You're the Pundit: Identify the Icons

When it comes to evaluating the next big thing, we turn to our secret weapon: the TUAW braintrust. We put the question to you and let you have your go at it. Today's topic is the iPhone prototype icons.

We were having a look through the prototype gallery over on our sister site Engadget, and a shot of some early icons caught our eye. Some icons seem to have persisted almost unchanged to modern iOS (Safari, Weather, Stocks), others underwent major redesign (Phone and Mail).

Looking back at these prototypes, do you think Apple was really going to give us a 4-by-4 puzzle game (shades of OS 9!) and what was up with some of those icons like the lightning bolt, the yellow bar, and the airplane? The blue icon on the bottom bar was the contacts app, right?

If anything, it's surprising how close, at least in terms of general functionality, this icon set was to the final version: from SMS to Mail, Photos to iTunes. And that doesn't even mention the dock at the bottom.

What do you think of these early icon designs, and what are your thoughts about how their design has evolved in the last 5 years? You tell us. Join in the comments with all your analysis.