Filed under: OS, Software, Cult of Mac, Odds and ends, Graphic Design, Snow Leopard
The beautifully detailed art of Mac OS X app icons
Over at his blog Cult of Mac, writer Leander Kahney published a post this morning featuring full-size 512 x 512 pixel screenshots of Mac icons. As he notes, the highly detailed icons are part of a move to make the OS resolution independent, but they're also an indication of Apple's attention to detail.Many of the icons are works of art when viewed at their full size. The TextEdit icon, for example, is actually a note from "John Appleseed" to "Kate" featuring the text of the "Here's to the crazy ones" ads of the late 1990s. The Jar Launcher app, featuring a cup of hot Java sitting on a paper napkin, reveals miniscule bubbles on the side of the coffee, as well as real Java code written on the napkin.
All of these icons are indications of the fanatical attention to detail of Apple designers. After looking at Kahney's gallery of art, I gathered my own collection of icon goodness from both Apple and third-party apps. Click the gallery icon below to see what I found. If you have found any 512 x 512 icons that are incredibly good, send 'em to us at http://tuaw.tumblr.com/submit.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Will said 6:13PM on 9-05-2009
The bad perspective in Little Snapper makes it look kinda nasty at full size. The lens assembly is perfectly circular as if you're looking at it from straight on, but you can see the top of the camera too. Eew.
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rob said 6:20PM on 9-05-2009
looks like a gibson les paul.
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Nick K. said 12:57AM on 9-06-2009
It's a Gibson Custom Shop ES-335. Bourbon or Dark Burst? Or just a vintage SunBurst.
I know for sure it's not a Gibson Les Paul because I'm looking at mine right now, :P
rob said 9:38AM on 9-06-2009
sorry, i should have checked wikipedia. actually, up until now i was pretty sure, the les paul would be a semi-hollow one. thanks for delighting me :)
Galley said 6:20PM on 9-05-2009
I like Bodega.
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JackSim said 6:23PM on 9-05-2009
The GarageBand guitar is a Gibson ES-335.
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josh said 6:24PM on 9-05-2009
The Scribbles (by atebits) icon is pretty nice. http://twitpic.com/gl9f1
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Blaktornado said 6:32PM on 9-05-2009
The texture on Address book rocks.
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Blaktornado said 6:35PM on 9-05-2009
And the detail in the Automator is marvellous!
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Zachary Waldowski said 11:16PM on 9-05-2009
Pixar sure seems to think so.
David said 6:55PM on 9-05-2009
I also like VectorDesigner, Delicious Library 2 and Snowtape. View them at http://emberapp.com/davidrd85
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Thomas said 7:02PM on 9-05-2009
The GarageBand guitar is not an ES-335 but an ES-345. See here: http://www.gibson.com/_microsite/electricspanish/345.html
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Mitchell Scott said 7:08PM on 9-05-2009
This is something that I love about Apple and developers for OS X. They take the time to make sure that every last detail is perfect, even if it doesn't affect the experience. I like knowing that a graphic artist somewhere sat down at his desk and didn't close Photoshop until it was perfectly right... no errors, nothing.
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RickMacMerc said 7:22PM on 9-05-2009
The Pages icon is even more impressive when you examine its transparency. Put it on a colored background!
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Cycomachead said 7:31PM on 9-05-2009
Yep! many icons are like this. ScreenSharing is neat. Put something in the dock w/magnification on max. :)
Andrew Scott said 7:22PM on 9-05-2009
The detail in Papers' icon is extraordinary. If you look carefully you'll see a little iMac on the desk inside the library.
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Cycomachead said 7:29PM on 9-05-2009
There's so many icons to love! Looking through my apps folder:
Aperture
Text Edit
System Pref's
Stanza
The Dictionary -for it's placeholder latin text. It's kind of funny!
Tweetie
Transmission - uh, well...
Finder. How can you not love it?
Exposé
Grapher
Activity Monitor
ScreenSharing
TextWrangler
XCode -incredibly detailed
Interface Builder
Instruments
Ok, that's more than enough of a list. Also, I love the Library folder icon, as well as leopard's folders in general. Plus the desktop folder icon is always updated to the default desktop.
Oh, and the newtorked PC icon is awesome!!!
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PSM said 8:43PM on 9-05-2009
One of the more surprising ones: the VLC traffic cone has very detailed reflective strips on the white parts.
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Cameron Smith said 8:49PM on 9-05-2009
Mr. Bartelme (tap tap tap) is a great icon/UI designer...
http://www.bartelme.at/showroom
Also a great app...
http://bit.ly/kL0Xf
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Andre said 10:05PM on 9-05-2009
The best one I've seen: the one that represents a Windows network share. It's actually a Microsoft blue-screen of death when you zoom in on it.
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