Photoshop CS3: Creating a Profile Picture Intro

I have made a few avatars for a game I'm playing. The avatars I've made however are only desgins and not the standard "background and picture". I wanted to be dynamic and have a dynamic picture.However, one of my friends who plays the same game described my profile pictures as "dunout" and if I can make one like a few others in the game, why don't I instead of making the rubbish I do now. It took me by suprise no doubt that he felt that way about my creations. I think a few others may share the same views of my designs so I've decided to have a try at these other profile pictures. Most of these pictures have 3 or more rectangles with transparent spaces between them and a dynamic faded design or colour in these bars, followed by a render in the front and a name tag. This will be my next task for a couple of days. I shall attempt to make one of these.