Writers' Talk With Corey Marion of the Iconfactory
Pages: 1, 2, 3
OReillyMac: If I'm a developer ready to market a new OS X app ... and it's time to design my icons ... do I follow the strict Apple standards as they exist now ... do I contact a consultant such as Iconfactory, or do I punt?
alanosx: Go for the conversion.
iconfactorycorey: You should absolutely contact the Iconfactory, no question about it :-)
alanosx: Or read my columns on the OReilly network.
OReillyMac: (two shameless plugs in one question!)
iconfactorycorey: We can help decipher the AHIG and try our best to apply them to your icon design
alanosx: I think budget is one issue...
alanosx: if you can't afford to hire an outside firm...and many small developers are in this boat...
alanosx: and it can be difficult deciphering the guidelines...
alanosx: I've seen some terrible icons.
alanosx: But if you can afford to hire a firm...I highly recommend it.
alanosx: I hate software companies with budgets who opt for the cheap road...
iconfactorycorey: I don't think you can afford not to hire someone
iconfactorycorey: especially if you have no designers on staff
alanosx: expensive software with bad icons looks cheap.
iconfactorycorey: the least we can do is take your artwork, make suggestions and create the resources for your developer
alanosx: it is important for people to understand that icons aren't just on the desktop...
alanosx: remember that icons pertains to tool bars and palettes as well...
alanosx: people will judge the app on the design.
OReillyMac: How early in the process should you be thinking about this?
iconfactorycorey: As soon as you know the kind of app you are building
OReillyMac: So this is a parallel process to the actual code development?
iconfactorycorey: It should be, but it usually isn't
iconfactorycorey: Your finder icon is the first thing a user sees
OReillyMac: What's the biggest mistake you see developers make?
iconfactorycorey: Starting too late in the process so there is not time to develop icons
iconfactorycorey: And obviously not hiring designers to do the UI design
alanosx: You know the remark that stuck with me from WWDC...
alanosx: is when an engineer got up and said:
alanosx: "Designing icons for OS X was the hardest part of the development."
alanosx: Designers of the world unite!
iconfactorycorey: We try to make it easier by offloading that burden
iconfactorycorey: for a small fee of course ;-)
OReillyMac: So let's look into our crystal ball for a moment ... and wrap up with a look at the direction that design is heading
OReillyMac: What changes do you see for iconfactory as a result of Mac OS X?
iconfactorycorey: A lot of jobs creating fewer icons that take more time
alanosx: Where is this heading...can you guess...meaning...
alanosx: with the attention to detail...any ideas as to the future of the OS and Hardware?
iconfactorycorey: a lot more time in Freehand
OReillyMac: :-)
alanosx: It seems Apple is building a lot of room for growth here...and it all points to media.
iconfactorycorey: Now that the software looks as flashy and as slick as Apple's hardware
iconfactorycorey: I think they will add more user customizable features ... if not, developers will
alanosx: II think I see hints towards animated icons as well. They'll really need your services then!!!
iconfactorycorey: They did refer quite frequently to animated icons at WWDC
iconfactorycorey: but in am informational context, like Mail.app
iconfactorycorey: showing you how many messages are waiting
alanosx: Developer heed this warning...out-source!
alanosx: Sometimes... it is hard to know all that your app can and will do...until you know what it looks like. iconfactorycorey: l'm just thinking about IconBuilder
alanosx: Oh yeah...I tried that out.
iconfactorycorey: What did you think?
alanosx: I really liked it...
alanosx: It is a really helpful tool...
alanosx: especially for me when it comes to the final compositing of the icon...
alanosx: I do all my graphics work in 9...
alanosx: why go to X to test it out?
iconfactorycorey: We can help your app be a "good citizen" in OS X starting with the icon
alanosx: Prefer to use Photoshop anyway...and it works as a plug in.
alanosx: Great preview tools as well.
iconfactorycorey: It started an internal tool to make it easier for us
alanosx: It brings the best of Icon Browser...and Composer together in many respects.
iconfactorycorey: gradually got to the commercial quality level and is very popular with designers
alanosx: And it works for Windows icons too!
iconfactorycorey: you are in Photoshop anyway, why drop out to another editor?
alanosx: Exactly.
iconfactorycorey: new version coming soon with XP support and a few other new features
iconfactorycorey: no need to deal with masks, IconBuilder does it for you
OReillyMac: OK guys ...
OReillyMac: this has been terrific
alanosx: Thanks for stopping by Corey.
iconfactorycorey: Thanks for inviting me!
OReillyMac: Alright. It's a wrap!
Derrick Story is the author of The Photoshop CS4 Companion for Photographers, The Digital Photography Companion, and Digital Photography Hacks, and coauthor of iPhoto: The Missing Manual, with David Pogue. You can follow him on Twitter or visit www.thedigitalstory.com.
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There are no sample toolbar icons at all, and the current ones (in Finder, AppleWorks, and Mail) are inconsistent. This is why developers have to roll their own, and why we get lots of ugly meaningless icons.
Apple wants developers to use standard menus and windows, so they provide tools like Interface Builder that create them. If Apple wants developers to use standard images they should provide them.