T10243: Some KDE applications could use better icons

[Noah Davis]

ndavis added a comment.


  In T10243#206508 <https://phabricator.kde.org/T10243#206508>, @alex-l wrote:
  
  > To be honest I don't like the new icons. In general Uri with the original Breeze and Ken with its revamped version set original styles with their consistency. They are for me real visual designers. Instead now I see new icons added with lower quality, mixing different styles and even recycling icons from other sets (I hate this so much that I manually delete them from my installation). Breeze icons are not "take an icon from another set, remove/add gradients, done."
  >
  > When I submitted my first Breeze icons the review process was more selective and we all agreed that we should avoid updating icons as much as possible. I appreciate the enthusiasm in improving Breeze but this is KDE and it deserves much more in my opinion.
  >
  > Now with an update of my system I saw the Activities icon was updated. I discussed a new icon for Activities once and after many attempts Ivan decided that the old 3-dots one should remain. I was OK. But now Activities icon is replaced by... I don't know how to describe it. Sorry for who designed it but it's just bad.
  >
  > I think I will just fork Breeze for personal use, saving my icons without any "optimization" script to preserve them.
  
  
  It would be helpful if you pointed out what needed to be changed instead of making a vague complaint. Whenever I can, I try to use parts of icons that we already use or are similar enough to the existing style. I also try to make others do the same.
  
  I didn't write that specific patch, but do you have any idea how tough it is to design icons with little documentation and little prior experience with making icons?
  
  It would have been nice if thorough documentation was left behind by the creators of Breeze. The HIG at the time just didn't teach any of the important details for making an icon that looks like it belongs in Breeze. Most of the colors that are still used in the older Breeze icons are undocumented, so we have a very incomplete color palette for making icons. I mean I'm not better than anyone else in that regard because writing is hard, but still.
  
  I started making icons by learning how to make Breeze icons. I studied the existing Breeze icons for about half a year on my own (I was also working on making Breeze icons for YaST in this time) before I became a KDE developer. I can't expect other people to do that. When I started submitting icons, there weren't many people besides @ngraham to review them. Usually, its still just me, @ngraham and @trickyricky26; all people who haven't really seen much of the original designers of Breeze. Most of the colors in the older colorful Breeze icons are undocumented and the reasons why some shapes were chosen over (currently) more common designs were undocumented. If you know Breeze well and the current state of Breeze icons bothers you so much, why don't you help in the review process? It sure would have helped me when I started. Then I could have passed on more of what you already know.
  
  These things are what happens when the experienced people with all the unwritten knowledge go away. The redesigning of icons is a direct result of that. People redesign when they don't understand the system they are working with.
  
  This post might sound a bit hostile, but please understand that it's just so frustrating to work with so little from the beginning and have someone who is a capable designer and who seems to have some old forgotten knowledge complain about the state of things. Maybe you and everyone else had other things in your life, maybe you and everyone else got bored (I know I am getting bored with icon work). That's fair, but try to understand what the rest of us have to deal with and maybe help out.

TASK DETAIL
  https://phabricator.kde.org/T10243

To: ndavis
Cc: Leon0402, IohannesPetros, alex-l, starbuck, cullmann, IlyaBizyaev, arrowd, abetts, stikonas, knauss, mglb, filipf, mludwig, aacid, lesliezhai, elvisangelaccio, kossebau, trickyricky26, ndavis, yurchor, #kde_games, #ark, #kde_pim, #discover_software_store, #yakuake, #kate, #okular, #gwenview, #konsole, #kde_applications, #vdg, ngraham, cblack, konkinartem, ian, jguidon, hannahk, Ghost6, jraleigh, MrPepe, fbampaloukas, squeakypancakes, alexde, GB_2, crozbo, firef, alexeymin, skadinna, genaxxx, aaronhoneycutt, jriddell, mbohlender
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