Short: 64 Colour icon set Author: ash@absurd.demon.co.uk (Ash Thomas) Uploader: ash absurd demon co uk (Ash Thomas) Type: pix/icon Architecture: generic With the amiga dead - why do it? Well firstly (and most importantly) I draw for myself & I draw for pleasure. I really enjoy it, it relaxes me. I dont care how few (or many) people use or like them. If you dont like them, thats fine - use another set. If you do like them then it would be nice to get an email to encourage me to improve them. If you have any suggestions, I normally take them on board (if I agree) so mail me with comments. Why Another Icon Set? Well I am a big fan of NewIcons, its was one of the best icon sets available for the amiga. However it has many flaws which this set aims to correct. I wasnt as impressed with release 4 of AES's icons as I felt they could have been better, they were backward compatible which meant that the palette was restricted (PC's suffer from having to be backward compatible!). The icons still looked like stick drawings and some of them looked rushed. My philosophy: To draw the best icons I could, and not release the set until I was 100% happy with EACH icon. This meant it has taken ages! I would sometimes change just one pixel as I feel that every one counts and you should make the most out of each one. Realism was important, for the printer icon I cut out pictures from a magazine of the Epson Stylus Photo 750 and drew it as best as I could from this picture. A lot of the art work is thanks to me discovering great lighting effects. This is shown on the KeyShow, FixFonts and HardDrive icons. The lighting effect shows corners without black lines (Look at your computer, there are corners but no black lines!). Another effect was to avoid white (on the top and left) and black (on the bottom and right) on objects. A much better effect is to use lighter and darker colours around the object (see disk icons). Finally soft gradient fills improve 3D objects, see Drawers, Text, Palette and clock icons. What is wrong with current sets? All sets mentioned here show great artwork, however they are not what I want (so dont get offended :-) or to my taste. I am sure my set isnt for everyone and that some people will prefer other sets. The following is my opinion based on my taste: MagicWB: Very good art work, but only 8 colours and mostly grey. Great if you dont have a graphics board or a fast Amiga. GloIcons: This shows potential, but the icons look bad when they are clicked on. Who really cares which icons are selected anyway? The artwork looks cartoony with the hard gradient fills looking far too obvious. Some dont have the `glo' selection (Hack, TrapDoor and more), and the shadows drawn directly onto the backdrop looks terrible unless you have a grey background!? NI4: Best set available. However there are many flaws: 1. OverAnimation: The pointer and sound icons animate too much and confuse the eye. 2. External Antialiasing: The serial and classact icons appear horrible with a dark background. Light pixels can be seen around each icon. 3. Bad artwork: The trash and calculator icons look like they were drawn in a few minutes. They let the set down. 4. Stick drawings: The pointer and FixFont icons use black lines which look like a child drew them. 5. Inconsistency: The drawer icons have incorrect lighting, the side on the left is dark, the light is suppose to hit this side of the drawer. The default tool icon has a hammer which, when selected, suddenly has a black outline around it. Some of the prefs icons have the logo in a different place which is unnecessary. And the printer icon in Devs is different to the printer drawn in prefs. I looked at many sets for inspiration (NI4, Glo, MagicWB, IconGraphics, Aristicons amongst others) and considered in depth each feature. The reasons for my decisions are as follows: Platforms: Shadows make the image look more 3d, shadows drawn directly to the screen look very bad. Platforms enhance the image by allowing shadows which look good on any background. The platforms were improved to make them look more three dimensional Isometric: I hate flat images, 3d icons look so much better and more modern. Dont email me asking for flat icons, if you want some - draw them yourselves. Colours: 64 colours didnt appear to increase the speed of drawing the icons too much - I may even do a 128 colour set. The palette was decided as I drew each icon, this way the most was made out of all available colours. Drawers: All drawers should have a picture on them when selected and unselected. Animation: All drawer icons should have their image animate when it is clicked on. All icons should animate, but not too much External Antialiasing: No icon have antialiasing on the outside. Outlining: For most icons a black outline looks best, however if an outline can be avoided it will have been. Professional: The icons should look like time and care has been taken to make them as good as possible. Please do not change this archive or use parts of the artwork without my permission. Sadly, this set is unfinished. I havent done any work on it for over a year now (last touched June '99, it is now July '00). I dont have time to draw anymore, my new passion is in programming c++ for the PC and Windows. I hardly use my Amiga anymore - believe me I wish that wasnt the case. I am releasing these in their 'as is' state because I hope someone enjoys them (they are doing nothing on my hard drive) Ash Thomas ash@absurd.demon.co.uk