Kiwi design
Say hello to Kiwi
I am really excited to tell you all about our recent work with YourHead Software on their Twitter client, Kiwi. Here’s a quick rundown of what Kiwi is and what makes this little guy so special:
YourHead Software today is proud to announce the release of Kiwi 1.0, a themeable Twitter client for Mac OS X. Kiwi is a full-featured Twitter client that supports multiple accounts, groups, searches and rules/filters. Kiwi also gives users the power to change the look, or theme, to match their desktop.
You can read more about Kiwi on kiwi-app.net.
Design
We worked with Isaiah on developing a polished app icon (above) as well as toolbar icons, user interface, themes and more. It has truly been a unique and exciting project from the get go.
One of the biggest challenges was designing our flightless friend above. I’d never drawn a kiwi, and not living in New Zealand I’ve not seen many of the fuzzy little guys. So I started with a good deal of research...
Everything I researched was absolutely adorable. The kiwi has to be one of the coolest birds I’ve ever seen. So fluffy and cute and that beady little black eye and long beak show so much personality. I hope that that personality shows through in the icon as well.
Themes
I also worked with Isaiah on designing the themes that ship with Kiwi. I designed them from scratch using just HTML and CSS and a whole lot of love. We worked on incorporating all of Webkit’s bells and whistles into each of the themes. Some themes focus on pure usability while others are designed to be fun and different. Myself and Ollie Levy are currently constructing Kiwi Themes, which will be a site where you can download more themes for Kiwi as well as upload and share your own.
In addition to the theme designs I made it my goal to give each theme a personality of its own through a unique icon design for each one. Here’s a few samples:
Check it out
If you’ve not already tried out Kiwi, please give it a go. You’ll really enjoy it. If you’re into theme design, be sure to read through the API documentation and signup for the Kiwi Themes newsletter so you’ll know when we launch and you can upload and share you Kiwi themes with the world!
Introducing Unity
I am proud to announce
our latest stock set of icons. Unity is a huge
collection of images. 225 in
total!
The package includes a variety of file formats
including: PNG,
ICNS and ICO.
Something for all platforms including web design,
iPhone App development as well as Macintosh and
Windows application development. And frankly
whatever else you can think of.
Each of the 225 icons comes in 3 different sizes:
• 48 x 48 px
• 32 x 32 px
• 16 x 16 px
We’ve priced this new set of icons at only $24.95
in an effort to make classy, stylish imagery
available to all developers. In this same vein I’ve
also re-priced our Ideal Icon set.
Check out the Unity set.
Quick little update
Also, just a quick update: I’ve had tons of great feedback regarding the Ideal icon pack. I’ve been asked several times recently if I’m going to have a new package of icons coming out in the near future. While I don’t have a release date for a new pack, I can tell you one is in the works. It is going to be geared toward web site and application design, and will be very reasonably priced as well.
If there is a specific icon you’re interested in seeing in the pack let me know and I will do my best to accommodate. For instance if you want say an RSS feed icon, or a Download Arrow icon or a Talk Bubble icon, let us know. You can add your request below in the comments.
Partitions and Styled Text Plus
His original idea for Partitions was to have separated areas, or columns, of colors that would jut up and off of a web page.
While doing some initial sketches for this idea I did a little brain storming and came up with the following idea of separating the colored objects with physical partitions:
Gary was happy with this direction and we decided
to step it up a bit. He requested we add a divider
horizontally. In doing so I decided to take a
chance and develop the colored blocks into actual
objects. The next iteration was a big leap forward:
I wanted to convey to
the user the sort of items that could be placed
onto the page inside of Partitions. We discussed
other items to add to the empty bays and to leave
one empty, inviting the user to place their on
content. This is the final version of the icon:
Since finishing the
icon we’ve also created an alternate version of the
icon for Gary:
Included in the project
were a few internal icons for navigating the
plug-in, representing the body of the content, the
header and footer, and the settings:
Another of our icons
for Gary recently was for his back-to-basics
plug-in, Styled Text Plus:
Stacking it up
Slices
Each Stacks page in RapidWeaver is
built from slices that are defined by you, the
user. Anything from a Styled Text slice to an Image
or Columns slice. You can create a complex layout
quickly and with ease. Each slice needed a simple,
clear icon to represent it to make it easy for
users to discern what they were at a glance. Isaiah
had a general idea of the sort of icons he was
looking for to represent most of these slices. So I
took his sketches and turned them into finished
icons. Working with Isaiah was a dream as he not
only had an idea of what he wanted, but he was also
very receptive to my ideas on both the icon and
interface design. Here’s a look at his initial
sketches and the finished icons for the slices.
