[texworks] About the Icon Design (was: Icon Update)

[Jérome Laurens]

Le 14 juil. 09 à 13:15, Jonathan Kew a écrit :

> On 14 Jul 2009, at 09:56, Bruno Voisin wrote:
>
>> Le 14 juil. 09 à 01:23, Jérome Laurens a écrit :
>>
>>> An icon following these rules as well as Mac OS X quidelines could  
>>> be something like
>>>
>>> <texworks.png>
>>>
>>> - clearly related to TeX
>>> - the pen to indicate that this app is for making documents (the  
>>> pen is standard on Mac OS X for such apps)
>>> - the square ruler in the background is used to diminish  
>>> transparency
>>> it refers to geometry and measurements and as a tool it may also  
>>> be related to "works".
>>
>> Again a nice illustration of your icon design skills. Very nice!
>
> Yes, beautiful -- which is no surprise, having seen Jérôme's other  
> icons.
>
> Personally, though, I'm inclined to stay with Stefan's design, for a  
> couple of reasons. I like the solidity (icons with holes in can be  
> frustrating, when you inadvertently "click through" the holes and  
> nothing happens);

This happened on Mac OS X 10.0 and was fixed in Mac OS X 10.2 IIRC
Does it still happen on windows ?

> I like the simple, easily-recognized shape that survives scaling  
> even down to very small icon sizes, while at the same time having a  
> design with enough visual interest at large sizes; and I like its  
> potential for use as a "badge" element on document icons, which I  
> think would more be difficult with the "TeX + pen" design at small  
> sizes.
>
>
> None of this means that I don't like Jérôme's icon; it's a beautiful  
> piece of work, and I'd agree that it is a more "Mac-like"  
> application icon. But TW isn't just (or even primarily) a Mac  
> application, so I don't want to give much weight to that aspect. And  
> I suppose partly I'm reacting against the use of the word "TeX" as  
> the primary element of the icon -- it just feels like something  
> that's been done before (though not usually with such a stylish  
> result, I admit!), and I prefer the more subtle reference of  
> Stefan's T.
>

A 'T' icon was already used by TeXTures and by the first version of  
texniccenter, but that is a detail.
I also like the idea of the T icon as a logo. My purpose was primarily  
to point out the difference between an icon and a logo.

Here is the icon of Mac OS X Font manager
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It has indeed some similarities with the T icons but that is not my  
point. Here, the K and A objects are clearly metal movable types at  
least for those who already know what is a metal type.

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IMHO, it would be better to have the T icon looking more like a 
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than just a 
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;-)

Stefan, could you add much more depth (the slot would then become  
really visible) and also diminish the T descent (or lower the  
baseline) in the top side as a counterpart, to have a better balance  
of colors.

Did you try a different lens/camera position in order to see 3 sides  
of the movable type, more like the fi or K movable types above ?
Finally, the edges of the carved T are rounded, did you try a more  
straight shape (see the fi type) ?

Regards

JL