ExpertDabbler

Graphic Designers will talk with pride about their jazzy flash designs, the latest filters in Adobe Photoshop and the cool gloss effect tutorial they saw in the net. But those who know icon design will never talk about it.

Graphical icons, ubiquitous in GUIs all over the web and thick client applications are a classic case of “Moorthy Sirisu, Keerthi Perisu”. The trouble with icons is that not only it should be attractive but it should also “communicate” clearly to users of different cultures about the functionality which it represents. Add to it some criterias like it should fit neat in a 16 pixel square, should look good but should not distract, and all the icons used in an application should be consistent and look part of the same family; In other words you really have a task cut out. Its like asking “7G” hero Ravi Krishna to act.

All those who think making a layout for 800×600 resolution is cool, try a set of 16 pixel (width and height) reasonably decent looking icons which are not blatant copies.

To all my readers, whenever you type :Ds,:Ps and :)) in your Messenger windows, don’t underestimate the talent and creativity required to come up with such unique yet universally understandable graphics. Just because its available in every window does not mean they are easy to create. Those wonderful graphic designers who can come up with such orignal emoticons and icons sure are really great. I am nowhere near them, but i am improving. This post is a salute to all those great designers.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 22nd, 2005 at 10:34 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.