Interface
I also worked with Isaiah on
developing the user interface for Stacks. Below are
a few of the initial ideas I came up with for the
Library design and main content interface. Some
were more ‘out there’ than others, but I wanted to
try some very different approaches as this was not
to be your ordinary plug-in. The ideas were roughed
out and we finally chose a more traditional, yet
standout setup and look.
In the end we
settled on the matte black library. We added a
non-standard, classy library trigger in the lower
right corner of the interface. The final UI design
came out rather well, I think, and is easy to use
and navigate.
Iconic
We were quite lucky in developing the
main Stacks icon. After sketching some ideas out
for myself to start from I jumped right into Cinema
4D to mockup some icon ideas. Luckily these early
renders were what Isaiah was looking for and the
metaphor fit well with the title and functionality
of the plug-in. Some of the early ideas can be seen
below. We actually never varied too far from these
early ideas, for the most part. Seems we hit it on
the head from the get go.
Here is the final icon
we settled upon to represent Isaiah’s wonderful new
plug-in. I just love the bright, contrasting
colors!
Happy Halloween
If you’ve never checked out e-junkie and the services they have to offer, you really should. We use them here and on other sites we run, and we’re quite pleased with both their outstanding product and amazing support.
*Note: This icon is the property of e-junkie and cannot be resold or reused in anyway without the written permission of e-junkie.
New Shutter Bug icons
I am happy to present
our latest set of free icons. Our Shutter Bug set
was originally designed for our sister site,
elixir graphics.
In the development of elixir’s latest RapidWeaver theme we needed a
fresh set of icons for RapidWeaver’s photo album
page. These icons work great for the RapidWeaver
EXIF information.
We thought that others might be able to make use of
them, so we’re providing them as a free download. Use them
in your web design, RapidWeaver theme, photo
blog or application, or for whatever other use
you can think up!
You can download them all here.
Enjoy.
Be sure to also checkout elixir’s latest theme,
Gallery.
Nova set additions [updated]
The free update adds the following icons: Blueprint, Cone, New Pencil, Lock, Test Tubes, and a Bar Graph.
Check out the downloads page and be sure to click each icon to get a full-size 512 x 512 view of the icons.
[UPDATE]: I have added 5 more icons to the pack: Battery full, battery empty, battery half-full, battery low, and a second trash can.
Enjoy the freebies!
Introducing Nova
We’re very happy to
introduce our latest free set of icons.
The Nova family of icons is to be
an ever expanding set of 3D icons. As the set
grows we will keep you updated on the blog.
Currently the set includes a metal trash can,
pencil, top hat and magic top hat, column, beaker
and bomb (slightly different from our previous free
bomb icon).
Check them out and be sure to
let us know what you think.
Small is good
We've just added a new set of stock icons. Our latest package, titled
Petite, consists os 135 miniature
icons.
Even though they’re small they pack a lot of punch.
The three colored sets (45 icons each) measure 16 x
16 px. They come in PNG (with transparent
backgrounds), ICNS, ICO and Macintosh Folder
formats.
These small wonders are great for web design,
RapidWeaver themes, applications and more
This set of icons come at a small price:
$5.95.
Dragoman icon
Dare to be Creative,
the makers of iArchiver and Renamer 4 Mac, released their
latest application, Dragoman.
Since we worked with them previously on their
iArchiver and Renamer 4 Mac app icons they
approached us to make an icon for Dragoman. Their
idea of a camel as the icon was based upon the name
of the application...
A dragoman is an interpreter and guide in the Near East; in the Ottoman Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries a translator of European languages for the Turkish and Arab authorities and most dragomans were Greek (many reached high positions in the government)
Dragoman is a utility application that batch converts images, photos, PDFs, music and archive files using a graphical drag and drop interface. It converts popular image file formats including JPEG, PDF, TIFF and PNG, as well as widespread music and archive file formats.
Dragoman offers a lightweight drag and drop interface where users drag the files they want to convert into the application, pick a new format and drag the converted files back out again. The interface was kept lean to make it quicker and easier for users to work together with Finder when converting a large number of files. To allow users to work seamlessly with Dragoman right from the start, the interface was designed to blend closely and unobtrusively into the Mac environment.
You should definitely drop by their site and
grab your trial version. It truly is quite
simple to use. And the interface couldn’t be
more simple.
*Note: This icon is the property of Dare to be
be Creative and cannot be used or duplicated
without their permission.
Collage 2 plug-in icon
About Collage 2
Collage builds great looking thumbnails from your images, styles them all with slick graphical effects, and links them to other content on your site. With Collage you can add smooth Javascript animations like lightbox effects, slideshows, or a pop-up hovering info box. And you don't have to be an computer guru to do it. Just drag in a few images, select a style, and publish.
