Secrets to Creating detailed Mac icons

Cool icons for OS X in some ways similar to the Macs themselves: their ideal features and showiness hides a complex process, which includes a set of non-trivial actions. Ordinary users, of course, all this is unknown, but if you're interested, you can look into the "backstage" and evaluate at least the basic nuances of creating detailed icons for Mac programs.

Icon design can be as simple as a two-dimensional image or a black silhouette, and can be difficult, representing a a combination of elements such as a few linear or circular gradients looking shadows, midtones and three-dimensional contour effects.

To ensure uniformity and consistency of the exterior of the device, operating system developers offer detailed guidance on the establishment and use of icons in the system context. This is true both for the standard system icons, and icons for third-party applications. System icons that are used today are usually tough "censorship" from users around the world.

Regardless of the scope of the operating system icons in most cases are unique, so they are easy to distinguish from each other. Folder icons to help you understand what is inside. File icons generally show a document with the program logo, and so you know, with the help of which the file was created, or in what application it will open by default.

icons design aspects are also subject obschetematicheskih courses on usability. The design itself requires the ability to combine an attractive picture with the desired functional properties. Icons are designed to look like the objects they represent. They should be easily recognized and well displayed on the screens of different sizes and resolutions.

Tips by design:

• The form should be simple, with clean lines, without excessive detail.
• The icon should be easily distinguishable from the other icons.
• The icon should be quite bright and colorful, so it can be easy to find on the screen.
• Icon to be displayed in standard color palette, with its external characteristics should facilitate instant recognition by the user.
• Through the colors should be provided visual indicators that display the status icons: active, enabled or disabled at the moment.
• In most applications the width and height of the icon are equal to each other (the ratio of 1: 1).

One of the first professional "designers, painters" became Susan Cahir, who created many of the icons included in the composition of the first Mac OS. The whole process of creating icons can be divided into two phases: the definition of an icon and the creation of the final design or illustration. Click on the infographic below to see it in full resolution.

And here are some examples of first-class icons Mac programs that are easy to fall in the above calculations (by clicking on each image you will go to the work description page).

A source: InspirationFeed.