Re: Icon creation tool
Re: Icon creation tool
- Subject: Re: Icon creation tool
- From: Laurence Harris <email@hidden>
- Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2007 20:47:14 -0400
On Jul 8, 2007, at 4:34 PM, Todd Heberlein wrote:
On Jul 7, 2007, at 9:29 PM, Seth Pellegrino wrote:
What method would you suggest for creating icons?
I have been using Cheetah3D -- http://www.cheetah3d.com/
It is pretty cheap at $129, but you can actually download the full
version, develop some simple 3D images, and save them as icons
without having to pay the registration fee. This way you can see
if you really want to pay for it or not. Paying the $129 mainly
gives you the ability to save your model files so you can work on
them over time.
Apple also lists some tools at:
http://developer.apple.com/ue/designtools/
However, I think I was born with an artistic handicap, and despite
using these tools, my icons still look pretty ugly. When I go
production I plan to outsource the icon development to someone
else. Apple lists a number of companies that can help:
http://developer.apple.com/business/aida.html
The vast majority of developers don't have the talent and skills
necessary to produce good icons for Mac OS X. (And that's okay. No
one is expected to do everything well.) Back when all you needed were
a few 32x32, 8-bit icons for the application and documents, you could
often work up something yourself that looked decent. Now, with
128x128 32-bit icons with transparency and toolbars, homemade icons
really stand out, and not in a good way. Photoshop doesn't make you
an icon designer if you don't have the talent and experience any more
than a box of brushes and paints make you an artist. No software will.
Toolbar icons, being smaller than Finder icons are a little more
within the reach of those of us lacking graphic design skills, but
they bring different challenges to the table: quantity and
consistency. While you may only need two or three Finder icons, you
might need 10, 20, or more toolbar icons. Not only do you then have
to create a bunch of decent-looking icons, but they all need to share
a common look, or theme. Ten nice icons in a toolbar that have 10
different looks will still look bad.
If at all possible, you should consider hiring a professional to do
your icons. Use some you whip up during development so you know
exactly what you want when you talk to a designer, but let someone
who's really good at icons do them. The good icon artists aren't
cheap, but if you consider the value of your time and how long it's
going to take you to create something that looks decent, it doesn't
cost that much more to get something that looks awesome, and you can
use that time doing something you actually do well.
Note, though, that lots of people already know what I just said, so
the better icon designers tend to be booked up. Don't assume these
guys are waiting around to get started on your icons. They're busy.
Contact them ahead of time to determine their availability so you
don't end up waiting for icons to release your product.
Larry
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