PyrusMalus | Design

Icon Design

Simul8

SIMUL8 develops, markets and supports business simulation software for enterprise-wide use in business, government, education, and any organization that handles flows of orders, people, transactions or products.

PyrusMalus were asked to design a new set of icons for their latest software release in May 2002.

Ideas

It was essential that the icons conveyed the professional nature of the software and that the meaning behind each icon could be easily determined.

As the software we were proposing had to be used with Windows 2000 and XP it was essential, from a visual point of view, that the icons we designed carried a similar style and colour scheme.

In some cases, the icons were already predetermined and simply needed a makeover in the new style we were proposing. However, most of the application-specific icons had no existing representations, and so had to be designed.

Other icons were required within the drawing palette.

In addition, on-screen icons were used in the main simulation window.

Process

A suitable style was established for the icons, and various concepts for each icon were explored. Although each icon had to be treated individually it was important that the icons worked as part of a set. Usability tests were carried out on each concept to help determine which concepts were most appropriate.

Once the concept behind each icon was decided, a number of design iterations were performed to translate the ideas into workable icons. This process serves to refine and improve the icon until it works at various sizes: the toolbar icons had to work at 24x24 pixels; drawing tools had to work at 16x16 pixels; and on-screen icons had to work at 32x32 pixles. The smaller sizes are especially challenging to create, as a lot of visual information has to be compressed into a small space.

Copyright

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