The vision
The idea came directly from YourHead’s very own Isaiah. The thought of Polaroids and a Gluestic that Isaiah had pictured immediately provoked images of collages and assemblage. We developed his idea into a fullfledged icon. Have a look:
The new plug-in went
into public beta testing today. Be sure to go check
it out. We also created some of the built-in
Collage Styles through our sister site, elixir graphics.
*Note: This icon is the property of YourHead
Software and cannot be used or duplicated without
their permission.
It's the bomb
Up until now I have
used PhotoShop and Illustrator in designing all of
my graphics for the web and print. Whether the
projects be icons or websites or ads I've toiled
away in these two apps for over 10 years.
Recently I took an interest in learning and using
Cinema 4D to model icons in 3D.
I've already begun to dive into the application and
so far I am enjoying it a lot. I find it pretty
intuitive so far and see a wealth of potential.
As I learn Cinema 4D I will have some freebies to
post — starting today.
Here's my first Cinema 4D designed freebie.
I've included sizes 512 x 512 down through 16 x 16
in PNG, TIFF, ICNS, ICO and Mac Folder.
Click download above and enjoy!
Webify it
Mudbug Software came to
us when they were looking for an icon for their
first application — Webify. Their image editing
app allows you to prepare your images for the
web including the ability to make some minor
adjustments and add image effects.
Webify allows you to:
• Increase/decrease Exposure
• Increase/decrease Saturation
• Add contrast
• Increase/decrease Brightness
• Convert to sepia tone or black and white
• Blur images and more.
*Note: This icon is the property of Mudbug
Software and cannot be used or duplicated without
their permission.
Renamer 4 Mac
We recently finished up
a custom app. icon for the fine folks at Dare to be
Creative. The icon is for their application titled
Renamer 4 Mac.
Renamer 4 Mac is a great little utility for batch
renaming, and more. Here's a quick snippet from
their site:
Batch rename large numbers of files in seconds with just a drag, a drop, and a click.
Preview
Live preview gives instant feedback on new filenames for catching errors and fine-tuning results.
And more
Rename with simple text search or with flexible regular expressions. Convert upper and lower case. Number files.
*Note: This icon is the property of Dare to be be Creative and cannot be used or duplicated without their permission.
Pack it up, pack it in
We recently completed an application icon for the
folks over at iArchiver. The application
handles archived files; both creating and
extracting.
iArchiver allows you to pack, extract, and convert
archives. They approached us with the idea of a
rucksack as a metaphor for archive compression and
decompression, or packing and unpacking, and we
loved it.
Here's a snippet from their site to give you a
little more information about the app:
You need to send large files to a customer? You want to distribute your files as DMGs? Create DMG, Zip, 7-zip and many other formats quickly and easily with iArchiver.
Extract
You can't open that email attachment? No problem, iArchiver opens Zip, DMG, RAR, StuffIt (.sit), HQX and many more common and uncommon formats.
Convert
Your boss just received a RAR file that he can't open and needs your help? Make your boss happy by converting RAR and many other formats to ZIP with iArchiver.
Stop by the iArchiver site to learn more about it. It is a great solution for handling the plethora of archive formats floating around on the internet, and is simple to use, too.
*Note: This icon is the property of Philipp Mayerhofer and the iArchiver folks and cannot be used or duplicated without their permission.
Tasty custom icon
*Note: This icon is the property of Fruition Berry Farm and cannot be used or duplicated without their permission.
Your turn to show off
We're always interested in seeing how our stuff is being used, whether it be one of our freebies or a full-blown package.
Send us a link to your site, or a screen grab of your application or presentation. We're going to eventually compile many of these screen grabs and such onto a page, and would love to feature your works and link back to you.
Layered Locker
Pop by the Lockers page and grab yours for a mere $2. The link for the layered locker is at the bottom of the page.
See just how easy it is to add your own gear to the locker.
Shiny happy lockers
If there is enough interest I will create a layered PSD file where you can add your own items into this shiny, happy, red locker too. Sort of like our Build Your Own Box set.
Also don't forget to check out all of the other icons and freebies as well.
It's a sign
Since our Build your Own Box has been such a huge hit, we've also included a layered PSD PhotoShop file in this package which allows you to make your own, custom sign as well.
The best part is that this set is a mere $12. Be sure to check it out! And don't forget to also take a peek at some of our other icons and freebies.
Oh, and I finally got a chance to clean up and style the icons page. So you'll probably notice a much cleaner, classier look.