Comments on: New Thunderbird Icon: Iteration 3

By: Barrett

Barrett — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:18:40 +0000

I vote that the new Thunderbird icon looks a little too gray. Anyone with me? The envelope just looks a little “sickly”, especially when scaled down on the Windows 7 taskbar. Maybe it’s just because he sits between the Firefox and Outlook icons, which are bright orange and bright yellow, respectively. I think most “professional” icon designers have tried to make their colors cheery and “pop”, and thus, sadly, I think the Thunderbird icon has to join the foray. That said, the overall, new, detailed design is rather attractive!

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:26:50 +0000

es posible que entren en facabook,gente que manipule el ordenador? /,por que no haceis algo,si hay alguna lei esta gente deberia estar en la carcel pudriendose

By: crying baby

crying baby — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:29:02 +0000

The new thunderbird icon is really cool. I really like it. It’s very refreshing. Is it the final version?

By: Nubiles

Nubiles — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:42:22 +0000

“The icon is being rendered by Anthony Piraino at the Iconfactory.
Changes in this iteration:
* removed seal from previous iterations;
* added detail to the envelope;
* feathers shaped to be slightly more accurate”

This is a better and more defined icon. What is the website of the person who made this?

By: webdesign nürnberg

webdesign nürnberg — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:37:57 +0000

WOW! that is way cool!

By: Andreas Nilsson

Andreas Nilsson — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:48:11 +0000

Not sure what wing is the left and what is the right, our right or the birds? :)
Anyway, Mirek2 mentioned that the wing could be more connected to the body, and I came to think about this as well. It worked great on the older, less detailed logo, but tend to look slightly glued on on this more detailed version.
http://www.andreasn.se/diverse/temp/tblogo-wing-connect.png
Other than that, amazing work on this so far!

By: SLA80

SLA80 — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:25:53 +0000

I have also discovered, that new “envelope” icon should be used not only for .EML files, but for “mailto:” internet shortcuts in Windows. Of course, we definitely NEED such “envelope” icon!
P.S. Nice to hear that Alex Faaborg is alive :), and watching Thunderbird logo creation process.
P.S.2: I have re-uploaded “Natural Bird Wings 2″ drawing, it is here now:
http://sla80.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/natural-bird-wings22.png

By: James John Malcolm

James John Malcolm — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:48:31 +0000

>“Thunderbird logo dynamics”:
>http://sla80.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/thunderbird-logo-dynamics.png

Doesn’t that mean the TB logo should be on the right side of the wordmark on:
http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/

By: James John Malcolm

James John Malcolm — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:37:33 +0000

> Are you going to have Anthony create a similar envelope icon for file type associations in the OS?

A good .eml icon would be a huge boon!

By: Alex Faaborg

Alex Faaborg — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:26:40 +0000

>“Thunderbird logo dynamics”:
>http://sla80.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/thunderbird-logo-dynamics.png

very cool analysis, and one of the reasons that I was really happy to hear the same designer would update both icons in quick succession :)

By: Alex Faaborg

Alex Faaborg — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:22:52 +0000

Really coming along well. I would try to increase the range of contrast in the feathers on the wings, with lighter feathers on top and darker feathers on the bottom, and also try to overlap them and stagger them a bit with shadows to add a little more detail and dimension. In the previous icon and in these new iterations the feathers on the wings all seem to line up in a series of rows, which doesn’t seem all that natural. The staggering of feathers that is starting to show up at the top of the head looks good.

Personally I really liked the crisp white envelope from iteration 1, but this envelope also looks good, especially with hte increased detail (just a bit more aged, but not as aged as the very yellow envelope in the original icon). I would personally go for a more reflective surface on the envelope as well, but that’s likely a debatable decision.

Are you going to have Anthony create a similar envelope icon for file type associations in the OS?

The smooth indentation for the eye looks absolutely fantastic!

