Dashboard developer iSlayer has posted an interesting article examining the implications resolution independence (a new feature in Leopard) will have on icon design. Even before the issue of resolution independence, UI designers have been in two camps regarding the use of bitmap vs vector files for icons. It is in the nature of vector images to scale, but things get a bit out of proportion and wonky- looking after a while. Bitmap images can be tweaked to a designer's heart's content, but that means they have to produce a different image for each possible eventual icon size. iSlayer breaks down the deeper pros and cons of each format, including resource usage and if there is really a need for such high resolution interface components. Definitely a must read for those in, or interested in Mac interface design.iSlayer - Vector, Bitmap, and Resolution Independence
Dashboard developer iSlayer has posted an interesting article examining the implications resolution independence (a new feature in Leopard) will have on icon design. Even before the issue of resolution independence, UI designers have been in two camps regarding the use of bitmap vs vector files for icons. It is in the nature of vector images to scale, but things get a bit out of proportion and wonky- looking after a while. Bitmap images can be tweaked to a designer's heart's content, but that means they have to produce a different image for each possible eventual icon size. iSlayer breaks down the deeper pros and cons of each format, including resource usage and if there is really a need for such high resolution interface components. Definitely a must read for those in, or interested in Mac interface design.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-20-2006 @ 2:45PM
FamousPete said...
It's "pros and cons," not "pro's and con's."
http://www.authorpower.com/stories/storyReader$35
Just sayin'.
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11-21-2006 @ 9:38AM
dan said...
I'm running into those issues right now. I've been developing a "Mac OS X" theme for my Nokia which runs S60. Because there are so many differnt screen sizes on phones, the prefered icon format is SVG. So I've had to come up with a good balance between bitmapped and vector based images that look crisp on screens that have both low and high resolutions.
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