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The most common faults in icon creation?
#1 Poor differentiation between icons It often happens that within one set of icons, we have icons that look alike and it is very difficult to understand which one is which. If you donÒt see the signatures, you can very easily be confused by those icons. #2 Too many elements in the icon The simpler and more laconic the image is, the better. It is advisable to set the number of objects in one icon to a minimum. Nevertheless, MicrosoftÒs designers, excited by the new format of icons introduced in Windows Vista, tried to go big and drew over packed icons to justify their over packed budget. #3 Unnecessary objects An icon should be easy to read. The fewer elements it holds, the better. It is great if the complete picture is relevant and not only part of it. Therefore, you have to understand the context of using icons. Take the database icons, for instance. The pack may look fine for a novice, but if this application (or a specific toolbar) deals only with databases, we can (and we must) delete the unnecessary part. #4 Non-unified style in a pack of icons It is a unity of style that unites several icons into a set. The uniting property can be any of the following: similar colors, layout, size, artistic technique or a combination of several such properties. If the set only contains a few icons, the creator can remember the rules easily. If there are many icons in the set and there are several designers working on them (for example, icons for an operating system), then special guidelines are created. Such guidelines describe in detail how to draw an icon so that it perfectly matches the set. #5 Unnecessary details in small sized images Progress does not stand still: GUIs have gotten the potential to display semi-transparent objects, lost the limitation on the number of colors and there is now a trend towards 3D icons. But is it really all that helpful? Not always! Especially if we are talking about icons in size 16?16 or smaller. #6 Overly original metaphors Selecting what is to be drawn in an icon is constantly a compromise between reconcilability and uniqueness. Prior to a symbol (image) is created for an icon it is smart to see how it is designed in other projects. Maybe the most suitable solution is not in coming up with something unique but rather in adopting the common solution. #7 Ethnical or cultural characteristics not being taken into account It is always necessary to take into account the conditions in which your icon will be used. An important aspect here is ethnical differences. Social customs, surroundings and gestures can vary radically from nation to nation. For instance, a mail box appears to be a great symbol for a ÓMailÔ icon. However, you will see all the different types of mailboxes in different countries. In that situation, you should either make your icon copy the mailbox that is common for the userÒs country or area, or chouse a more universal symbol like an envelope. #8 Pictures of real interface elements in icons The manual on creating icons for Mac OS X warns us: ÓAvoid using Aqua interface elements in your icons; they could be confused with the actual interface.Ô But no use! There still are lost of icons that can be read as a couple of separate ones. #9 Text embedded into icons This fault is typically seen in software icons. Clearly the first thing that comes to mind when developing an application icon is to adapt the applicationÒs logo. What is so bad with the text inside the icon? Firstly, it is directly language-related and so forces localization. Secondly, if the icon is small, The text is not readable. Also, in the case of software icons, this text is duplicated in the caption of the software. #10 Outside the pixel framework As a rule, this problem occurs if you use a vector editor for creating your icons. In large size everything looks pretty and crisp; but in real life the icons are tiny, and under rasterization anti-aliasing blurs the objectsÒ borders.
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Standard Toolbar Icons
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ArtIcons Pro can find, extract, edit and create Windows icons in color depths up to 16 million colors. Import and export icon images, create and handle icon libraries. It supports the new icon format introduced in Windows XP (8-bit transparency). Download it |
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IconXP can edit and create Windows icons in color depths up to 32-bit True Color. It supports the new icon format introduced in Windows XP (8-bit transparency). You can customize desktop and folder icons. Download it |
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Any to Icon allows you to convert multiple BMP, JPEG, GIF, PNG, WBMP and WMF images to Windows icons in one action. It also breaks down entire icon libraries into individual icons. You can change color resolution and size to create customized icons. Download it |
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IconUtils is a complete icon and cursor solution. IconUtils package can edit icons and cursors, manage icon and cursor libraries, convert icons into images (in various graphic formats) and vice versa, customize Windows desktop and folder icons. Download it |
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Icon to Any allows you to convert Windows icons and cursors into BMP, JPG, PNG, GIF, ICO, CUR, WBMP and RC formats. It has a wizard interface. It's simple to process multiple files at once. You can find icons and make images for use on Web pages. Download it |
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ArtCursors allows you to edit Windows cursors in color depths up to 16 million colors. You also can search files and folders for cursors, import and export cursor images and create cursor libraries for better and more efficient storage. Download it |
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AhaView supports all popular graphic formats, including JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, ICO, CUR, ANI, WBMP. You can browse images in thumbnail mode, view pictures full screen with zooming features, convert images to JPEG, PNG, BMP formats and manage files. Download it |
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CustomIcons is an ultimate tool for customizing the icons on you desktop, in Windows Start menu and many other locations. Using CustomIcons you can easily replace default Windows icons with the ones to your choice. Download it |
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