alt Hacker NewsWhy are people arguing that icons should be intuitively tell you what the app is about? Since when was that the goal of an icon (in paritucal an app icon)? It should be easily distinguishable from other icons. If I don't know what the icon means it will take me exactly 1s to find out by clicking on it, after that I will know what the app icon is for, and I only care if I can distinguish it easily from other icons, so I don't accidentally start a different app.
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I strongly agree. But (having just replied to someone else about ideography) it leads to an interesting thought. Once you learn them the app icons become a shared legible writing system. Going to drive to the store? Go lang, Google Drive, Play Store. You get the idea.
It's a trademark violating abomination but I think we ought to give it a try.
You have to wonder if the people so performatively mad about incomprehensible "modern" logos feel similarly about VLC player or foobar2000.
It all seems to be just the prevalent anti-big tech cynicism finding an easily upvoted outlet.
You must be a huge fan of purposefully obscure HN titles.
And Concentration. Click on the giraffe to get to the Print dialog!
Hm... what was the Print dialog hidden under again?
I guess that would be fine if the icon for a given app didn't keep changing.
why shouldn't an icon be at least partially skeuomorphic?
I don’t think this is just how it should be… I think it’s how things already are.
I looked back at the old “back when they were good!” examples and realized that six of them could be the same app and none of us would know.
I used those icons (and their applications), and I’m far enough removed in time to not remember which was which.
All of this only further cements the idea that the users bring way more to this than the supposed design theories.
But we sure do like the idea of modern masters reaching into the human psyche with phenomenally intuitive icon design.