Everything You Wanted to Know About Icons and Icon Designing
Icons are an integral part of day-to-day computer use and form the backbone of the graphical user interfaces that lie at the heart of modern software design. These small graphic images are used to represent files (including web pages) and programs as well as to execute commands.
How do we use icons?
Icons sit conveniently on our desktops or within the programs we use waiting to be clicked or double-clicked. They are easy to recognize and form a convenient "shorthand," cutting straight to their intended purpose and sparing the user the need to drill down through commands and menus.
Generally the chosen image relates to the purpose of the program or file to which the icon is attached. For instance an icon for an email program might contain an envelope whereas one used to launch a media player could depict a music note or the universally understood right-pointing triangle for "play."
How are icons designed?
In their structural design, icons have standard sizes and are typically quite small, normally in a range from 16 x 16 pixels up to 48 x 48. (Icons used on Macs can be as large as 128 x 128.) A single icon is usually composed of several images all with transparent sections so that the screen background can be seen through the square outer limits of the icon. This gives the central icon image the appearance of floating against the desktop or toolbar where it resides.
The reason that each icon contains several images in different sizes and colors is to allow Windows or the Mac OS to find the form factor that is appropriate for screen display in given uses. This selection may vary according to the number of colors currently being displayed on the computer's screen and the location where the icon will appear. For instance, icons that appear on the Windows task bar are normally 16 x 16 whereas those on the desktop are 48 x 48.
What is the file format for an icon?
Windows icons are saved with the extension "ICO," whereas Mac icons will use "ICNS", "RSC", "RSRC" and "BIN." A single icon (with all its associated variations) is contained within each file whereas groups of icons are compiled into libraries.
What makes Windows XP icons different?
Windows XP icons are designed with rich colors and smooth edges to complement the overall style of the Windows XP operating system. Their edges tend to be slightly rounded and the light source strikes the image from the upper-left hand corner with ambient light illuminating other parts of the image.
Gradients, outlines, and drop shadows are employed to give the icon greater dimensionality and contrast. Some XP icons are angled for perspective while those for documents or those that employ symbols or single objects face straight on. In general the XP look can be described as modern and upscale.
In XP, icons on the right of the start menu appear as 24 x 24 images while those used on toolbars are either 24 x 24 or 16 x 16. The system supports 32-bit icons which are actually 24-bit images with an 8-bit alpha channel allowing the icon's edges to appear smooth and to blend into the background.
Windows XP icons include three color depths to support various monitor settings: 24-bit with 8-bit alpha, 8-bit (256 colors) with 1-bit transparency, and 4-bit (16 colors) with 1-bit transparency.
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Icons are an integral part of day-to-day computer use and form the backbone of the graphical user interfaces that lie at the heart of modern software design. These small graphic images are used to represent files (including web pages) and programs as well as to execute commands.
How do we use icons?
Icons sit conveniently on our desktops or within the programs we use waiting to be clicked or double-clicked. They are easy to recognize and form a convenient "shorthand," cutting straight to their intended purpose and sparing the user the need to drill down through commands and menus.
Generally the chosen image relates to the purpose of the program or file to which the icon is attached. For instance an icon for an email program might contain an envelope whereas one used to launch a media player could depict a music note or the universally understood right-pointing triangle for "play."
How are icons designed?
In their structural design, icons have standard sizes and are typically quite small, normally in a range from 16 x 16 pixels up to 48 x 48. (Icons used on Macs can be as large as 128 x 128.) A single icon is usually composed of several images all with transparent sections so that the screen background can be seen through the square outer limits of the icon. This gives the central icon image the appearance of floating against the desktop or toolbar where it resides.
The reason that each icon contains several images in different sizes and colors is to allow Windows or the Mac OS to find the form factor that is appropriate for screen display in given uses. This selection may vary according to the number of colors currently being displayed on the computer's screen and the location where the icon will appear. For instance, icons that appear on the Windows task bar are normally 16 x 16 whereas those on the desktop are 48 x 48.
What is the file format for an icon?
Windows icons are saved with the extension "ICO," whereas Mac icons will use "ICNS", "RSC", "RSRC" and "BIN." A single icon (with all its associated variations) is contained within each file whereas groups of icons are compiled into libraries.
What makes Windows XP icons different?
Windows XP icons are designed with rich colors and smooth edges to complement the overall style of the Windows XP operating system. Their edges tend to be slightly rounded and the light source strikes the image from the upper-left hand corner with ambient light illuminating other parts of the image.
Gradients, outlines, and drop shadows are employed to give the icon greater dimensionality and contrast. Some XP icons are angled for perspective while those for documents or those that employ symbols or single objects face straight on. In general the XP look can be described as modern and upscale.
In XP, icons on the right of the start menu appear as 24 x 24 images while those used on toolbars are either 24 x 24 or 16 x 16. The system supports 32-bit icons which are actually 24-bit images with an 8-bit alpha channel allowing the icon's edges to appear smooth and to blend into the background.
Windows XP icons include three color depths to support various monitor settings: 24-bit with 8-bit alpha, 8-bit (256 colors) with 1-bit transparency, and 4-bit (16 colors) with 1-bit transparency.
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