In the previous post we created identicons based on mirror reflections. One final option I've considered is to use the superformula for generating identicons:
Using the superformula is tricky. Many parameter combinations generate shapes that require multiple rotations to meet back up with their starting point, and making only one rotation often leaves a notch (visible on most of the examples above). One quasi-solution to this to randomize the number of rotations:
The superformula can also generate more exotic shapes:
Some of these are interesting, but they hardly seem to belong to the same family of shapes. That's to be expected from using a large parameter space on a generalized formula, however it means their utility as identicons isn't very strong; they don't signal that they represent different instances of the same kind of thing. To make shapes that are more similar, we can try constraining the input parameter to a smaller range of values:
Better. With even more careful parameter selection we could probably avoid notches too.
Of course, the tighter the parameter space the less distinct shapes are from one another. Given the kind of curation that's necessary to find good parameters and distinguishable shapes, the superformula may be more suited to generating abstract logos than a wide array of identicons.
If you have suggestions for improvements, email me.