Where My Peeps?
Where My Peeps?
Where My Peeps?
31 Mar 2004 — 7 Comments
With spring in full bloom, it's time to lay down a new set of icons for my peeps. Spring Jam Vol. 1 is a Street Basketball-themed partial system replacement for Mac OS X (although you can download the goods for Windows too). Later this summer, I'll hopefully flesh out the remainder of the set to completely overhaul your Mac desktop.
Of course, I'm a skinny white guy, and boast almost no street cred whatsoever, but hopefully I'll be representin' with this batch of pixels.
About the icons: Basic icon shapes were created in Macromedia Freehand MX, and then copied into Photoshop 7 where the vast majority of the shading and detail work was illustrated from scratch. No 3D rendering tools were used for these icons. Really.
While several of the textures were simply achieved using Photosop filters, many textures came from photographs I took at the Dallas Arboretum during the 2004 Dallas Blooms event. For example, the "earth" from the "Find" icon pictured at left was taken from a mossy wall at the Arboretum.
Of course, with my gardening history, you'll no doubt find some blooming references in Spring Jam Vol. 1 as well... But for the most part, this set is about the dirt, grit, and grime rather than the flowers.
I managed to complete this portion of the set just in time for entry in Pixelpalooza 2004, which you should definitely check out if you haven't. For a little while, I dind't know if it was going to happen. There is always a wealth of amazing talent and dedication represented every year at Pixelpalooza, and we're privileged that Iconfactory hooks this up on an annual basis. It's certainly a wonderful service and inspiration to the design community.
If the response to Spring Jam Vol. 1 is good, we'll attempt to speed up the process for Vol. 2. Download the icons, and let me know what you think.
Tomas says
Amazing. I do know my way around photoshop, and I consider myself a pretty ok designer, but this is way, way, out of my league. I'm very impressed.
How long does one of these icons take you to make? Like the "Find" icon for instance? A couple of days? (Obviously, you'd reuse the basketball for other icons)
Keith says
Josh, you are one sick dood! This stuff is way rad man! Killer job.
Keith says
WOW! I have to agree with the previous comments. You work is off the chain. I really enjoyed meeting you at SXSW this year, and as I said....I love your work. I was wondering if you ever do articles on the process of creating these amazing icons. I know that a lot of it boils down to pure talent, but a peak inside your process would really help out those of us who are less talented (and by those of us I mean me).
Joshwa says
Thanks guys... Tomas: The time involved on each icon really varies a lot... Some of the "core" icons, like the basketball goal, shoes, etc., took 4-5 hours each when it was all said and done. Then some of the others only an hour or two to composite all the pieces.
Of course, I ended up revisiting many of these a few days after the original design had been done and tweaking them some more. Documents, oddly enough, was very touch for me to get how I wanted.
Keith #2: (Wonderful meeting you at SXSW as well) I've often thought about doing some tutorial work. As you might have noticed, my wife and I are moving in two weeks, so perhaps after we're moved and settled, I'll have some more time to do some of that. It would be a lot of fun, and good for me as well to document some of my workflow.
Thanks again.
Ethan says
Just catching up on my web reading now, and I gotta say: highly sexy stuff, Josh. Thanks for the icons.
Joshwa says
BTW - Sorry about the generic comment form. I'll get it fixed someday soon.
Keith R. says
Excellent work. I'm a huge b-ball fan so you know I love this set. Keep it up!