Small icons, big decisions!
Well not that big of a decision, but I have started today to work on the small icons for kmix (bit tired of the timevault pixel pushing). I ah been putting this ones off my to do list cause they are way more difficult than what they seam to be. 22x22 icons are a pain to make even more than 16x16.....
So I have a design I'm mostly happy with for the master Chanel but I cant make up my mind on what works best of a series of versions made, so what do you think 1 2 3 or 4.... how does it look in your screen?
So I have a design I'm mostly happy with for the master Chanel but I cant make up my mind on what works best of a series of versions made, so what do you think 1 2 3 or 4.... how does it look in your screen?
My personal preference goes for 2 but... Not sure.... so I thought what a good opportunity to listen "read" our users.
Comments
I think I prefer #4 as well, since it's less cluttered than the others. In kmix the icons will usually be show several side by side, and in that case I think #2 and #3 will be too cluttered as well.
I think it makes easy to compare with other levels.
Maybe you can combine #3 and #4?
#1 is however a definite no-go because it is much too cluttered.
Just out of curiosity, is the icon static or does it change to reflect the current volume level?
Nice work by the way :)
Could you try #4 with lighter bars as in #3?
1 - is too cluttered
2 and 3 -- these are almost the same, except for a lightening of one of the levels. I think 3 is better because it emphasizes that something is changing. In two, the 'lit' and the 'unlit' levels have almost the same contrast, making it harder to see the change.
4 - doesn't have enough detail
For my eyes, easier to see the level
#4
Even if the actual level won't be displayed, the lighter bar at the top looks better: more contrast from the other bars.
Nice work
There is a small request, though. The /old school/ volume meters (I don't know whether it is still the case - I'm using 10 years old audio equipment) had the top bars coloured in red (the maximum volume one).
Other than that, I can't decide between #3 and #4. Perhaps the suggestion someone made to add only one tickmark on top and below to #4 is a good in between.
I vote for #2, maybe with another background it's different..
Is this just a static icon, or does the slider reflect some value?
At first I thought the green blobs were buttons, not feedback of the level chosen.
The level can be indicated by tick marks or LEDs: both seems unnecessary.
Level, but level of what? Perhaps the icon should include a musical note or a crescendo sign (sideways V) or a mixer symbol (X) (circle with an X in it), but then you have an icon in an icon.
It would be useful and also funky if the icon could reflect the actual volume level.
Number 4 please :)
In my opinion small icons should be as functional as possible, without considering resembling real world objects.
How about a speaker cone shape that is shaded gray, that fills up with white segments from left to right as the volume increases?
I tested a bit with GIMP, because i didn't like that vertical line ... here are my tries ... maybe it's useful:
http://ochsenreither.de/screenshots/KMIX.PNG
Less clutter!
I vote for #4 then. It looks the best on my EIZO LCD. #1 & #2 are too sharp, #3 is too blurry. #4 is sth between.