4 ms·

Yes, it attaches a particular theme/brand/aesthetic to iconography. I think we should push designers to do the due diligence and not just get something from mat

Yes, it attaches a particular theme/brand/aesthetic to iconography. I think we should push designers to do the due diligence and not just get something from material.io and dump it in the app. It won't happen because $$$, ship ship ship and MVP culture, agile, etc. Careful, meticulous, rigorous, disciplined, thoughtful work is old fashioned. We produce broken, shitty apps because early feedback culture, not finishing things, market validation, the entire startup culture, etc. I see benefits in this but also negatives. Remember when SEGA games were shipped 100% complete and almost bug free? That's unheard of these days. They had no way to know if the game is going to be successful. No early access. They took risks.

brudgers 6y ago
Most designers can create a good icon. Or two. But a cohesive set of one fifty is going to have a few that are not so good. And some that are outright crap. If a designer is designing icons, the designer is probably solving the wrong problem. Either because the "client" doesn't know what the right problem is. Or because designing icons is more for the designer than solving the right problem. Icons are hard because...well, all the reasons a floppy disk is the standard save icon. What I mean is that designers will default to their own experience and a floppy disk was it when the first sticky save icon was designed. Now it means save. A designer who wants to change the floppy disk is solving the wrong problem.
- systemvoltage 6y ago
  I discussed this here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26332553 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26332553 I agree with you. We should take advantage of existing historical context such as the floppy save icon. This is what the Fam Fam Fam icon set does. The main issue is not to redesign them, but to design them in such a way that it is recognizeable. You can design floppy disk in many ways to fit your design aesthetic. Just that it should not be confused with 10 other icons. If you use monochrome line graphics, its hard to tell instantly.

brudgers 6y ago

Most designers can create a good icon. Or two. But a cohesive set of one fifty is going to have a few that are not so good. And some that are outright crap. If a designer is designing icons, the designer is probably solving the wrong problem. Either because the "client" doesn't know what the right problem is. Or because designing icons is more for the designer than solving the right problem. Icons are hard because...well, all the reasons a floppy disk is the standard save icon. What I mean is that designers will default to their own experience and a floppy disk was it when the first sticky save icon was designed. Now it means save. A designer who wants to change the floppy disk is solving the wrong problem.

systemvoltage 6y ago
I discussed this here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26332553 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26332553 I agree with you. We should take advantage of existing historical context such as the floppy save icon. This is what the Fam Fam Fam icon set does. The main issue is not to redesign them, but to design them in such a way that it is recognizeable. You can design floppy disk in many ways to fit your design aesthetic. Just that it should not be confused with 10 other icons. If you use monochrome line graphics, its hard to tell instantly.