[IAEP] Alternative icon design for Get Internet Archive Books, please comment

[Eben Eliason]

On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 11:18 AM, Jim Simmons<nicestep at gmail.com> wrote:
> Eben and Tony:
>
> I like your design, but if I decide to go with something like that I
> think my Inkscape skills are good enough to duplicate it.  I think
> Tony makes some really good points though, so what I think I'll do is
> go with my own (Gary Martin inspired)  design with the speed lines for
> now.  I was not so much concerned that kids wouldn't know what speed
> lines are as I was that what I had drawn would be recognizable as
> speed lines.  And apparently they are.

Sure, no problem! I'd definitely recommend trying the "filled" browse
icon in your design, since it appears you are using lines that are
much narrower than the style guidelines permit (3.5 for primary
stroke, 2.25 for secondary strokes). The speed lines, likewise, should
probably be bumped up a little bit to 2.25.

> I should have release 2 of this Activity ready in a few days.  The new
> one will have multiline table cells for long titles or lists of
> authors, a progress bar to indicate download progress, and the ability
> to choose between DJVU and PDF as a download format.  This last
> feature is to accommodate .82 users which have a Read Activity that
> does not support DJVU well.

Awesome.

Eben

> Thanks to everyone who commented or tried to come up with designs.
>
> James Simmons
>
> On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 7:28 PM, Eben Eliason<eben.eliason at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Here's my two cents. (see attached)
>>
>> I like the use of the browse icon, but I've found that rendering it as
>> a fill, rather than a stroke, works far better at small sizes. While I
>> like the stack of books, I'm afraid it doesn't read clearly at first
>> glance. I decided to try stamping the internet logo on the cover of
>> the book, almost like it's an atlas of the internet archive, both to
>> conserve space and to simplify a bit.
>>
>> I'll pull together a proper Sugarized SVG if it's desired.
>>
>> Eben
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 7:21 PM, <forster at ozonline.com.au> wrote:
>>> Jim
>>>
>>> I like the icon of the browser on the open book
>>> To me it says: get a book from the internet
>>>
>>> Unlike the other suggestions, it can be interpreted without any prior knowledge, because it builds on the Browse and book reader icons which have their meaning defined within Sugar by these Activities.
>>>
>>> The motion lines require the reader to know this comic strip convention but the icon can be interpreted without understanding the motion lines.
>>>
>>> For third world kids, card catalogues will not work, I doubt they have seen a lot of hard bound books or bookshelves either. Mostly I think they use cheaper staple bound books.
>>>
>>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyforster1/3420467967/
>>> photo, cheap staple bound textbooks, Peru
>>>
>>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyforster1/3676084455/
>>> photo, single room school, Peru. No card catalogues, hard bound books or bookshelves in sight. (There was however a PC which they hid under the white cloth to the left, presuming that tourists would not want modern artefacts in their photos. As a missionary school, I expect it is better funded than a government school)
>>>
>>> Tony
>