Here is a new and completely free icon set in 48×48 pixels size.
48×48 Free Time Icons
February 3rd 2010 Free icons
There are some neat ways you can improvise on desktop shortcuts, and one way is to make them invisible. Invisible desktop shortcuts will operate in the same way as always; you just won’t see them.
We’ll take a Firefox shortcut as an example to explain how this works. By the end of this article, you should be able to perform this simple trick yourself.
First, right click on the shortcut and go to its properties. There you can change the icon to transparent. Sometimes, the transparent version of the icon is not included in the Shell32.dll library under System32 files, in which case you need to go on the internet and search for “anyfile.ico,” where “anyfile,” obviously, is the name of the icon you’re looking for, and you should find it very easily.
Once you choose your icon visibility, press “Apply.”
Next, you need to rename the shortcut. You’ll need non-breaking spaces (you can’t use normal ones), which you can get by turning on Num Lock, holding down the Alt key and pressing “0160.” Press “Enter” when you finish naming it.
Any version of Windows before XP also needs to have the arrow removed from the icon, which is only partly hidden at this point. Go to the registry editor by following the pathway “Start>Run>regedit.exe” and locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Inkfile. Delete the IsShortcut parameter and restart your computer.
Now you should have your invisible icons. They have the same functions, but they clear up your desktop in case you wanted to actually see the entire picture you set as your background. It’s something fun, interesting and useful, but it could also be a security measure if you want to hide certain directories from other users. There are many ways you could benefit, and it’s a pretty simple task to perform.
Done!
November 19th 2009 Tutorials
Important guide to Windows Vienna icon design features and structure
Introduction
Basically, the structure and design scheme for Windows Vienna icons is the same as that of Windows Vista icons. They are made in the aero style, quite different from what older versions of Windows sport. It is stricter in some senses but still very fine, the glass glare and conservative colors reducing eye strain.
Icons’ Style
The style of Windows Vienna icons looks very technologically advanced. The images come alive with their well-calculated angle rotation, along with the fact that they now face a light source. Also, the edges are smoothed and the icons drop a shadow, which adds both volume, intensified even more with gradients, and contrast. Many of the elements are outlined to make the icons more well-defined.
How is the New Style Better?
Although the Windows Vienna icon style is very detailed, it is not photorealistic, which is good, since an icon is just a symbol. Plus, the icons actually show what the applications are, as opposed to the more general approach taker earlier. The toolbars have decreased in size and complexity, so now they’re easier to accommodate in small devices like cell phones. With their maximal 256 x 256 size, icons are also well-suited to high resolution screens.
Size of Icons
There are five standard sizes for Windows Vienna icons- 256 x 256, 48 x 48, 32 x 32, 24 x 24, and 16 x 16 pixels. Icons for menus, toolbars and small symbols don’t need to reach max size. It is recommended by the Microsoft Corporation that you use just three sizes for icons designed solely for Windows Vienna- 256 x 256, 32 x 32, and 16 x 16 pixels.
PNG files scale without distortion from 256 x 256 to 32 x 32 pixels, which is why you don’t need any other size between them for Windows Vienna or Windows Vista. The 16 x 16 resolution is necessary for smaller icons because they would distort if you used any of the other resolutions. A 48 x 48 icon is at less risk for distortion, so it might be a good idea to use that size instead of 32 and 16 in many cases.
For your icon to be compatible with all Windows operating systems, it needs to be formatted for three color depths. Fully compatible icons require the 48 x 48 pixel resolution in addition to 256, 32 and 16. However, you might have noticed that 24 x 24 is never required, and we don’t encourage you to use it unless the icon is just for toolbars. Windows 98 and 2000 sometimes have difficulty with this size, so 16 is best for toolbar icons meant to function with all versions.
