Publisher Icon bland and boring?

[PathfinderPro]

Hi, I look at Serif Page Plus X8 shotcut icon and I know exactly what is about. I look at my Affintiy PHoto shortcut Icon and the colours are vivid and the design is like that of a camera lens shutter - there is a connection with photo's and photography. I look at the Affinity Publisher short cut Icon and I think "bluh, bland boring, what is that". it reminds me of elevator wall paper or old curtains from the 1950's, not state of the art technology or software. The colours are bland and the straight lines lend themselves to something far from creative and inspiring.

 

Can someone please explain the logic of the design for the short icon used for affinity? Am I missing something, some logic or explanation as to that choice of design?

 

Cheers

[Patrick Connor]

@PathfinderPro

Welcome to the Serif Affinity forums

The icons have been through a number of iterations in the last 5 years, including Publisher's and each time they have been designed to go with the others and be a modern style, as chosen by our Head of Creative Design

[Joachim_L]

Bad icons, bad name of the software. LOL. We are talking about a tool, right? I don't mind if the logo is just a red dot or the name of the software is Affinity PublishOrExportARedDotOnWhiteBackground. The inside of the package is more interesting than the outside of the package. Working a few years now with the software icons Ps, Ai and Id without bothering that icons are not state of art.

[fde101]

1 hour ago, Joachim_L said:

Bad icons, bad name of the software. LOL. We are talking about a tool, right?

An imaging design tool that shows poor design choices in its own presentation and interface does not help to inspire confidence.  First impressions mean something, and given that the previous iteration of icons were so good, the step backwards is tough to swallow for many of us who want to see the product succeed.

 

Will it stop me from using it?  No.

Do I like it?  No.

Do I think there may be other potential customers who might be less inclined to try the product with the new icons than they would have been with the old ones?  Yes.

And fewer sales means less income for Serif, which means less future progress in continuing to see the products improve.

 

That said, while the icons are a step backwards from the previous ones, they are at least still better than the ones that another major graphics software vendor is using...

 

 

9 hours ago, PathfinderPro said:

Can someone please explain the logic of the design for the short icon used for affinity?

In another of the numerous threads where the icons have been discussed at length, it was theorized that the Publisher icon is supposed to represent sheets of paper.

The icon for Designer seems to be a pen or possibly a stylus.  I had originally thought it might be a pencil until someone pointed out how dull of a pencil it would have been (too rounded).

[Michael117]

@PathfinderPro & @fde101

I agree with you both.  The "A" shape of the 1.6 icons and the interior design both let you see at a glance what those applications are for. I just don't get what the Publisher icon is trying to represent. I don't see sheets of paper in the icon and with the square design it's a little harder to see the "A". The other thing that bothers me a bit is the color.  Both Designer and Photo's icons have colors that pop.  I'm not a Marketing person, so I can only speak for my personal perspective but I'm not a fan of the new iconography.  instead of straight lines, I think it would look more representative if the lines were curled, like when you are flipping through the pages of a book or magazine.

[Michail]

54 minutes ago, Michael117 said:

I just don't get what the Publisher icon is trying to represent.

They're probably stylized pages.
However, I notice a certain stylistic inconsistency with the other two logos. This is not only true for the colors: In contrast to the Publisher logo, the other two logos appear in a pleasant pastel gradient.

Another remark: In our cultural environment, diagonal lines from top left to bottom right are perceived as downward movement. And in the Publisher logo there are even four of them!

[Rick G]

3 hours ago, Michael117 said:

@PathfinderPro & @fde101

I agree with you both.  The "A" shape of the 1.6 icons and the interior design both let you see at a glance what those applications are for. I just don't get what the Publisher icon is trying to represent. I don't see sheets of paper in the icon and with the square design it's a little harder to see the "A". The other thing that bothers me a bit is the color.  Both Designer and Photo's icons have colors that pop.  I'm not a Marketing person, so I can only speak for my personal perspective but I'm not a fan of the new iconography.  instead of straight lines, I think it would look more representative if the lines were curled, like when you are flipping through the pages of a book or magazine.

I liked the 1.6 icons a lot better. The new "minimalist" look if for the birds. The older icons show a classy design

Here is my task bar. The Affinity icons look flat compared to the others

[Jowday]

You guys obviously don't have customers or deadlines to worry about, eh?  

[Michael117]

8 minutes ago, Jowday said:

You guys obviously don't have customers or deadlines to worry about, eh?  

Well, actually..........It's HUMP-DAY!!

[Jowday]

13 minutes ago, Michael117 said:

Well, actually..........It's HUMP-DAY!!

True dat. I survived mine. Worked till midnight Tuesday. Brain needs a break from time to time.

