Software for designing icons

Omen88 · Jul 21, 2005, 06:10 AM

Hello people.

I am developing some cocoa apps with a friend. We're looking at doing everything right to the finest details. Since we're both programmers, we don't have any (visual) artistic talent whatsoever. Although the good news is, my girlfriend can do great handdrawings. So I would let her design the icons and other graphics of our software.

Now for my question. Many of you here seem to be very creative, what software do you recommend for icon design? I've taken a look at www.mikematas.com and that is the kind of thing I am looking for. He mentions photoshop and cinema 4D. I know some photoshop, but I can't really find out how you make a decent sketch of an icon in there.

This brings me to my second question. Are there any good tutorials on this? Websites, or books which cover icon design.

Thanks for your help already!

20rogersc · Jul 21, 2005, 06:15 AM

There have been a few threads on this already, do a search, and I know a a few good ones will turn up, as I was searching for this yesterday.

I ended up with Icon Builder Pro due to one of the threads, however you have to pay for it.

::20ROGERSC::

Omen88 · Jul 21, 2005, 06:19 AM

Well I did a search first on "designing icons" and "icon design" and I found nothing related. Check out for yourself. Some better search keywords are also welcome

But thanks for the tip.

20rogersc · Jul 21, 2005, 06:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vader

Try Pic2Icon
All you do is drag it in there, and it makes the icon with no black background. You can also drag in a whole folder of images, it is great!

Heres one idea for desinging icons, by taking a .gif image with a transparent background to turn into an icon.

I also found this thread here.

Hope this helps.

::20ROGERSC::

Jaffa Cake · Jul 21, 2005, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 20rogersc

I ended up with Icon Builder Pro due to one of the threads, however you have to pay for it.

I'd recommend IconBuilder too – however, it is a Photoshop plugin and not a stand alone app so you'll need a copy of Photoshop to run it (I think it'll also work on Photoshop Elements but don't hold me to that).

You can draw the Icon in any app that'll import into Photoshop (or you can just draw it in Photoshop itself, of course) – personally I prefer to use a vector-based app such as Illustrator, then import the finished file into Photoshop for a bit of tweaking and then save the final icon through IconBuilder.

There is a tutorial PDF with IconBuilder that'll help you get started. As 20rogersc correctly says it isn't freeware, however you can use it on trial to see if you like how it works before you lay down your hard-earned cash.

Have fun!

irmongoose · Jul 21, 2005, 08:00 AM

I recommend Iconographer. A clean interface with all the features anyone would need for creating icons.

irmongoose

michaelrjohnson · Jul 21, 2005, 09:58 AM

Physically creating the icons is the easy part. IconBuilder Pro can handle that very nicely. The problem is designing it. I believe that Mike (Matas) sketches the icon by hand, scans, and begins his work in Cinema. It's not a purely digital process, IIRC.

Jaffa Cake · 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelrjohnson

I believe that Mike (Matas) sketches the icon by hand, scans, and begins his work in Cinema. It's not a purely digital process, IIRC.

That's right – he details his process on his icon page (you have to scroll down to the bottom

). Creating good Aqua-style icons can be a very labour-intensive process.

Funnily enough, Mike is reporting on his blog today that he's moving to Cupertino to work at Apple. Hopefully he can help sort out some of the inconsistencies that have been creeping into the OS X GUI...

Omen88 · Jul 21, 2005, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaffa Cake

That's right – he details his process on his icon page (you have to scroll down to the bottom

). Creating good Aqua-style icons can be a very labour-itensive process.

Funnily enough, Mike is reporting on his blog today that he's moving to Cupertino to work at Apple. Hopefully he can help sort out some of the inconsistencies that have been creeping into the OS X GUI...

Yeah I read the part on how he does it. But I was asking you guys if you used any other techniques and/or had some good pointers. Or maybe some online tutorials or recommended books.

Great to read he joined Apple. It's a loss for delicious monster, but I hope they can still get him to do some work for them. But I can't wait to see what he designs for Apple.

Jaffa Cake · Jul 21, 2005, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omen88

Yeah I read the part on how he does it. But I was asking you guys if you used any other techniques and/or had some good pointers. Or maybe some online tutorials or recommended books.

There are a couple of tutorials here that might be worth a look – one about working with vector apps, the other about working with raster images that you can download here.

Personally, no matter what I'm designing I always find it easiest to sketch my ideas out on paper first (like you suggest in your opening post), and for producing illustration work (be it for an icon or otherwise) I prefer to use Illustrator – as it's a vector app the artwork will be easy to modify in the future and you can scale it up as large as you like without any loss of quality.

