Working with icons
With the new user interface in MIGTurbo 2 coming together, we were faced with the daunting task of replacing the existing set of icons. In older versions of MIGTurbo we have been using pixel-based 16×16px icons, just like the ones you find in older versions of Windows (pre-XP). Whilst they’ve been serving us well, we thought a new set of vector-based icons would suit the new Graphical User Interface (GUI) better.
So, considering we’re currently using more than 350 icons in MIGTurbo, how to go about getting a replacement set?
First we looked at commercially available icon libraries, but we soon hit a couple of problems. To start with, existing libraries are subject to a range of complicated licence schemes, where you might or might not be able to use the purchased icons in distributable software products (whilst it’s true that MIGTurbo is a web based solution, it’s not after all a single hosted web site). Secondly, finding a set of icons in a suitable style catering for our rather specific needs proved to be difficult.
In the end we found it more convenient to create the replacement set ourselves. This gave us full control to add and/or modify icons to suit our needs, and obviously licencing wouldn’t be an issue either! Also, it was quite rewarding to get an opportunity to work in Illustrator again.
So, what at first seemed to be a daunting prospect turned out to be the easiest solution - with the added bonus of getting a unique one-of-the-kind icon set!
Below you can view a small subset of the new icons - I think they turned out quite well!
