Now it’s time for a visual refresh of the app.
The topic has been discussed numerous times, and this evolution has been pending since a while: good news, these changes will take place in v10.7.
This will start with a new icon, but changing the icon cannot be an isolated change. It needs to be consistent with other components of the app, namely the default setup, the app style (menus, settings screens, various graphics inside the app) and also related artwork such as the banner that can be seen on the Play Store, which is most often displayed instead of the icon itself.
Several great icons have been designed by several members of this community. Of course we all have our own taste and it is hard to select a single icon among many other ones, but it’s time to choose, and here are my preferred ones:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/111836669294532396593/posts/brSQHYrJuDC – first one, with shadows (from Jacob Barton)
https://plus.google.com/u/0/101399775307387148827/posts/a6LEoLCkxa1 – black and white (from Viggo Jorgen)
https://plus.google.com/u/0/113687364661606395395/posts/4ETk1DETS5w – black and white, round (from Gerd Reuter based on the one from Viggo Jorgen)
Now based on this selection, I asked myself why I liked these icons and what was the goal:
– I like the contrasted colors dark/white as found in Viggo’s icon and variation from Gerd.
– I like Jacob’s icon for its sharp angles and simple shapes. In the end, I prefer this abstracted design over a more classic house icon.
In my opinion the icon must be clear, contrasted, sharp and easy to grasp. I don’t necessarily want the icon to represent the app: if it can convey a feeling through an abstract drawing then it’s fine too, and maybe better. I would like the icon and the app to share some colors, if possible.
The icon from Jacob is my preferred of the three, but colors were not my preferred ones. So what I tried was to use the shape from Jacob’s icon, and adopt a more contrasted color set such as Viggo and Gerd ones. I selected dark grey and white for the background, to get the most contrasted colors (and also because I plan to reuse them for menus, screens and icons inside the app – white theme) but kept the red flash for it’s “punch”, and because a monochrome image doesn’t really catch the eye. Finally I kept some shadows… because I like that.
The result is the icon in the album above. What about this one? Do you like it?
Source file: http://www.pierrox.net/android/applications/lightning_launcher/misc/icon.svg
D5 Creation
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i like the thoughts you made and wrote,
thanks for the explanation
but in my opinion it’s to conservative
I miss a certain sophistication or freshness
i can live with it, it’s better than the old one
and it’s your decision anyway
edit: reminds me too much of tasker
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I like it. It’s simple, clean and contains a message : this app is lean and mean. No unnecessary whistles and bells, just the essential.
And THAT message covers lightning launcher too!
Go for it…
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I feel that one of LLX’s most powerful yet underplayed capabilities is control and functionality via gestures. In this it has the unique capacity to turn android into a gesture-based OS rather than the legacy icon environment … a much more interactive use of the touchscreen space. I believe that promotion of this aspect would be a further differentiator for LLX.
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I would go with the first link, the dark round one… Like he said this is too close to Tasker.. Plus the dark one jus looks more powerful with a quiet sophistication
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I like the red bolt on the black outlined, white circle.
I think any similarities to tasker’s icon is irrelevant
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I’ve always wanted th all apps icon to be updated, it is to small compared to other icons, maybe one of th icons above with th standard nine white dots.
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I’m with Harry Buskes Can th gestures include vibration settings and gain th ability to work even when other apps are open?
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Klyntone Bourserk please post that as feature suggestion, not here. This is about icons, not gestures.
I’m fine with any of these icons. For the circular one posted in here: I think it should be rotated a bit in any direction. It’s just not best to me in this angle…
Regarding tasker: I don’t think it’s really similar to tasker. Anyway, LL has tasker integration, so a little bit of similarity doesn’t give a wrong message, right?
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the more I think about it the more I wish something completely different
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Still… Viggo Jorgen ‘s suggestion is the best, most subtle one
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Suggestion: collect a choice and post a voting
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Too sharp, pokes eyes. Circle variation of my design by gerd reuter is really good. However, after a time I’m not so sure about house shape, in general it’s OK, but maybe some lines should be thinner other bolder… such small things any way
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Cool, I like it. I keep trying out Lightning Launcher, but have found it to be confusing for me. Looking forward to checking out the updates.
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The red color is too bright. Could use a slightly toned down version.
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Thanks for your feedback! Esthetically, my preferred one is without any doubt the one from Viggo Jorgen with the circle variation from +gerd reuter. But over time I came to the conclusion that a house isn’t anymore the right symbol for this app, hence my choice for a sharp flash which is more in line with the spirit of the app, exactly as Bart Hoste said.
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Pierre Hébert Right. Compared to other launchers, LL has become more of a “framework”/”runtime environment” for developers 😄
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Yea I agree it takes a lil more smarts to appreciate this launcher lol
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Lutz Linke true, that’s why I think I will need to focus on better editing tools in a not too distant future.
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Yes, the thing that keeps me from using LL as my default is the inability to easily make good looking folders.
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It would be nice to select a standard folder like other launchers with a bulk add option..i know it can be done but takes alot of work for me
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