4 ms·

I don't understand why modern toolbar icons are basically abstract shapes represented by lines. It's 2022, we have 32 bit colors, but toolbar icons have less co

I don't understand why modern toolbar icons are basically abstract shapes represented by lines. It's 2022, we have 32 bit colors, but toolbar icons have less color than back 30 years ago in Windows 3.1.

airstrike 5y ago
The reason is because colorful designs were ugly AF in virtually all but the very best (or native) applications so users developed an allergic reaction to them. Minimal design felt fresh and it’s harder to fuck it up...sadly it’s also harder to tell icons apart
zozbot234 5y ago
Old win 3.1 toolbars had tiny 16×16px icons, that could be quite colorful without being overly distracting even on a lower-resolution screen. With the new emphasis on "touch" readiness combined with higher screen resolutions we get bigger icons but simpler, black-and-white shapes, which helps tell apart simple toolbar functions from icons that might represent all sorts of other things within an application.
Aeolun 5y ago
> I don't understand why modern toolbar icons are basically abstract shapes represented by lines Much, much easier to style based on whatever the surroundings are. Also easier to maintain a good look if you switch to a completely different theme, and for third party icons to mesh with the OS set of icons (only so many ways you can mess up the sillouette of the shape). Oh, and they scale to basically infinite proportions without looking weird, which cannot be said for color vector icons.
- anthk 5y ago
  >Oh, and they scale to basically infinite proportions without looking weird, which cannot be said for color vector icons. Check Haiku OS.
Izkata 5y ago
> I don't understand why modern toolbar icons are basically abstract shapes represented by lines. Eventually it'll mutate into cuneiform and no one will realize they've learned an ancient script.

4 ms·

I don't understand why modern toolbar icons are basically abstract shapes represented by lines. It's 2022, we have 32 bit colors, but toolbar icons have less co

by wolpoli 5y ago

airstrike 5y ago
The reason is because colorful designs were ugly AF in virtually all but the very best (or native) applications so users developed an allergic reaction to them. Minimal design felt fresh and it’s harder to fuck it up...sadly it’s also harder to tell icons apart
zozbot234 5y ago
Old win 3.1 toolbars had tiny 16×16px icons, that could be quite colorful without being overly distracting even on a lower-resolution screen. With the new emphasis on "touch" readiness combined with higher screen resolutions we get bigger icons but simpler, black-and-white shapes, which helps tell apart simple toolbar functions from icons that might represent all sorts of other things within an application.
Aeolun 5y ago
> I don't understand why modern toolbar icons are basically abstract shapes represented by lines Much, much easier to style based on whatever the surroundings are. Also easier to maintain a good look if you switch to a completely different theme, and for third party icons to mesh with the OS set of icons (only so many ways you can mess up the sillouette of the shape). Oh, and they scale to basically infinite proportions without looking weird, which cannot be said for color vector icons.
- anthk 5y ago
  >Oh, and they scale to basically infinite proportions without looking weird, which cannot be said for color vector icons. Check Haiku OS.
Izkata 5y ago
> I don't understand why modern toolbar icons are basically abstract shapes represented by lines. Eventually it'll mutate into cuneiform and no one will realize they've learned an ancient script.