Description: This is nothing more than a "concept" collection of battery status icons in 22 and 32 pixels. (Please don't expect much.) I didn't like the battery icons that came with the icon set I was using, so I decided to see what I could come up with myself. Besides the icons, the archive includes two larger graphics that I started with to create the smaller icons. They look a little better on a darker background panel.
If you find these useful in any way, feel free to do whatever you want with them.Last changelog:
2008 02 03 - Added 22 pixel icons to the archive and tweaked the red X once again.
2008 01 28 - (Due to some helpful feeback....) Changed the charged/ac-adapter icon to greyscale (but left the original in the archive) and tweaked the "missing" icon's red X color.
2008 01 27 - Added two icons: battery missing & a different battery charged.
Hehe, it's kind of funny to see these batteries... I remember when they first started making those "press with your fingers to make the chemical strip turn yellow!" batteries. It was such a big deal... xD
Anyway, as DanRabbit already pointed out, the top and bottom of the battery don't agree on the shape of the 3D object.
As for what sticks out for me the most: I use a dark theme (with black windows and all), and without a light border, the black part of the battery would get lost in the background.
On the other hand, I'm not sure you want to be like Tango, with a light *and* dark border on *everything* (for the exact reason that they want to make their icons work on dark and light backgrounds; that's their goal, and you might not share it, at least on this work).
Hmm... but a 1px border is boring, and for a "realistic" style like this, probably inappropriate. Maybe a #808080 aura, which would show up as a "glow" on dark backgrounds, but as a "shadow" on light ones? Just a suggestion. Maybe I am focusing too much on practicality, when this is a concept work. ;)
Oops. Sorry that I haven't noticed that I had some new comments here. For some reason I forgot to turn on "subscriptions" for this content, so I didn't know you had written.
I agree with both of your feedback (DanRabbit and fyda). I'm not really good with "artwork", so getting feedback is helpful if I'm going to improve anything. I won't "promise" anything because I don't know if I'm capable of getting it to look good. As I stated above, I'd really like it if someone with real artistic ability would take the concept and rework it into something really nice looking.
Thanks.
I thought I might as well give my opinion on the icons!
The idea is nice, but for my pesonal taste I think I'd like it better if it wasn't so... "realistic".
Not a bad point.
Personally, I really don't like the "outlet" icon at all, and I'm trying to figure out what to do with at least that one. Every time my laptop is plugged in, I don't like it when that icon catches my eye. The rest fit pretty well with the icon set I'm using (at least to my eye).
Oh, I did make a "no battery present" icon a few days later. But for some reason, it doesn't ever show up on my system, even when I take the battery out. If I come up with something better for the "plugged in" icon, maybe I'll update the file here.
Thanks for the feedback.
Maybe you should just use a more contemporary plug for the plugged-in icon, though I do like the outlet. Maybe an outlet with a cord coming from one of the plugs. If you use a black cord, then it would cut down on the impact that would have against a dark background, also if you made the outlet more of a grayscale.
Thanks for the feedback and the encouragement. I did try to do something with the "cord" idea, but I just don't have the requisite skills to make it look good. But I did change the outlet to greyscale, brightened it, and raised the contrast. I think I actually like it now, so thanks for that idea. Since I'm using it with a "black and white" iconset, that makes a lot of sense.
Ratings & Comments
11 Comments
neat idea!
Hehe, it's kind of funny to see these batteries... I remember when they first started making those "press with your fingers to make the chemical strip turn yellow!" batteries. It was such a big deal... xD Anyway, as DanRabbit already pointed out, the top and bottom of the battery don't agree on the shape of the 3D object. As for what sticks out for me the most: I use a dark theme (with black windows and all), and without a light border, the black part of the battery would get lost in the background. On the other hand, I'm not sure you want to be like Tango, with a light *and* dark border on *everything* (for the exact reason that they want to make their icons work on dark and light backgrounds; that's their goal, and you might not share it, at least on this work). Hmm... but a 1px border is boring, and for a "realistic" style like this, probably inappropriate. Maybe a #808080 aura, which would show up as a "glow" on dark backgrounds, but as a "shadow" on light ones? Just a suggestion. Maybe I am focusing too much on practicality, when this is a concept work. ;)
Oops. Sorry that I haven't noticed that I had some new comments here. For some reason I forgot to turn on "subscriptions" for this content, so I didn't know you had written. I agree with both of your feedback (DanRabbit and fyda). I'm not really good with "artwork", so getting feedback is helpful if I'm going to improve anything. I won't "promise" anything because I don't know if I'm capable of getting it to look good. As I stated above, I'd really like it if someone with real artistic ability would take the concept and rework it into something really nice looking. Thanks.
it seems that the bottom is perfectly flat, while the top is rounded... also I'm not a fan of the outlet.. having said that, it looks nice.
I thought I might as well give my opinion on the icons! The idea is nice, but for my pesonal taste I think I'd like it better if it wasn't so... "realistic".
Not a bad point. Personally, I really don't like the "outlet" icon at all, and I'm trying to figure out what to do with at least that one. Every time my laptop is plugged in, I don't like it when that icon catches my eye. The rest fit pretty well with the icon set I'm using (at least to my eye). Oh, I did make a "no battery present" icon a few days later. But for some reason, it doesn't ever show up on my system, even when I take the battery out. If I come up with something better for the "plugged in" icon, maybe I'll update the file here. Thanks for the feedback.
Very, very nice! I disagree, and think that the realism is a good thing. The socket looks just a little too brown for my taste... But great work!
Maybe you should just use a more contemporary plug for the plugged-in icon, though I do like the outlet. Maybe an outlet with a cord coming from one of the plugs. If you use a black cord, then it would cut down on the impact that would have against a dark background, also if you made the outlet more of a grayscale.
Thanks for the feedback and the encouragement. I did try to do something with the "cord" idea, but I just don't have the requisite skills to make it look good. But I did change the outlet to greyscale, brightened it, and raised the contrast. I think I actually like it now, so thanks for that idea. Since I'm using it with a "black and white" iconset, that makes a lot of sense.
These icons look absolutely great! stop saying you don't have skills! Voted good. //Robert
Robert, thanks for the encouragement. (Hmm, maybe I should try to do this in a scalable format; that might be more useful.)