Reinventing the Folder
Comments: 4
In this day and age you can be reasonably sure that most people won’t have too much trouble with the meaning of the two icons above. It’s one of the treasured secrets of interface designers that an awful lot of the work has already been done for you (don’t tell anyone this - we like to keep it mysterious and esoteric).
I’m all for variations on themes but in situations that call for a no-frills, tell-me-the-status-of-my-data approach, why would you go reinventing the folder?
Correct answer: you wouldn’t.
What’s the bet that tomorrow a certain client does?
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Posted to General Rants • 2002.02.24 (Sun) • 23:19
Comments
Posted by Mary Beth 2002.02.25, 01:55
ick. So if that is a new “folder” what’s the corresponding document icon? This falls deeply into the “what were they thinking?” category in my book.
Posted by James 2002.02.25, 13:42
Know the trick, make it look like glass. They will think they are cutting edge. yet you get the shape you want ;).
Posted by jh 2002.02.25, 16:30
Mary Beth -
The top one is the document icon, the lower one is the folder. Yeah, I know; doc icons are generally shown in ‘portrait’ orientation… but they’re insisting on the same orientation for both.
As for “what were they thinking” - believe me, you don’t want to know! This little example is just the tip of the iceberg.
James -
This would be funny if it hadn’t actually been a request. I kid you not. OS X and Windows XP must be the bane of many designers’ lives right now. ;-)
-jh
Posted by Mary Beth 2002.02.26, 13:38
ah! I struggled with the top one - document or not. Funny how the orientation is so ingrained in us eh?
I’m about had it with transparency and shadows. Geesh. Nice trick, but it’s just not THE most important thing in the world for me. I don’t care what if the menu bar is striped or not. Don’t care if the buttons are 3-d, translucent etc etc. Just keep them consistent so I don’t have to think. At least reward me for being a computer use lo these many years!
Frankly, when I read big letters on a box that say “New Aqua Interface” I wonder if that’s all I’m getting. Is the software really re-written well for 10?
OK, back to my dark hole now.
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