The icons are set in a black background above a reflective 'surface.' Depending on the color of the icon or level of transparency, the icon can melt into the background or be clipped. I didn't realize that the Cover Flow view in the Finder also comes with its own share of issues for icons. However, in its Human Interface Guidelines, Apple suggests that developers need to make fresh versions of the icons and not just blow up their old images.įor example, the 512 x 512 pixel version of the icon should not have thick strokes or look “vectorized.“ In general, the larger icon should be a higher quality rendition of the 128 x 128 pixel resource, which exhibits richer texture, more details, and greater realism. Leopard supports 512-by-512-pixel icons, which are much larger than the previous 128-x-128 standard. Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard offers new challenges for icon designers. But the standards for these interface elements keep changing. Computer users on Mac, Windows or Linux must take icons for granted.
