Attachment 8664 Details for Bug 53617 – Icon Critique

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Icon Critique

(text/plain), 8.73 KB, created by Chris McLaren

on 2004-03-18 15:06:40 EST

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Creator: Chris McLaren

Created: 2004-03-18 15:06:40 EST

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>MVM posted a preliminary screenshot of new icons here:
>
>http://dev.eclipse.org/viewcvs/index.cgi/%7Echeckout%7E/platform-ui-home/R3_0-Look/3.0workbench_icons.png 
>
>
>John-Mason Shackelford commented:
>
>In general I like the new icons. I looked at them on both 15 and 19 inch
>monitors and at 600x800, 1024x768, and 1152 x 864. I describe a few which
>are unclear below.
>
>11. problems_view.gif - The original icon clearly says 'problem.' The new
>one just looks like a list with different types of items.
>
>15. build_exec.gif - The ones and zeros which indicate binary are so small
>as to be lost when viewed at 1024 x 768 on a 15 inch monitor.
>
>29. debug_exec.gif - The bug's head and feet are small enough that it is
>hard to tell that it is a bug without looking closely.
>
>40. import_wiz.gif - The former import and export icons were clear because
>they didn't look much like other icons. The new ones could be mistaken for a
>number of different things. Notice how many icons we have that have  a
>rectangle as the central element. If you don't like the old icons, perhaps
>try a familiar continent shape with an arrow pointing in or out.
>
>41. export_wiz.gif - same as 40.
>
>72. stop_nav.gif - This icon does not say stop to me, it just looks like a
>blue box. 
>
>84. up_nav.gif - That the green on the folder is an up arrow is not
>immediately discernable. I had to look closely.
>
>114. builder.gif - same as 15.
>
>Color issues:
>
>Red X for delete is a very common, recognizable idiom. I would not recommend
>changing these to blue or grey such as in 22., 51., and 54. That the red is
>bright enough to be easily seen is helpful.
>
>From an aesthetic perspective, I think the sharper lines in the former arrow
>icons (32., 33., 34.,) were clearer and easier on the eye. 
>
>The color shift between A and Z in the new 65. alpha_mode.gif is too subtle
>to be a helpful visual queue. The red Z in the old icon made it very easy to
>recognize.
>
>
>Jared Burns commented:
>
>I agree with what John-Mason said on numbers 11, 29, and 72.
>
>In addition:
>
>5. The subtle lines of text drawn in the old bookmark icon was nice. I
>think they would look nice in the new one too (otherwise, it looks like
>a very uninteresting book :P).
>
>41, 46, 48. If import is down and to the right, I think export should be
>up and to the left?
>
>60. I think the old icon means "collapse all" more than the new one.
>Maybe just update it to the same feel as the others (fade it out)?
>
>
>Douglas Pollock commented:
>
>On March 12, 2004 05:41 pm, Jared Burns wrote:
>> 5. The subtle lines of text drawn in the old bookmark icon was nice. I
>> think they would look nice in the new one too (otherwise, it looks like
>> a very uninteresting book :P).
>
>5.) I agree.  The lines of text are important in giving the impression of a 
>book.  The more distinct bookma is very nice though.
>
>11.) I agree with John's commenon #11 as well.  The error and warning markers 
>are displayed in the original image -- making it clear what the original icon 
>is saying.  The new icon looks like a stop light.
>
>29.) Amorphous blob?  Mmmm... nothing like some a singular-celled organism to 
>make me eager to code....  :P
>
>60.) I liked the previous collapse all.  It stood out, was fairly clear about 
>its purpose, and I used it lots.
>
>72.) I agree with John's comments.  "X", red (colour blindness issues) and 
>octagons mean stop to me.  Squares mean stop, but only when placed next to a 
>triangle play button.
>
>Oh, and one things that's bothered me about both Eclipse and Visual Age 
>(Smalltalk and Java).  Could we please drop the running man?  It was a great 
>80s flick, but this is a world of triangles and squares.  I think the 
>"stop/play/pause" metaphor from stereo and video equipment is a little more 
>90s.
>
>
>Sebastian Davids commented:
>
>5. The new looks better because it doesn't look so crowded as the old one.
>
>11. It isn't obvious what the colors red, yellow, blue stand for.
>
>15. & 114. at 1280x1024 the 1's and 0's are hard to see, at 1024*768 they're
>fine
>
>27. at 1280x1024 it's hard to tell that it's supposed to be a torch; more
>contrast could help
>
>29. head could be a little bit larger and legs a little bit longer
>
>31. at 1280x1024 it's hard to tell that it's supposed to be a printer
>
>47. & 48. like the new icons; the old ones are just plain ugly
>
>60. new one doesn't symbolize collapse all