Windows Vienna Icons’ Color Depth
32-bit icons in Windows Vienna can have 24 bits for the picture and 8 for the transparency channel. That way, you can have smooth edges and semitransparent details on your icons. The other two options are 8-bit (256 colors with 1-bit transparency channel) and 4-bit (16 colors with 1-bit transparency channel). 32-bit is ideal, but, in case of video driver failure or some such problem, you should also have 8-bit and 4-bit versions to avoid distortion.
The three color depths (left to right) – 32-bit, 8-bit, and 4-bit; Far Right- 32-bit icon in 4-bit color
The Color Pallet
Different colors are assigned to show the material and communicate certain information about Windows Vienna icons. White is for paper, light grey indicates a silvery plastic (computers/peripherals), dark blue means an active screen (displays, etc), light ochre designates a carton (i.e. folders), blue is for glass (basket or lens) and emerald green specifies transparent plastic (special folders). The colors of Windows Vienna icons also have other meanings, such as red for warning, yellow for attention, green for permission and dark blue for information.
Examples:
Rotation Angle, Overlaying and Grouping
45⁰ clockwise is the angle of choice for Windows Vienna icons. Angles are a good idea for application icons or just to show volume. However, some icons- such as files icons, flat objects and anything 16 x 16- look better when they aren’t rotated.
Examples:
Overlaying and grouping can’t really be guided by rules. Just go by experience and whether or not the additions clarify the meaning or just get in the way. Examine the following icons.
Dropping shadows
You should use shadows to make icons easier to recognize and increase their volume, which often improves their appearance. (Right)
Examples:
Outline
Although not as vivid as the Windows XP icons’ outlines, those of the Windows Vienna icons still help tremendously with recognition and make an icon seem more realistic.
Examples:
Icon Structure
Function: Vienna Versus XP Icons
Windows Vienna icons that are 256 x 256 pixels can utilize PNG compression. PNG compression is only used for this icon resolution; it doesn’t affect quality, scale or transparency in the least and it reduces the file size to as little as 25%. The only downside is that PNG-compressed icons don’t function with Windows XP or earlier versions of Windows. You can fix this by supplying a non-compressed version of the image. In standard formats, a 256 x 256 icon will be about 400 Kb uncompressed.
Summary: Why Windows Vienna Icons?
Professional Windows Vienna icons are visually more aesthetically pleasing, they communicate a program’s functions better, and therefore it’s easier to find the right programs, and they make your program look more stylishly individualized and technologically advanced.
Therefore, Microsoft recommends that you change your most-viewed icons’ style to this aero look, such as those in the Start Menu and Windows Explorer, which includes the icons that show the type of file. Microsoft does not recommend using any icons designed for Windows 9x or older in Windows Vienna.
How to Get Vienna/Aero-Style Icons
So now you know that better icons make a better user experience and therefore more business for your company. The next thing you need to do is find an icon design firm that will handle the conversion from your old style to the new, and those can be found all over the internet. Make sure you contact a firm that will follow the basic rules outlined above, and you will definitely be pleased with the results.
Products named above made by Microsoft, Windows, or Windows XP are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft.
October 27th 2009 Icon design
Free icon set with a variety of styles for a well-known Delicious symbol.
Large Delicious Icons
September 29th 2009 Free icons
How to Draw Aqua Buttons for MacOS X
Most people with artistic talents have a very narrow mindset when it comes to how they can use them. For example, I’m sure you’ve probably never thought about who draws the Aqua buttons for Apple. To start with, all you need is talent, and then you need some technical skills to go along with it. Before you ever contact Apple Computers about helping to develop the MacOS X interface or doing any other type of design for them, though, you need to develop your skills into something marketable.
From there, if you get the job, all you have to do is sit down and do what you love doing: Draw. That’s about all there is to it, and pretty soon you could be the brains behind buttons like 
.
“How”ever, hopefully you won’t need to copy someone else’s design to find your niche. It takes individual creativity and imagination to survive in the design world. Many people will give you advice on drawing Aqua buttons that basically amount to copying others’ work. If you don’t have it in you, you shouldn’t be in design. There are plenty of ideas to try out that haven’t already been used, specifically the ones between your own ears.