By: GE

GE — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:54:17 +0000

I still like my original idea of incorporating orange in the logo; solidifies the connection to Firefox and visually looks attractive.

By: bakura

bakura — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:07:48 +0000

Very Nice icon.
Good job!

By: deb00t

deb00t — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:53:19 +0000

better :) anyway, I finally discovered what seal (It2) you all were talking about :) with the bottom flap detail of It3, and the seal if It2 (maybe a bit bigger/more detailed), and the outer feather “bulges”, it’d be fantastic. though, as my colleague pointed out, it seems to him that the wings “grow” from an unnatural position. dunno about *that* though ;)

By: SLA80

SLA80 — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:07:16 +0000

Hello, here is my first promised drawing,
it is “Thunderbird logo dynamics”:
http://sla80.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/thunderbird-logo-dynamics.png

By: Michael Buckley

Michael Buckley — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 05:59:23 +0000

There are a lot of good comments above that I really agree with (accept about the @, I don’t like that). But I would like to add that the connection between the body and the wing should be less hard. Maybe a few feathers to merge the join better.

By: SLA80

SLA80 — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 03:10:39 +0000

I completely agree with Mirek2. And I agree with deb00t, when he speaks about lost dynamics. When I have more free time (tomorrow?), I will make two additional drawings. First will be about original logo dynamics, and second will be about some remaining changes, which should be done to make this logo perfect (probably, I will draw here my own version of finished logo).
P.S. Looks like Anthony is very busy recently, or he simply got tired of making Mozilla icons :)

By: Dan Mosedale

Dan Mosedale — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:00:27 +0000

I like this version; it feels brighter and more modern, and the distinction between this iteration and the current icon feels like it’s a good amount of difference.

By: jose

jose — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:11:33 +0000

es posible que entren en facabook,gente que manipule el ordenador? /,por que no haceis algo,si hay alguna lei esta gente deberia estar en la carcel pudriendose,

By: Mirek2

Mirek2 — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:56:51 +0000

I like it. A couple of comments though:
1) The right wing still needs work. Iteration 2 was better in that respect — in iteration 3, they don’t really feel right (a bit too regular and too symmetrical; they need to be curved in one direction). The right wing should be more “joined” with the body.
2) A bit more lighting and dimension, especially for the right wing.
3) The @ seal should be brought back.

By: Dominic Spitaler

Dominic Spitaler — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:50:54 +0000

Agree with the others.
Loved the seal, and the feathers are just too perfect,
other than that, really great work!

By: rsx11m

rsx11m — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:50:12 +0000

I liked it a bit better with the red @-seal. While you can argue that not much will be left of it in a 16×16 size, it added a nice colorful spot to the center in the otherwise now more pale envelope.

By: deb00t

deb00t — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:49:22 +0000

I’d agree on the unnatural perfection. The overall look is a bit too smooth. I’d welcome the feathers to bulge a bit above the wing borders (mostly external, but it wouldn’t hurt on the internal edge either). Something between the old punk look with feathers out of control, and the new smooth look.

But what I miss more is the shininess and saturation of the FF3.5 logo. The current iteration looks too washed out for me, somehow sad and non-dynamic. Also, the envelope looks a bit empty for its size. Can’t think of anything to add, though. Adding a post stamp (inked rubber) reminds me of Bat and turning the envelope around and adding a paper stamp would remind me of iMail or something. But it could use some detail as the FF-like gloss or the “continent map” on its globe.

By: Mike A

Mike A — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:35:34 +0000

Many TB users also have Lightning installed. May I suggest that the “@” in the seal be replaced by a lightning zig-zag?

By: Luka

Luka — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 05:49:36 +0000

Much better than the original. Although I loved the seal, it gave the icon more private feeling and mail of any kind is better when it is private. Is it possible to make the envelope more grey-white (like Iteration 1), but to keep the details of Iteration 3?
I must say that the icon change really reflects the change between TB2 and TB3!