>
>72. red is the color of a stop sign; so stop should be in red
>
>77. at 1280x1024 the yellow arrow is just a yellow blob; different
>shape/more contrast could help
>
>84. color combination yellow + green just bites in the eyes ,)
>
>119. at 1280x1024 the arrow just doesn't look like an arrow; more contrast
>could help
>
>
>David Stewart commented:
>
>New Eclipse icons look good, collapse all icon is bit more intuitive.
>
>
>Randy Hudson commented:
>
>An interesting question will be how many times have the old icons been copied into other places? 
>
>A lot of the icons look WASHED OUT.  For example, Run, Delete, filter task, list_mode, ... everything. 
>I like the new softer gradients inside shapes, but I don't like the low-contast borders and removal of color (red).  The contrast definitely needs to be brought back. 
>
>38) the old "sparkle" decoration was more familiar than the miniature OTI logo which replaced it. 
>39) Why are we no longer differentiating between Wizard and New..?  Again, shrunken OTI logo. 
>
>40) The new import icon says nothing.  It is just a box and a triangle, which is supposed to indicate a direction.  But really the convention for a triangle in the bottom-right corner means that the button is a drop-down.  For an example, look at Photoshop's palette. 
>41) same for export 
>
>Many of the arrows look bloated.  Forward, Undo, Redo, Step... 
>
>72) don't like it.  Maybe it should be black? 
>
>
>Andre Luepke commented:
>
>problems_view - Hmmm, the icon doesn't look like problems at all.
>debug_excc    - the old bug is better recognizable, but the new one 
>is...well...ok
>new_wiz       - definitely not!! Wizard icons must have the magic wand!!
>import_wiz    - Hmm, not so sure about that one. The arrow is too tiny
>export_wiz    - The arrow is too far a away from the other thing and it is 
>still very tiny
>newprj_wiz    - I want the wand back!
>newfolder_wiz - I want the wand back!
>newfile_wiz   - I want the wand back!
>remtsk_tsk    - The cross should be red..
>rembkmrk_tsk  - The cross should be red..
>showwarn_tsk  - The old one is a lot more readable
>showchild_mode - Keep the old one!
>showparents_mode - Keep the old one!
>stop_nav      - The old one is a lot better!!!! Stop should be red!
>up_nav        - I like the old one a bit more
>
>I mentioned only the bad things, because in my opinion it will be more
>usefull for you. So, all the other, not mentioned, icons are grrrrreat :)
>Although some of them look a little bit to blurred!!
>
>
>Mike Wilson commented:
>
>27. search_src doesn't look like a flashlight any more; it looks more like the end of a marker (i.e. end at top right).
>60. collapseall doesn't mean much to me; of course the old one sucked too.
>72. stop_nav doesn't mean anything to me.
>
>
>Stefan Matthias Aust commented:
>
>Overall, nice consistent look although there's less constrast (and I'm 
>on a high-contrast TFT right now), especially if looked at on a white 
>background.
>
>1. For me, the clipboard is associated to copy&paste not tasks. The old 
>icons isn't much better, though, I'd associate that icon with 
>"Preferences" or some other dialog.
>
>11. red-yellow-green is a traffic light (at least in Germany) Why's a 
>traffic light associated with problems?  I like the old icon better.
>
>22. Delete is something dangerous and therefore it should be RED, not gray.
>
>29. the bug looks washed, I can hardly recognise it.  Same is true for 
>the running man in 37.
>
>32-34,68-70 I dislike the rounded end of the arrows.  Generally, I'm 
>more in favor with edges, for example regarding 8 or 43.
>
>39, 42-44 The magic wand was IMHO the better association for a wizard 
>than a tiny yellow plus sign.
>
>40-41 The arrows are too subtil.
>
>47-48 the new icons are much better.  The old one always looked like an 
>EYE (of the beholder) to me.
>
>50-52 in combination with + and x and pen, the clipboard makes sense.
>
>51,54 I'd prefer red for delete
>
>56 Stronly dislike it
>
>57 even more dislike it. The old one was much better
>
>Sidenote: I borrows both icons for my own application and I always 
>missed a nice "info" icons in a similar style.  I think, Eclipse has 
>somewhere a blue "i" for information, but I'd prefer a white "i" on a 
>blue background with the same subtile shadow.  The new icons are IMHO 
>too big, being only 12x12, they worked very well with text.
>
>72 With a bit of imagination, the old icon was a 8-sided stop sign. That 
>was more obvious to me than a blue box (probably the stop button of some 
>VHS recorder or similar)
>
>96 this looks great, but I dislike the roundings on 97
>
>98 aha, here's the "i" I mentioned, I'd prefer if that would look 
>similar to the other two icons.
>
>
>

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