All it takes is a little creativity, technical skill and natural talent, and you could be creating the Aqua buttons for Apple Computers. There’s nothing simple about it, but for those who qualify it’s a great outlet for their talent.
September 25th 2009 Tutorials
Free Large Android Icons collection had been updated recently. Click on the image to see it!
32×32 Music Icon set had also been updated.
September 22nd 2009 Free icons, Stock icons
DeviantArt has arguably become one of the top sources for free graphics downloads. If you are looking for something contemporary and original DeviantArt is the first place you should look. And they have a lot to offer for iPhone users. Let’s see:
iPhone Style Toolbar Icons
The collection of iPhone icons contains images in sizes of 48×48, 32×32, 24×24, and 16×16 pixels, and supplies several iPhone-specific sizes such as shadowed version of 59×60 pixel images and 57×57 pixel without the shadow. All icons are supplied in 32-bit True Color, and come in normal, disabled, and highlighted states. A variety of file formats is provided, including ICO, PNG, and BMP formats.
BluePrint
This one is our favorite. The pencil-sketch, monochrome style makes this icon set stands out from all the other festive and glossy ones.
Aquaticus
Soft colors, nice gradients and clear analogies make this icon set a perfect example of a high-quality design.
ChokoMilk
A simple, yet very impressive icon set. Black background brings shine to all the bright colors.
iSweet 2.0
If you are looking for some bright colors this icon pack is for you! It has every color of the rainbow in it. In fact, even some colors that did not make it to the rainbow are present.
CMT iPhone Icons
Clean. Crisp. Stylish. What more can you ask?
Submedit
An adorable set of old-fashioned icons. We love the telephone receiver and square compass.
Lush
The girliest, the prettiest, the pinkest set of icons you can find for your iPhone.
Redux SummerBoard
Another stylish icon set. You cannot call it unique, but all the icons are neat and bright colored.
Brazilian
Want to add some spice to your iPhone? This icon set from a Brazilian artist will easily do the job.
Round Theme Icons
A rounded floppy disk can, certainly, look a little weird, but the overall impression is nice.
September 10th 2009 Free icons
To some, the icons for Windows XP and Windows Vista are just different, but, to others, they cleverly employ a useful design technique. Semi-transparency is used on the graphics, which smoothes the edges and helps them blend in better with their surroundings.
My point is that you can use this technique yourself when you’re designing icons. Anyone can smooth edges. All that’s needed are a few basic tools.
The good news is that you don’t need to put out all the time and expense necessary to purchase and learn Adobe Photoshop or Corel Draw. They serve their purposes, but they’re not necessary for small art designers. They actually won’t even let you assign more than one format or resolution to the different components of your icon. All the features they have are meant to improve photographs; the more pixels the better. You need something highly specialized that lets you get down to the basic elements of an image. You’re concerned about every pixel in your icon images, because sometimes an icon is only 16 pixels-square.
Instead of photo editing software that will allow you to do all types of neat things on large images, you should be looking at icon editors. They were created specifically for the detailed work of designing icons where you don’t need to deal with the big picture as much as the little details. There are all kinds. You probably already own simple programs that would work, like Paint, but, in order to keep tabs on a large collection of icons or do various manipulations, you’ll need something more specialized, particularly if you draw icons from scratch.
The more complex icon editors are a far cry from the simplicity of the Paint program, even if they aren’t as fancy as Adobe Photoshop and Corel Draw. They are marketed to both the amateur and the professional. With them, you can make your icons look modern and slick without excessive costs and training time. All kinds of file types are supported- ICO, ICPR, BMP, JPEG, CUR, PNG, GIF, RC, XPM, XBM, WBMP and Adobe Photoshop PSD. You also have the option of doing transparencies and semi-transparencies with alpha channels, and gradients. However you choose to do your design- from scratch or an existing image, icon editors make the job more convenient for you.
Icons have obviously come a long way in recent years, and you can keep up without having to worry about going broke or wasting time. Getting an icon editor is all it takes to make the very best of the icons out there.
