[Tango-artists] Icons for inclusion

[Andreas Nilsson]

Hi Nathan!
I was referring to a drawn proposal for a new developer category icon, I 
was under the impression you had fixed one.
Sorry for being unclear.
- Andreas

Nathan Willis wrote:
> This one what?
>
> Nate
>
> On 3/13/07, *Andreas Nilsson* <nisses.mail at home.se 
> <mailto:nisses.mail at home.se>> wrote:
>
>     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* < dobey at novell.com
>     <mailto:dobey at novell.com>
>     > <mailto:dobey at novell.com <mailto:dobey at novell.com>>> 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
>     >
>     >
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>
>
>
> -- 
> nathan.p.willis
> nwillis at glyphography.com <mailto:nwillis at glyphography.com>
> aim/ym/gtalk:n8willis
> blog.glyphography.com <http://blog.glyphography.com>
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