January 27, 2004: So, what do you think of the new Adobe CS icons? Surely you have an opinion. What do I think? I'll tell you...

My first reaction was: "You've got to be kidding! Those aren't icons." But I have to say that after thinking about them (and using them for a bit) I am going to take the probably controversial position that they're completely successful. For one, they don't look like any of the other icons around them. This means both that they are highly salient and that they cohere as a design system and brand extension. And, really, the old icons don't communicate any more useful information than the new ones. Finally, they're easily distinguishable. Sure, you have to remember that the feather is Photoshop and the flower is Illustrator, but once you do (and it takes about 2 launches at most) they separate from each other quite well, probably due to the significantly different shapes. Oh, and by the way, if you haven't upgraded your Photoshop yet, I have three words for you: nested layer sets.