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Request for App Icon suggestions


GarryP

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EDIT: Hooray. This App has finally been published. Scroll down to get a link to the Microsoft Store listing.

I've started working on a new Windows App and have been having trouble getting the icon right.
It will be a simple - and totally free - conversion App - kilos to pounds, metres to inches, etc.

The general criteria I've given myself for the icon are:
* must represent or give the idea of "conversion" or "change";
* broad strokes only - minimal detail, so it scales down well;
* single colour only;
* must fit nicely in a square with hardly any surrounding space;
* should not contain letters or country/culture-specific items;
* must not look much like any other existing App icon (not sure how to check this).

I've come up with a few variations so far but I'm not happy with any of them (see attached).
I started out - top-left - with the idea of taking a section out of two rulers and comparing them (ended up looking like a telephone).
Then it morphed - top-right - into comparing a stack of items (started to look like a set of in-trays).
Then - middle-left - I went on to a kind of funnel idea.
And then - middle-right - a sort of "multi-arrow" that turned into nothing much.
Then - bottom-left - I tried some more traditional weight icons but I don't want a specific measurement type to be in the icon.

The icon at the bottom-right is what I'm using until something better comes up (it looks a bit like a birthday cake at the moment).

Does anyone have any suggestions? (Especially if they're way better than what I've got so far.)

The people with the best suggestions - those which make it into the final icon - will get a mention in the App (if they want one) when it comes out.

Artboard1@0.25x.png

Edited by GarryP
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@Mithferion It's a nice idea but I would prefer not to use letters in the icon. (I've now modified the criteria above.) Having said that, it's something for me to think about.
@dutchshader I like the idea of the arrows but there's too much detail which doesn't scale down well. (Imagine it at 24x24 pixels.) There's a good idea in there somewhere though I'm sure.

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When I looked at the "birthday cake" the 1st thing that came to mind was three rulers. So I thought much the same thing as dutchshader.

Here's my take, which looks to small at 48 px H on my retina display.Convert2.jpg.c818abdb0f84f582422f99ca6fe7f603.jpg

iMac 27" Retina, c. 2015: OS X 10.11.5: 3.3 GHz I c-5: 32 Gb,  AMD Radeon R9 M290 2048 Mb

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ok another idea,

conversion from one unit (1) to another (2)

but the actual size of the measured item stays the same hence the =

 

1558539392_con200.png.39043cb341aed2e92be44165c66d2799.png

 

 

intel core i5,  16GB 128Gb ssd win10 Pro Huion new 1060plus.

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@gdenby My first idea was to use rulers but they don't scale down very well, especially to 24x24 which is what Windows wants.
@dutchshader I like the "equals" idea. However, when I looked at the icon I didn't see it before reading the text.
I've attached the next set of experiments, some incorporating some of the ideas so far, and some just me playing around.
The text idea was interesting but, after a bit of experimentation, it's not for me. It doesn't scale down very well - well, not a lot does down to 24x24 - and it only gives the idea of one type of conversion - e.g. kilo to pound - rather than many different types.
I'm starting to come round to the idea of different sizes of block with arrows, like those in the rectangle (maybe a version of the one at the bottom-right of the rectangle which looks a little like the Nintendo Switch logo).

Artboard2@0.25x.png

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I decided I'd try a pixel art 24 px on the side. Made me feel like I was staring at Space Invaders. +/- version. Convert.png.dc0916f3e16b1b095d206ddd48dea8ef.png

Thought of something else: Split2.png.0f7d716e84331700674faa026265955a.png

iMac 27" Retina, c. 2015: OS X 10.11.5: 3.3 GHz I c-5: 32 Gb,  AMD Radeon R9 M290 2048 Mb

iPad 12.9" Retina, iOS 10, 512 Gb, Apple pencil

Huion WH1409 tablet

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  • 4 months later...

Just a little note to say that my latest App "Canny Converter" has now been published on the Microsoft Store:
https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9MTN5MHCX61T
It's available for Windows 10 laptop/desktop, hub/surface, hololens and mobile (although it won't look very nice on mobile) and is totally free to use with no ads or weird permissions.

@Mithferion @dutchshader @gdenby As promised (threatened?!) I've added your nicks to the bottom of the About page as a tiny bit of thanks for your help with the App icon design.

If you are a Windows 10 user, please give it a try and, if you like it, give it a decent rating (and maybe a nice little review too?). I don't have any advertising budget so I have to rely on the kindness of strangers to even get the App noticed in the first place.
 
P.S. The store art and in-App category icons were also created in Designer. They're not all that much to look at but they do the job.

thanks.PNG

canny converter.PNG

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A bit late in the day but thought I would have a go at a logo.
1109553475_ConversionLogo.png.ef3b17fe9d608077bfb2ecc3cf25e515.png

iMac 27" 2019 Somona 14.3.1, iMac 27" Affinity Designer, Photo & Publisher V1 & V2, Adobe, Inkscape, Vectorstyler, Blender, C4D, Sketchup + more... XP-Pen Artist-22E, - iPad Pro 12.9  
B| (Please refrain from licking the screen while using this forum)

Affinity Help - Affinity Desktop Tutorials - Feedback - FAQ - most asked questions

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Thanks @Mithferion I'd be interested in reading any comments you have.

@firstdefence The logo design isn't set in stone - it's not like a lot of people have got used to it already - so suggestions are still appreciated. I was sure I'd seen your logo before and a little searching got me this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbol_of_Chaos I think it would suit a mapping/directions App better than a conversion App but maybe there's something in it.

By the way everybody, the category icons and store art are "up for grabs" too - they were thrown together pretty quickly - so if anyone has any suggestions for improvements then I'd be interested in hearing them. (I can post the .afdesign files if anyone is interested in playing around with what I did.) As before, any contributions for future releases will be mentioned in the "thanks" box on the About page.

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Damn and I thought I was being original lol! I did think it was a bit north east west ish

iMac 27" 2019 Somona 14.3.1, iMac 27" Affinity Designer, Photo & Publisher V1 & V2, Adobe, Inkscape, Vectorstyler, Blender, C4D, Sketchup + more... XP-Pen Artist-22E, - iPad Pro 12.9  
B| (Please refrain from licking the screen while using this forum)

Affinity Help - Affinity Desktop Tutorials - Feedback - FAQ - most asked questions

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