Icon Redesign for future 1.0 Release of Sigil

[DiapDealer]

I simply don't care for any kind of colored background to the icon (square, round, or rounded-square), to be honest. I like the existing transparent background. Which is why I suggested a thin, white (or other light color) border being added to the existing maroon S to provide the necessary contrast against darker backgrounds.

I appreciate the effort, though; and look forward to seeing something new that I can get behind.

[KevinH]

One way to add that outline is draw the fancy Sigil S in white first but slightly larger than before and then draw the fancy S again in red (or blue) slightly smaller but on top. With no bounding rectangle or circle so we end with a transparent background.
Is that what you are looking for?

Kevin

[shorshe]

Ok, let's try a few things...







Oh, and could you point me to some icons in the wild you find likable?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by KevinH

One way to add that outline is draw the fancy Sigil S in white first but slightly larger than before and then draw the fancy S again in red (or blue) slightly smaller but on top. With no bounding rectangle or circle so we end with a transparent background.
Is that what you are looking for?

Kevin

That's what I'm talking about, yes. Very thin white/light border (same shape as the current S) with a transparent background

[theducks]

You can embed more than 1 icon in the exe file in Windows
The thin white border takes care of the 'getting lost' issue on a dark backgrounf.

I think the worst case 'lost', was with Ubuntu's Brown color scheme

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by shorshe

Ok, let's try a few things...

I definitely don't like the fat, white border. The thinner one is better, but I'd prefer the white border even thinner (and a fully transparent background). And I still prefer the current maroon color for the S. Don't make this all about pleasing me, though. If a clear majority of users says, "get out of the way," I will. But that's not what I'm seeing so far. Even if you make something I'm OK with, everybody else still has to like it too.

Oh, and could you point me to some icons in the wild you find likable?

To be honest, I quite like the existing Sigil icon. The change I'm suggesting is merely to accommodate the contrast issue on dark backgrounds that others have brought up (without a big rebranding).

And of course from a cross-development standpoint, I'd prefer the simpler "one icon to rule them all" approach.

[shorshe]

I added an other Change, based on your suggestion.


Just as a controversial thought. Good design is not democratic.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by shorshe

Just as a controversial thought. Good design is not democratic.

Feel free to be as dictatorial as you like on projects you maintain.

What it all boils down to for me I guess, is that I 'm not really feeling a "need" for an icon upgrade. Sigil is a maroon 'S'. *shrug*

But if someone proposes something that blows me away, I'll be the first to say so.

[shorshe]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

But if someone proposes something that blows me away, I'll be the first to say so.

Maybe it will grow on you... let's wait a few days.

[shorshe]

Originally Posted by arthurattwell

I think the shorshe's icon is great. From a design perspective, it builds on (rather than replaces) the original, but is still a full refresh. It could very easily be adapted to include a square-with-round-corners version to fit with other OS UIs. The design is also strong and simple enough to retain its identity if its background colour changed (e.g. greyscale on high-contrast setups).

To those who think an icon is just eye-candy, I can appreciate that perspective: function over form and all. But a neat icon goes a long way to instilling trust and credibility especially among new and non-technical users, and among corporate users who lean towards slick-looking proprietary software.

Thanks

[chinfo]

Originally Posted by shorshe

Ok, let's try a few things...



Oh, and could you point me to some icons in the wild you find likable?

The thin white border is much preferable for me, which will allow it to standout especially against a dark background (wallpaper or taskbar). I usually repurpose the iBooks icon from OSX to replace the stock Sigil icon.

Here is another example although I think it's more at home in the OSX dock than anywhere else.

[Toxaris]

So diap, what you mean is something like this? I have colored the background black, to make the white border more visible. The colors are the same as the current icon and actually the only thing changed is a white border around the icon.

Of course I have a SVG if needed.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

So diap, what you mean is something like this?

Yep. Same old Sigil 'S' with a thin white border. The 3D aspects of the 'S' could go away if it provides better contrast, though (like what Shorshe did with the maroon S with the thinnest, white border).

I'm not saying it HAS to be that, but that's about the only type of change I'm likely to vote for. I'm just not "feeling" an overhaul (nor a "different icons for different OSes" solution).

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

So diap, what you mean is something like this? I have colored the background black, to make the white border more visible. The colors are the same as the current icon and actually the only thing changed is a white border around the icon.

Of course I have a SVG if needed.

I like it
It will show in my W10 taskbar which is dark grey (auto color based upon desktop theme)

[odamizu]

As much I like circles and blue, I don't feel strongly either way. Most of my Mac icons are not round (Calibre isn't round), so I don't feel a need for a round Sigil icon. Also, my desktop background is blue (did I mention that I like blue? ), so the current maroon icon pops just fine, and a blue icon would actually make it harder to find.

ETA: I just realized there's a whole second page to this thread that I missed when I wrote this post. Looking at all the examples, I'm now leaning toward keeping the current icon unchanged, but I don't think I can change my vote (which was "Don't care").