What intern designed Adobe’s CS3 icons?
Posted by Dr. Macenstein
Above: Adobe’s old icons (top) vs. their “improved” ones (bottom).
I had been a member of the Adobe After Effects 8 (aka CS3) beta testing program for the last half a year or so, as well as being part of the version 7 beta team. When testing After Effects 7, the beta app’s icon was a bland “placeholder” of an icon which was replaced with a nicer, more stylized, “Adobe-looking” icon when the final app was released. Same with the splash screen.
So I was not at all shocked to see a similarly lame set of icons and splash screens during the After Effects 8 beta test.
However, today when I received my new store-bought copies of both Adobe After Effects CS3 Professional and the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium, you could have knocked me over with the missing feather from PhotoShop’s CS2 icon. There was the same horrible, blocky “placeholder” icon I had seen for months, and the same boring splash screen upon launching. I installed the CS3 Creative Suite and was sad to see Adobe put the same amount of “effort” into all the CS3 apps that it had into After Effects 8.
Now, I realize the Adobe Creative Suite has been out for some time now, so perhaps this is something many of you have gotten used to, but this “branding” that all the apps in the CS3 line now share is perhaps one of the ugliest and most poorly designed looks of any app I have seen on OS X, especially a for DESIGN suite.
I can see what Adobe was (hopefully) going for here. The new icons look similar to the periodic table of elements, and maybe that is supposed to be some sort of metaphor for Adobe apps making up the… universe? Whatever. To me, they form the element “Suck-tonium“, which is dangerous and highly unstable.
Above: Adobe’s previous splash screens employed some cool transparency settings that broke out of the “boxy” boundaries of other apps (left) and contained graphics which inspired you to create (right).
Some of you (and maybe even ALL of you) may be asking, “What’s the big deal? It’s just icons and splash screens.”
Well, yes, their hideousness has no direct effect on how I use the product, but they certainly make a horrible first impression. The icons and splash screens are the first thing people see when trying out an app for the first time, and something I, as an avid user, see up to 10 times a day. (And boy, do they look horrible lined up in the dock! I feel like I am playing Scrabble.)
Above: Even Macromedia’s bubble icons had more style than the new CS3 blocks.
I don’t know whether this look is supposed to suggest a melding of Adobe and Macromedia’s “looks”, but it certainly has me confused. Macromedia’s icons, while never as intricate as Adobe’s, still had a designed look to them and a certain flair of their own. Perhaps Adobe wanted to save a few bucks this time around by not hiring artists to design their icons and splash screens, but honestly, it was money well spent in the past, in my opinion.
Just as with any situation in life, I think there’s a valuable lesson here that can be summed up via the wisdom found in the songs of 1980’s hair bands. In this case, Cinderella’s 1998 hit “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)“.
I like the CS3 icons, personally, though I only use Photoshop. However, if you are looking for some replacement icons, check these out: http://www.artofadambetts.com/weblog/?p=190 .
monthsago.com
I like them a whole lot better than anything that has come out of either adobe or macromedia, they follow the first rule of design, that is reduce it to the minimum possible to get the message across, they’re clean, well laid out and uses great color coding for their entire line, at last this programs actually look like a suite.
just because they’re simple doesn’t mean they’re bad designed.
i see it like this.
this is the first time adobe really released ‘macromedia’ with their creative suite. sure the old macromedia icons were nice on their own. sure the adobe icons were ‘beautiful’ as well. but adobe needed to re-brand both. not wanting to be decidedly ‘adobe’ or ‘macromedia’ in design, a new design was settled on.
plus – i like this ‘periodic table of applications’ icon scheme. usability experts would actually find fault with the old ones. now you know just from looking at the icon what application it is compared to the old icons. it’s a little more functional, however less beautiful. i do think it is beautiful in its simplicity though.
but that’s just me?
andrew,
Yes, I realize this isn’t the most timely article. I put off upgrading from CS2 to 3 until I had to, so today is my first time seeing all the apps’ new icons and startup screens.
-The Doc
I got your new icons right here:
i hated the icons too, at first. now i love them. they’re the easiest to spot in the candy arcade of the dock. brilliant and simple.
Well written, I agree with every word!
It would have been better if they just left the Icons and the splash screens as they were and save not only money but the time that it took to switch them. I sure took them enough time to release this ver.
Haven’t you got anything more interesting to think and talk about?
Adobe has had difficulties with their splash screens in the past — anyone remember Ai6? The splash screen had Venus (the woman) with as I remember a little letter T and a large letter A. A pun — a little T and A.
The designer denied designing it in that manner and the “blog” (forum) notes were blocked where only a few got to read the note that posted it.
=-0
Ha Ha! It DOES have a bit of a Scrabble feel to it, now that you mention it! I guess that’s mainly if you have the whole se though. People with just photoshop probably won’t care.
“I don’t know whether this look is supposed to suggest a melding of Adobe and Macromedia’s “looksâ€, but it certainly has me confused.”
It’s the periodic table of elements – it should be instantly recognizable to anyone that wasn’t sleeping in 6th grade science. I really like the icons, but then I’m an IT geek and not a designer.
If yyou claim interest in design. please don’t italicise punctuation!
Sorry about the stutter.
The new icons are really kewl. You need to go along with the time man.
I LOVE their new icons. Keeps you from clicking the wrong one and having to wait 3 minutes just to get back into the correct program.
The old ones were pretty, but not distinctive. Although I ultimately learned to tell them apart.
The new ones are defiantly “uncreative” the “creative suite”…
OMG — did you really say “Cinderella’s 1998 hit”??? The line originally comes from Joni Mitchell’s song, “Big Yellow Taxi”.
