Icons in Maemo 5 on n900 [Archive] - maemo.org

scotty_m

09-25-2009, 11:33 AM

I'm not too keen on the icons in maemo 5. They look very basic, which is a bit surprising because nokia designed some good icons on the n810. When you compare most icons to Apple they look a bit flat. What do other people think and does anyone know whether the icons will be redesigned? There's a great user interface in terms of ease-of-use but it kind of looks more functional and dull with the icons

pelago

09-25-2009, 12:05 PM

They've used the icons from S60 on the N900. They don't appeal to me, either, although I couldn't say why not. I imagine Nokia will be sticking with these icons, at least for Maemo 5. They should be replaceable/themeable by the community, though.

qgil

09-25-2009, 03:31 PM

They are not "icons from S60" but "Nokia icons" shared across all platforms.

If you have graphical skills you can create and distribute a theme with your own icons pretty easily: http://konttoristhoughts.blogspot.com/2009/08/theme-maker-for-n900.html

twaelti

09-25-2009, 04:22 PM

Couldn't Nokia make available some of their icons under a somewhat open licence? It would make much sense if 3rd-party applications could re-use tool/action-related icons (such as e.g. Open/Edit/Save/Add/Delete/Cut/Copy/Paste/Publish etc.). This would enable non-Nokia developers to style their applications similar to the default Nokia apps. In turn, this would increase usability and make the apps more accessible to endusers.
One way to do this would be to publish a catalog of icons and annotate each one with a description of what it symbolizes, then nail the allowed usage using a EULA similar to the Nokia Binaries in the SDK.

pelago

09-25-2009, 04:29 PM

I'm pretty sure app developers are already able to use the Nokia toolbar icons in their own apps, aren't they?

timsamoff

09-26-2009, 01:26 AM

Maybe only slightly related, but see this:

https://garage.maemo.org/projects/guitemplate/

Tim

biggzy

09-26-2009, 03:13 AM

Theres alot of svg icons around the s60 forums with the same style as the new icons, iv made some myself, you can even find the original nokia icons in svg format so icons wont be an issue, id rather have all icons that match when using a 3rd party app, i do alot of modding on s60 and will do so on maemo if its easy enough.

qwerty12

09-26-2009, 03:35 AM

I'm pretty sure app developers are already able to use the Nokia toolbar icons in their own apps, aren't they?

Yes, this is what I do. Not sure on the legalities of it, but all I am doing is hardcoding a name, and if the icon is found then that is what is shown...

qgil

09-26-2009, 03:38 AM

The icons provided by the pre-installed themes are available for all applications and we actually encourage using them instead of bringing their own substitutes.

RTbar

10-01-2009, 01:39 PM

I wonder if someone can make some HTC style icons for maemo 5? My dad has a touch pro 2 (energy ROM) with Hero icons and they look much crisper and cleaner than the ones on the n900.

EDIT: like these

http://img.gsmarena.com/vv/pics/htc/htc-touch2-2.jpg
http://img.gsmarena.com/vv/pics/htc/htc-touch2-4.jpg

joppu

10-01-2009, 01:47 PM

The icons are OK in my opinion and make things more consistent since the same icons are shared between S60, Maemo 5 and Ovi.

RTbar

10-01-2009, 01:50 PM

The icons are OK in my opinion and make things more consistent since the same icons are shared between S60, Maemo 5 and Ovi.

they look like they were made 15 years ago

joppu

10-01-2009, 02:08 PM

they look like they were made 15 years ago

ZOMG iPhone's icons are so revolutionary! Rounded rectangles with glossy surface on them! How didn't Nokia think of this!?!

Seriously they are a big update from, for example s60v3 icons. Or do you think Diablo icons look superior to Maemo 5 ones?

joshua.maverick

10-01-2009, 02:17 PM

iphone icons are wack. The Nokia ones are strong, a bit TOO childish looking, but I do like the overall style for sure.

RTbar

10-01-2009, 02:19 PM

i don't care what they are an update from, they look dated... and I never mentioned the iPhone, but HTC has much nicer icons and I was wondering if anyone else would want to see similar icons in Maemo 5, why so defensive?

joshua.maverick

10-01-2009, 02:20 PM

RTbar

10-01-2009, 02:21 PM

I didn't mean to be defensive, by nokia icons, are you referring to the ovi icons?

sorry i was replying to the guy above you, no I was just looking through the n900 manual and saw some of the icons there

joppu

10-01-2009, 02:33 PM

http://imgkk.com/i/Qq6PGd.jpg
Ugly icons?

Corwin_bg

10-01-2009, 02:39 PM

They look great IMHO. Clean, simple and familiar to people coming from other Nokia phones.

RTbar

10-01-2009, 02:50 PM

http://imgkk.com/i/Qq6PGd.jpg
Ugly icons?

IMO I don't like them

mikkov

10-01-2009, 03:02 PM

The icons provided by the pre-installed themes are available for all applications and we actually encourage using them instead of bringing their own substitutes.

I am not very happy about the default toolbar icons situation.

Please correct where I'm wrong.

1. Licence for them is not clear. Read: "Where can I read the licence?"

2. They cannot be used as a GTK stock icons. You have to know the path for them.

3. Icons and paths are not documented.

4. Icons cannot be included in OSS packages. If I used them in OS program, the same code couldn't be used on another platform as is. So I don't want to use them.

