Icon Design

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

As many of you know, I've begun work on the next major release of Bee Docs' Timeline. I call it "T2". It is still several months away from beta, so patience will be required if you are waiting for it, but I'm ready to start blogging about it.

This time around, I have a little more money to spend on the project, and a lot less time. This means that instead of doing everything myself like I did for the first version, I can bring on some collaborators to help out with certain aspects.

One aspect that I think can be improved from the original version is the icon design. I designed the "watch" icon that is currently the application icon. I think it looks pretty good, but it doesn't accurately represent the use of the software, and it doesn't stand out at smaller sizes.

I've been hunting for a world class Mac OS X icon designer for several months. I wanted someone who specialized in Mac icons as Mac icons tend to have a specific look and feel. I also wanted someone who understands the value of simplicity, but who also has a strong eye for detail.

I recently came across Kenichi Yoshida, a young icon designer from Japan, who has some beautiful examples of his work on his website. I'm excited that Kenichi has agreed to design the application icon for T2 and we have already sent a flurry of e-mails back and forth brainstorming and refining the design.

I'm also excited that Kenichi has given me permission to blog the work in progress. So in the next few blog entries, I'll discuss the design process and show you some of the sketches and drafts as the work comes together. Stay tuned!

Labels: icon design, Kenichi Yoshida, Mac OS X, timeline software