icons to large images)
• 🖼 Transparent padding and proper centering with MiniMagick
• ⚡ Caching support for faster repeated lookups
• ✅ Rails helpers for easy view integration
• 🧪 Fully tested and type-annotated with RBS

Add this line to your application’s Gemfile:

gem "nameplate"

And then execute:

bundle install

Or install it yourself with:

gem install nameplate

require "nameplate"

# Generate a 128x128 avatar for "Tony"
path = NamePlate::Avatar::Generator.call("Tony", 128)

# => "tmp/generated/128.png"

<%= nameplate_avatar("Tony", size: 64, class: "avatar") %>

Outputs an <img> tag pointing to the cached avatar file.

You can configure fonts, colors, and weights globally:

NamePlate.configure do |config|
  config.font      = Rails.root.join("app/assets/fonts/YourFont.ttf")
  config.weight    = 400
  config.pointsize = 64
end

For heavy workloads (e.g., pre-warming caches):

future = NamePlate::Avatar::Generator.async_call("Tony", 128)
future.value! # blocks until done

Clone the repo and run:

bin/setup
bundle exec rake spec

• SVG support
• Rails engine integration (asset pipeline)
• Configurable color palettes

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome on GitHub at https://github.com/t0nylombardi/nameplate.

MIT License. See LICENSE.txt for details.

⚡ NamePlate — because every name deserves a face.