September 6th 2009 Icon editors, Tutorials
Vector Source files are now available for the following collections:
Animal Desktop Icons
September 2nd 2009 Stock icons
Your website is in for a complete makeover with these great free icons. Make sure you understand the licensing agreement before you use them, though.
Communication technology has definitely boomed over the last couple of years, and now there are lots of cool 3D icons you can use to keep up. For both commercial and personal use, the standard sizes and the 3D Max versions are on the web for free downloading.
Aha-Soft has brought out a whole line of free androids. Just about any space creature or robot is there. All you have to do is go find them.
Large, Free Icons for Business
No longer do you have to do all the hard work of providing icons for your business. These freebies are well-suited to any project and very professional.
Free Desktop Icons for Business
Anything you could possibly want to advertise I there in a number of formats and sizes.
Grungy Aesthetica Sets of Icons
Although it’s not the only one out there, this set of Aesthetica icons is a definite winner. These icons will really animate the right websites and blogs. Best of all, they’re all free, although you can buy commercial licenses, too.
Want some new faces around your website? Check out these four weirdly attractive squares. They come in ICO format in 128-pixel and 48-pixel sizes.
These 177 icons will help designers with a number of concepts. They’re available in 48 pixel size.
All kinds of things need icons- bar graphs, calendars, clocks, contacts, mail, etc. These icons come in PBG format and they have vector files for Firefox.
The delicious icon in every variation possible- that’s definitely something you might like to incorporate into your website.
These 79 256×256 pixel blogger icons are available in both GIF and PNG along with vector files.
A real estate agency website will look more interesting and garner more popularity with these impossibly realistic icons.
Lots of Muslim art and architecture for Windows, Linux and Mac operating systems are found here. Do not use these icons in a way that could be offensive, directly or indirectly.
Here are all those familiar web icons, except now they look earthy and textured. They are in PNG format at 320×320 pixel resolutions.
Here you’ll find other popular icons in a hand-drawn format- Gmail, Heart icon, Furl, Google, Flickr, Feedburner, FriendFeed, Facebook, Blinklist, Linked IN, Last FM, Newsvine, Magnolia, Paypal, Sphinn, Twitter, Skype, Yahoo, YouTube and Vimeo.
Bag and Box Tele-charger Icon Pack
In PNG and ICO formats, these bags and boxes can be very useful for your webpage.
All things city are available here, from hot dog stands to movie tickets. The city can now exist in cyberspace.
If you like Irish things, even if you aren’t Irish, these are the icons for your blog.
512×512 pixels in resolution, these stamp icons are attractively old-style.
Construction Icons Vista-Style
With these icons, you make a website that’s still being built look cool. Your visitors will return, even if it’s just to see these icons again.
Your website should reflect who you are, and if that’s a diehard fan of Vista aero styles then you should get some of these 135 Vista aero icons for your personal use.
All 135 of these elegant Japanese-style icons could be yours. “Yoritsuki” refers to a fictional Japanese inn.
All of the major services and applications available on the web are illustrated with these round icons.
If your website is more on the playful side, then you might want to look into these fairy-tale-like icons. Otherwise, you’ll just have to have them for fun.
Everything is no-nonsense and to the point with these icons, which are available in PNG format.
These are all the best-known social networking sites’ logos on leaves with both PNG format and vector sources.
Free Set of Web Applications Icons
These 20 icons are designed for web apps like profile, add, search and delete, and they can be used both for personal ancommercial uses.
Cold blue and semi-transparent, these nine icons are formatted in PNG and you can utilize them however you like.
Let the designer know how you decided to use them and you can use these twenty-three icons, posted in both PNG and ICO formats, wherever you like.
These metallic icons will illustrate the most common web apps. Their resolution is 256×256 pixels.
It’s time for a new Twitter bird, don’t you think? Everybody has the round one. You can step out of the mainstream with these four cubical birds in resolutions of up to 256×256 pixels.
August 19th 2009 Free icons
