This one what? Nate <div>On 3/13/07, Andreas Nilsson <<a href="mailto:nisses.mail@home.se">nisses.mail@home.se</a>> wrote:<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> Hi Nathan! Do you have this one ready so I can take a peek at it somewhere? - Andreas Nathan Willis wrote: > See, I think that's the important distinction -- the toolbox is from > the "tool" element of the construction metaphor, not the danger/safety > element.  Everybody at the construction site wears boots, too, but the > image of a boot doesn't communicate what you want. > > As far as the hammer itself goes, sure not everyone uses one all the > time, but then again I'm looking at the Edgy Applications menu right > now and the "graphics" category is represented by a paintbrush, the > "sound and video" category by a director's clapboard, and the office > category by a pen cup.  Does every artist carry a paintbrush?  Do > *any* of the "sound* apps incorporate anything analogous to the > director's clapboard?  Do we all have pen cups in out offices -- and > if so, are they what we do our office work with?  It's not necessary > that the tool used in a category icon be universally required for all > the tasks in that category -- and a good thing, too, since that would > be impossible.  What it does have to do is communicate and be visually > recognizable.  My point was that the hard hat does neither of those > things. > > I personally don't think that hammers or toolboxes intrinsically > relate to programming at all; we may have gotten used to seeing the > construction site metaphor associated with programming tools, but it's > only because of repetition.  I'd like to see some better metaphor > altogether; it's a task without a physical-world equivalent, but who > knows how much we could come up with if we actually pounded at it > intentionally.  But I do think that of the construction items we've > brought up thus far, at least (claw) hammers have a distinctive visual > outline, and that's an improvement. > > Nate > > On 3/10/07, *Rodney Dawes* <<a href="mailto:dobey@novell.com"> dobey@novell.com</a> > <mailto:<a href="mailto:dobey@novell.com">dobey@novell.com</a>>> wrote: > >     Perhaps it could use some touch-ups, sure. But I think the >     metaphor does >     in fact make sense. It is a category icon, not an tool, process, or >     product icon. All persons on a construction site, must wear hard hats. >     They don't all have to carry or use hammers, nails, screwdrivers, >     fishing wire, or many of the other things used in the construction >     of a >     building. > >     Perhaps a toolbox would be a somewhat better metaphor though. >     Given that >     it contains tools for building software. > >     -- dobey > > >     On Fri, 2007-03-09 at 13:47 -0600, Nathan Willis wrote: >     > As long as we're talking about coding metaphors, I have to give my >     > thumbs-down to the yellow hard hat metaphor -- it, too, is entirely >     > indistinct at small sizes, and even at larger sizes it lacks the >     > "distinct shape" Rodney mentioned, as well as detail and >     contrast.  Is >     > it a lemon? A tennis ball?  A gumdrop?  And even if it is >     recognized >     > eventually as a hard hat, it doesn't communicate.  Hard hats are >     > safety gear, not tools, not process, not product.  At the very >     least, >     > if you are going with the "construction work" metaphor, a hammer is >     > more visually distinctive and more appropriate. >     > >     > Just wanted to get that off my chest. >     > >     > Nate > > _______________________________________________ Tango-artists mailing list <a href="mailto:Tango-artists@lists.freedesktop.org">Tango-artists@lists.freedesktop.org</a> <a href="http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/tango-artists">http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/tango-artists </a> </blockquote></div> -- nathan.p.willis <a href="mailto:nwillis@glyphography.com">nwillis@glyphography.com</a> aim/ym/gtalk:n8willis <a href="http://blog.glyphography.com">blog.glyphography.com </a> <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/willis">flickr.com/photos/willis</a>