It might also be worth your while to take a look at the icon section of Apple's Human Interface Guidelines – there are guidelines on, amongst other things, angles, perspective and lighting to help make sure your new icons match the GUI and don't stick out like a sore thumb.

Hope that's of some help!

Omen88 · Jul 22, 2005, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaffa Cake

There are a couple of tutorials here that might be worth a look – one about working with vector apps, the other about working with raster images that you can download here.

Personally, no matter what I'm designing I always find it easiest to sketch my ideas out on paper first (like you suggest in your opening post), and for producing illustration work (be it for an icon or otherwise) I prefer to use Illustrator – as it's a vector app the artwork will be easy to modify in the future and you can scale it up as large as you like without any loss of quality.

It might also be worth your while to take a look at the icon section of Apple's Human Interface Guidelines – there are guidelines on, amongst other things, angles, perspective and lighting to help make sure your new icons match the GUI and don't stick out like a sore thumb.

Hope that's of some help!

Thanks a bunch! That was the kind of thing I was looking for.

Jaffa Cake · Jul 22, 2005, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omen88

Thanks a bunch! That was the kind of thing I was looking for.

You're welcome!

aboutthat · Jul 25, 2005, 10:33 AM

I second the Illustrator idea as well. I'm only on Illustrator CS, but I believe that CS2 provides some excellent tools for creating vector images from bitmaps called "Live Trace." I think there's a short video on Adobe's website about it. You can bring in a hand sketch, then use it as a vector for scalable applications. I think that would work best for you, then you'll have some excellent software to grow with that should be quite versatile. Here's a link to a PDF about the feature:

http://www.adobe.com/products/illust...or_content.pdf

Jul 21, 2005, 06:10 AM	#1
Omen88 macrumors regular Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Flanders (Belgium)	Software for designing icons Hello people. I am developing some cocoa apps with a friend. We're looking at doing everything right to the finest details. Since we're both programmers, we don't have any (visual) artistic talent whatsoever. Although the good news is, my girlfriend can do great handdrawings. So I would let her design the icons and other graphics of our software. Now for my question. Many of you here seem to be very creative, what software do you recommend for icon design? I've taken a look at www.mikematas.com and that is the kind of thing I am looking for. He mentions photoshop and cinema 4D. I know some photoshop, but I can't really find out how you make a decent sketch of an icon in there. This brings me to my second question. Are there any good tutorials on this? Websites, or books which cover icon design. Thanks for your help already! __________________ I think way too long about these things... Damien's World

Jul 21, 2005, 06:15 AM	#2
20rogersc macrumors 65816 Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Brighton, UK	There have been a few threads on this already, do a search, and I know a a few good ones will turn up, as I was searching for this yesterday. I ended up with Icon Builder Pro due to one of the threads, however you have to pay for it. ::20ROGERSC:: __________________ iMac 20" C2D iBook G4 14" - For Sale 20rogersc.deviantart.com

Jul 21, 2005, 06:19 AM	#3
Omen88 Thread Starter macrumors regular Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Flanders (Belgium)	Well I did a search first on "designing icons" and "icon design" and I found nothing related. Check out for yourself. Some better search keywords are also welcome But thanks for the tip. __________________ I think way too long about these things... Damien's World

Jul 21, 2005, 08:00 AM	#6
irmongoose macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Sometimes Tokyo, sometimes California	I recommend Iconographer. A clean interface with all the features anyone would need for creating icons. irmongoose __________________ A Film and Artwork Portfolio

Jul 21, 2005, 09:58 AM	#7
michaelrjohnson macrumors 68020 Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: 54140	Physically creating the icons is the easy part. IconBuilder Pro can handle that very nicely. The problem is designing it. I believe that Mike (Matas) sketches the icon by hand, scans, and begins his work in Cinema. It's not a purely digital process, IIRC. __________________

Jul 25, 2005, 10:33 AM	#13
aboutthat macrumors regular Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Washington, DC	I second the Illustrator idea as well. I'm only on Illustrator CS, but I believe that CS2 provides some excellent tools for creating vector images from bitmaps called "Live Trace." I think there's a short video on Adobe's website about it. You can bring in a hand sketch, then use it as a vector for scalable applications. I think that would work best for you, then you'll have some excellent software to grow with that should be quite versatile. Here's a link to a PDF about the feature: http://www.adobe.com/products/illust...or_content.pdf

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