[Joachim_L]

I am so glad to get my hands on the new upcoming beta 1.7.0.284,5 and so glad that Serif reverted to the old icons. Thank you, thank you, far too kind!!

[Rick G]

15 hours ago, Joachim_L said:

I am so glad to get my hands on the new upcoming beta 1.7.0.284,5 and so glad that Serif reverted to the old icons. Thank you, thank you, far too kind!!

I'm not seeing those icons on the betas here ... (?)

[Michael117]

5 hours ago, Rick G said:

I'm not seeing those icons on the betas here ... (?)

I think you missed the version number: 1.7.0.284,5--meaning, he made it himself.

[Aaron Martin]

I somewhat agree with the title of this threat, although i appreciate the minimalist approach of the current logos (triangle ones) and agree with the coloring scheme, i think representing papers for publisher icon with those triangular 60° angles makes it a bit distorted ergo unfamiliar to human eye. Unless they are representing q cropped out square of some papers, which would make sense but than it wont go with the triangular icons. I think the logo needs some more tiny subtle hints to say its papers. 

[Rick G]

12 hours ago, Aaron Martin said:

I somewhat agree with the title of this threat, although i appreciate the minimalist approach of the current logos (triangle ones) and agree with the coloring scheme, i think representing papers for publisher icon with those triangular 60° angles makes it a bit distorted ergo unfamiliar to human eye. Unless they are representing q cropped out square of some papers, which would make sense but than it wont go with the triangular icons. I think the logo needs some more tiny subtle hints to say its papers. 

He said SERIF reverted to the old icons which I am not seeing. No big deal but I do like the triangles better

[Alfred]

9 minutes ago, Rick G said:

He said SERIF reverted to the old icons which I am not seeing. No big deal but I do like the triangles better

 

12 hours ago, Michael117 said:

I think you missed the version number: 1.7.0.284,5--meaning, he made it himself.

In other words, he’s claiming ownership of a copy of beta build 284½.

[Rick G]

1 hour ago, Alfred said:

 

In other words, he’s claiming ownership of a copy of beta build 284½.

I don't know how you came to that. Hr said serif is using the older icons ... at least that is how I read it. That's all we werer talking about ... the icons

[Old Bruce]

48 minutes ago, Rick G said:

I don't know how you came to that. Hr said serif is using the older icons ... at least that is how I read it. That's all we werer talking about ... the icons

On 3/29/2019 at 2:47 AM, Joachim_L said:

I am so glad to get my hands on the new upcoming beta 1.7.0.284,5 and so glad...

Emphasis added.

 

[walt.farrell]

Emphasizing the word "upcoming" is also appropriate

[Michail]

On 3/30/2019 at 2:31 AM, Rick G said:

I'm not seeing those icons on the betas here ... (?)

Was it actually possible to misunderstand that?

[Rick G]

4 hours ago, Michail said:

Was it actually possible to misunderstand that?

Misunderstand what? He said " am so glad to get my hands on the new upcoming beta 1.7.0.284,5 and so glad that Serif reverted to the old icons" and I questioned it as I do not see them here. All I have received from people who should know better is cryptic answers meant more to belittle than to inform, a bit shameful in a place where Serif advertises as the place to get answers. I enjoy humor but not when it becomes patronizing

So my questions stand; are they reverting to the last set of icons AS PICTURED?

And what sir, in your lofty opinion am I missing?

[Michail]

9 minutes ago, Rick G said:

So my questions stand; are they reverting to the last set of icons AS PICTURED?

@Joachim_L had asked the same question - in his own way

[Rick G]

2 hours ago, Michail said:

@Joachim_L had asked the same question - in his own way

Apparently there is no answer

[Alfred]

3 hours ago, Rick G said:

cryptic answers meant more to belittle than to inform

I’m sorry that you found the answers to be cryptic, Rick, but I’m even more sorry that you thought anyone was trying to belittle you! After @Joachim_L posted

On 3/29/2019 at 9:47 AM, Joachim_L said:

I am so glad to get my hands on the new upcoming beta 1.7.0.284,5 and so glad that Serif reverted to the old icons. Thank you, thank you, far too kind!!

and you misinterpreted it, I posted

21 hours ago, Alfred said:

In other words, he’s claiming ownership of a copy of beta build 284½.

in an attempt to point out that build number “284,5” includes a comma which should be seen as a decimal separator. There is, of course, no such thing as build 284½.

[PMan]

Just to add that Beta icons are NOT the same as the actual program icons so since Publisher is still only in beta stage, we (ie those outside of Serif!) do not yet know what the final icon for Affinity Publisher Full version will be, but an educated guess is that it will be triangular just as Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo are whereas Beta versions are square   

Pman