The beta for Adobe’s Lightroom had a cool filmstrip icon for the dock, but the retail version came with a bland, boxy LR icon, which is disappointing, especially sitting in the tray next to the CS2 logos for Photoshop and Bridge.
Just replace the icons with whatever you want, right click, get info, highlight the icon and then paste a new one
I have to say, the icons are sweet, they look like items from the old element table from science class, and they represent the different elements of Adobe’s design suite. An unexpected move, but a good time to do that since they merged the Macromedia products.
Its called FORM FOLLOWING FUNCTION. Stop your bitching.
Well you certainly have no credibility with a site like this. You have no design skills whatsoever so quit your bitching and leave design and design critique to the professionals.
Why is this a shock now? What has Adobe really contributed to the creative industry in years? They’ve rested on their laurels and old code forever! The icons are the least of their concern. getting your dollars for those do nothing upgrades is their priority. Now that they own Macromedia, they’ll do even less for more money. Have a look at Pixelmator. It’s a promising Photoshop replacement. I expect development on it to pass Photoshop eventually. It’ll take some time though.
Lee,
Yes, I get that it is supposed to mimic the periodic table of elements, I said that a couple paragraphs above the one you quoted. I just find the icons decidedly UNcreative, for a creative suite.
and “poopy”, well, you may have a point.
🙂
-The Doc
These are the best looking icons Adobe has ever released. Simple and functional. I agree with Poopy, Not much design credibility from a posting on a site that looks like “Macenstein”
im a designer, and i like them.
I think the new CS3 branding is a great way to bring functional understanding to the idea of a “suite”. I hate to be repetitive, but the acronyms and colors really work well for quick glancing and knowing exactly which program you’re about to open. This is what an icon is supposed to be. Functional. Oh… and they are pretty too 🙂
this is a stupid waste of time. the icons are simple and straight forward. i love them.
Wow, I guess there’s no accounting for taste! 😉
I’m with you Doc. I tried the Photoshop beta and thought the same thing you did, that it was a placeholder icon until the final icon artwork was ready. I’m going to copy the icons from CS2 to folders, install CS3, then copy the old icons back over; when the time comes.
You’d think an outfit that makes it’s living off of creativity software could come up with something a little classier than these. So, function over form is the new “in” design mantra?!? Ick.
I don’t recall ever being confused and inadvertently clicking the wrong icon before. Maybe because I actually USE these apps daily. I liked when they had personality. I agree the new icons are so dumbed down, they just look stupid.
Sometimes I think many people just assume that if a big company that has the resources and money available to make a nice-looking package but chooses NOT to, then it must be some super smart, no-design = great design type thing, and they just accept it.
Maybe they realize they’ve gone about as far as they can with these apps, so in order to justify any of us plunking down another $1500 on CS4, they’re big selling point will be NICE ICONS!
Here;s the rational:
http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2006/12/
whats_up_with_the_icon.html#comments
Eric,
Wow,
That was quite a load of bulls–t. I wonder if Adobe even believes it.
Nice to see a bunch of people have called Adobe on it.
Eric, Delbert,
It’s also interesting to see that Adobe in fact claims they were NOT going for a Periodic Table of Elements” look. that makes the “Design” even more baffling. At least that theory had a half-assed “concept” behind it!
Don’t worry, the icons will grow on you. I like them a lot better than any other version now, even though I hated them when they were new. The splash screens are so much simpler and “zen” kinda. No distractions.
So what happens in this “unified branding theory” to icons in countries that don’t speak english or use roman characters? Does the Japanese version of Photoshop still use an icon with the initials “Ps” in them?
And for those of you who can’t tell what program goes with what icon, you could try reading name text that goes with every icon.
The form/colour and simplicity of these icons make them great. There is nothing wrong with them, they are 100% then the old ones.
Like so many I have grown to love the CS3 icons because they make it so easy to spot on the dock or whatever launcher you use. If you must have the old Icons you can always swap them out 😀
I agree that they are great and easy to read. Form over function is true design. Kudos to Adobe for getting back to basics
Personally I really like these new CS3 icons, and the new CS3 splash screens…
Well, with Leopard allowing for GIANT icons, these things will suck even more come october.
I read on an Adobe blog that the icons were designed by the folks at Macromedia. Maybe they felt like they were getting shafted in the merger, and these ugly, brain-dead generic icons were their passive-aggressive way of showing their displeasure.
Seriously, who gives a shit? C’mon, what do the program icons have to do with the product and its capabilities? If all you have to bitch about is the icons and splash screens, then you really don’t have much to bitch about, do you?
How about joining the real world and worrying about things that matter? Geez, grow up.
Wow, looks like these “beautiful” new Adobe icons somehow didn’t make the list of the top 15 Mac OS X icons (although a previous CS2 one did!)
This from someone who decided to use Myriad for their title treatment.
Wow, I can’t believe how many people like the new icons. Personally, I think they suck. They show no imagination whatsoever. For a design company, Adobe did a lousy job on this one. How original, a box with 2 letters. Wow! I’m impressed. Sure, you can change them to what you want. But, the point is, why should I have to?
Happy to see some criticism for those lousy icons.
In fact, they are not properly “icons” at all. Icons are supposed to be pictures; concise graphics that easily identify an application, directory or document.
The CS3 icons are actually ANTI-ICONS: You must READ text to identify the applications for which the icons stand, insted of doing what’s been ingrained for decades – identifying your apps with a graphic.
“A picture is worth a thousand words.”
Spent a thousand bucks with Adobe, and they make it clear you’re only worth two @#$% letters!
I like older version of icons, shame on them!
Mmmmmm, I do like them….a lot.
I cant believe these new icons!! If I didn’t know any better I would swear this was a beta version or a joke of some sort. What the hell is wrong with the old icons? They looked way nicer on the dock and at-least look like someone went effort designing them. NEW ICONS SUCK.