Filed under: Odds and ends
We [heart] Icons really does [heart] icons
One of the most common ways to customize your tried-and-true desktop is by changing the wallpaper. While easy and effective, the wallpaper switcheroo is not the only trick up the sleeves of the customizers among us. For some, the most rewarding customization results from replacing icons. There are many reasons to do this, including replacing system and application icons to create an overall aesthetic, easing the identification of a particular external hard drive by using its product image as an icon, or even replacing poorly-designed icons entirely (we're looking at you, Adobe).
We Love Icons aims to make it easy for icon lovers to discover new icons from around the web that are free for personal use. In their own words, designers Dan Wiersema and Nando Albuquerque started We Love Icons because, well... they love icons! The site itself is very well designed and easy to navigate; there is even an easy-to-spot option for filtering icons based on type: Mac-compatible, PNG file format, or Windows-compatible.
Further adding to the greatness of this site, the How-To page is a great resource for those new to the icon-customization game. There are links to external content on the history of icons, tutorials on changing icons, and even design-related icon articles. The How-To area also features an Apps section which lists several useful programs for replacing and creating icons. Each application list item includes a one-sentence summary, the application's platform (web, Mac, or Windows), and also the application's price.
Overall, I am impressed with the content of the site and the quality of its presentation. We Love Icons has secured a bookmark in my "Icons" folder right next to the link to InterfaceLIFT's icon section. Dear readers, I present this question to you: in my never-ending search for the best icons, do you have any favorites that you have either designed or found? Hit up the comments and share the love.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jonathan Badeen said 9:27PM on 5-09-2009
InterfaceLift hasn't had a new icon for 11 months. I think it's dead. You should frequent the icon sections of DeviantArt. While there is a lot of crap on there, a lot of good stuff gets posted too. I would love to see We Love Icons prosper though since they seem to only post the cream of the crop.
On a separate note I would like to pose a question to everybody. Does anybody know where I can get high quality icons of Windows XP icons. I have a whole bunch that were redrawn at 128x128 but I would love more and/or even larger ones. My reason for wanting this is for use with Fusion and Parallels in Unity/Coherence mode. They show the open apps icons in the dock but they are all pixelated. I know how to replace them but a lot of the times I don't have anything to replace them with because I want them to be the real deal.
Reply
Aron Trimble said 10:10PM on 5-09-2009
You can probably find some good quality Windows-application replacement icons over at wincustomize.com. If you register for a free account, you get access to even more content. Most of the stuff there is in PNG format, but the free version of img2icns on the Mac will convert those to a Mac-compatible icon format.
Jonathan Badeen said 10:24PM on 5-09-2009
But I'm not looking for "replacement" icons. I'm looking for ones that look identical to the Windows XP ones but at a higher resolution. Essentially redrawn versions. I have about 20 right now.
Jonathan Badeen said 9:31PM on 5-09-2009
Oh yeah and I forgot to mention the iconfactory (http://iconfactory.com/freeware/icon) and PixelPress Icons (http://www.pixelpressicons.com/) which hadn't been updated in a very long time but looks like it's about to make a big return with a beautiful site and hopefully some new beautiful icons to add to his/her/their collection/portfolio.
Reply
iHate i stuff said 10:10PM on 5-09-2009
that’s funny. i was just on We Love Icons this morning for the first time. very nice site, well thought out.
I am also on a quest for good application icons. it seems like no one is making those. all i see that are good are system icons
Reply
Martin Leblanc said 2:54AM on 5-10-2009
http://www.Iconfinder.net has tons of new icons.
Reply
schroef said 6:50AM on 5-10-2009
You should all check out http://www.iconpaper.org/
Very nice website :)
Reply
ianlive said 11:33AM on 5-10-2009
This is the kind of article I love seeing on TUAW. The site mentioned is great and really does have really well designed icons. I laughed when I saw their replacement for Handbreak since it's great and I'm anxious to replace whatever the hell those dev's were thinking when they drew up a cocktail and pineapple. WTF?
A few questions to others. I have always gone the route of clicking "Get Info" on the app in question in the Application folder, then using copy and paste to swap out the icon in the Get Info panel. What I'm curious about is;
a) How can I keep a backup of the original icon(s) before pasting the new version in.
b) Why do some use .png and some use .icns if using the copy/paste method above. Is there an advantage to an .icns file and how do you swap that for the original if not using the method I described.
c) Is there a way to just change the icons (and Dock images in the Core Services folder) for one user account? I want to keep the stock imagery for other users on my machine.
Thanks.
Reply