Kozzi

10-01-2009, 03:12 PM

http://imgkk.com/i/Qq6PGd.jpg
Ugly icons?

It would be nice if they are bigger.

sjgadsby

10-01-2009, 03:29 PM

Or do you think Diablo icons look superior to Maemo 5 ones?

I do, yes.

mece

10-01-2009, 03:29 PM

http://imgkk.com/i/Qq6PGd.jpg
Ugly icons?

I don't think they're ugly, but I do think they look dated.

nymajoak

10-01-2009, 03:41 PM

I also think they look dated, especially compared to the rest of the stunning interface.

I like the applications menu and think it's great that the icons are similar to s60 to give a familiar feel and a "Nokia family feel", but I'm sure they could be given a fresher look without loosing that? After all, Maemo5 is new, fresh, fun and a huge step-up from s60.. Shouldn't the applications screen give that impression as well? :)

Canterbury

10-01-2009, 04:25 PM

just changed the n95 back to its original theme (which i think is dated and ugly) and those icons look better than the n900. At least the n95 has a 3d look.
the n900 icons look like they came from win3.1

benny1967

10-01-2009, 04:41 PM

3D, colors, trendy, maybe even animated effects... all these give the impression of being cheap and - why not say it - slutty.

Nokia at least try to preserve some class and style. They are a bit too bright and colorful for my taste, and I can even spot unnecessarily playful 3D effects here and there, but still: one of the most sophisticated and appealing icon sets available.

Nokias graphical design has always been one of the finest.

(I'm unhappy to read developers have issues with the way icons are handled. I don't understand one single word about that, but I would love to see as much of Nokias design as possible in third party applications. Everything that makes this unnecessarily complicated would be worth filing a bug - which I won't do because I wouldn't know what to write ;) ...)

eiffel

10-01-2009, 05:12 PM

the n900 icons look like they came from win3.1

Not quite, I think!

4222

Canterbury

10-01-2009, 05:18 PM

haha - i stand corrected !!! - good find, at least you know those icons are 25 years old

joshua.maverick

10-01-2009, 05:37 PM

RTbar

10-01-2009, 06:10 PM

Okay, I'm going to build a new icon set for my first "theme" so first thing I'd like is if community members can post some icons or links to icons that they DO like, then I can work off of those, and create a Maemo.Org theme that is boom.

It would be awesome if you could make a theme with icons from the HTC leo, those are nice slick icons.

maxximuscool

10-01-2009, 06:35 PM

Crappy WinMo ... I don't like WinMo.

allnameswereout

10-01-2009, 07:03 PM

iphone icons are wack. The Nokia ones are strong, a bit TOO childish looking, but I do like the overall style for sure.The Maemo 5 icons are clearly vector-based which is a Good Thing. Windows 3.1 didn't have that hehe. The icons remind me of KDE (I'm GNOME user)... which is OK btw.

I'd rather not see too many sharp edges in icons though, which isn't easy, but something the iPhone icons do very well. I don't call that childish, although 'round' equates to 'female' aspects whereas 'sharp' equates to 'male' aspects, so I can see where such is drawn from, and I can imagine a business user wouldn't like such. What they do very wrong, is that they have that red icon for pending stuff like e.g. 2 e-mails (which is then totally not synced with IMAP server) while for example the Weather icon just shows a sun with 23c and the calendar also shows a date. The home screen is supposed to be informative yet these icons aren't! Not good...

PS: I hope you notice some of the 'roundness' changes in various aspects of the Nokia N900 and Maemo 5, I surely did! For starts the slight curve on left and right side of the device.

Rotkaeqpchen

10-05-2009, 10:51 AM

IMO I don't like them

I like them very much, they are as good as the ones on the hero (i owned one!).

And with the Nokia Sans font its the unique Nokia feel that makes the device even better.

zerojay

10-05-2009, 10:54 AM

Those of you that hate these icons... how about being constructive and start up your own icon theme, that way the entire Maemo community can benefit.

thecursedfly

10-05-2009, 11:37 AM

Personally I absolutely love the Oxygen icons, and since they're GPL, I imagine it'll be very easy to find a KDE theme or just a Oxygen icon set option... :)

Some similar/largely-based-on icons sets I found right now and which I love can be found here:

"oxygen-refit" (http://www.windowsvistaplace.com/free-868-oxygen-refit-icon-pack/othersoftware/) (may just be the oxygen icons, dunno exactly :p )
example:
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/8247/screenshot061t.png
(click->big) (http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/8247/screenshot061t.png)

Gnome Crystal Diamon Icons (http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Gnome+Crystal+Diamond+Icons?content=99656)
example:
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/9241/gnmecrystalicons.png

examples of some oxygen icons:
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/8807/oxygenmenu.png

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/9819/oxygenicons.png
(click->big) (http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/9819/oxygenicons.png)

Anyway, the best bet is to try something personal that you like and that fits best with the N900 :)
hopefully we'll like it too.
Good work! ;)

joshua.maverick

10-12-2009, 07:59 PM

Okay, so I'm hoping during this week I'll have some time to start with the icons, can I get some reference material from people and I'll combine them with my own twist, I'm no master at Icons but I'm down to try.