CHAPTER 5
Icons
Designing Effective Icons 5-3
deleting. Thinking of an object that is representative of the function of your
icon is the key to good conceptual design. Remember that for every image
you generate, you need to consider the advantages and disadvantages of the
idea in regard to your audience before deciding on the final design.
Make Shapely Icons 5
People are good at recognizing patterns and shapes, so make the shape of an
icon distinctive. Rectangular, slab-like icons all look the same, particularly
without colors or shades of gray to create a pattern on them. Once users have
seen a distinctively shaped icon and learned what it represents, they are likely
to recognize it again and quickly recall its meaning. Figure 5-1 compares
distinctively shaped icons with rectangular icons.
Figure 5-1 Distinctive icon shapes are easier to recognize than rectangular icons
Design for the Newton Display 5
A distinctive icon shape without any detail is just a shapely shadow. When
adding detail to make an icon more interesting, keep in mind the capabilities,
limitations, and conventions of the Newton display. To make your icons look
like they belong on a Newton, use lines that are two pixels thick. An icon
drawn with single-pixel lines looks like it belongs on a desktop computer.
What’s more, the thicker lines are easier to see in low light. Three-dimensional
effects in icons are difficult to achieve on a Newton because they require
shading and many angled lines. Those effects are difficult to render on screens
Avoid rectangular icon
shapes
Make icon shapes
unusual