This month members of Club Marmalade Moon get a free pre-release of Ready Steady Go Folder Icons to take for a test run! The final icons will be tweaked based on input from members of the Club Marmalade Moon and released to the public. Join Club Marmalade Moon to take these folder icons for a free test spin and be sure to let me know how they work for you!

Tags: productivity, folder icons, Luminous, declutter, usability

We tend to spend more and more time at our computers, both at work and at home. Many of us even spend our entire working days at a computer and computer related hobbies or utilities are getting increasingly common.

We write and check our e-mails, surf and perhaps we make online purchases, chat with our friends and family, handle our banking online, organize and share our photos, post on forums, write our blogs, play video games, watch films on YouTube or browse our social forums in our spare time. The list of things one can do on a computer is endless!

This makes the computer desktop a really important environment! Imagine just what an impact your digital environment has on you for all that time you spend on your computer!

Lets take a close look at four benefits of customising your desktop.

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Tags: productivity, declutter, folder icons, desktop customization, feel-good, motivation, usability, gui

I am delighted to announce that my article about how to create 512x512 icons for Mac OS X Leopard has been published at Smashing Magazine!

Smashing Magazine delivers useful, inspirational and innovative information for designers and web-developers and it's a great pleasure for me to contribute to such a creative designer environment!

“In 2000 Apple released the visual theme Aqua, a stunning leap forward in graphical user interface design. At the same time Apple published the Human Interface Guidelines (HIG), a tool for developers and designers that gives a detailed breakdown of the design philosophy behind Aqua. Apple recently updated their Human Interface Guidelines (HIG), to include the way the visual theme Aqua has evolved in Apple's latest operating system, OS X 10.5 Leopard. This is the first update since 2006.”

Aqua: "Gorgeous, artistic icons are an important part of the Mac OS X user experience. Users expect beautiful icons that tell an application’s story in a clear and memorable way". Well, how do icon designers go about creating beautiful icons in 512x512 glory? Leopard and the Updated HIG: A Designer's Guide to Icons examines Aqua's interface. Realism, symbols, silhouettes, transparency, light source and perspective. We take a look at the Dock, Leopard's file browser Cover Flow and the icon sizes. Finally you will find some practical tips on how to scale your art work so that the smaller versions become crisp and clear.

Tags: Apple, Mac OS X, Leopard, usability, interface, gui, realism