Device Images

mstocum

I work for a university and we are working on a major touch panel redesign. What I'm looking for right now is some better quality images for our sources, PC, Laptop, DVD, VCR, and Doc Cam. Does anyone have any suggestions on where I can look?

Thanks,
Matt

NMarkRoberts

Stick to captions

I imagine you are referrring to icons.

I truly feel that beyond the obvious icons for transports and volume control, we should avoid icons as they do not add value. Almost all of the icons I have seen on touchpanels are very very ugly and difficult to make out.

Given that alomst all icons for the sources you have mentioned are rather obscure, and you will have to caption them with their names anyway, I feel that adding icons just clutters the layout and allows less space for the names that people are looking for in any case.

GSLogic

mstocum wrote:

I work for a university and we are working on a major touch panel redesign. What I'm looking for right now is some better quality images for our sources, PC, Laptop, DVD, VCR, and Doc Cam. Does anyone have any suggestions on where I can look?

Searching Google Images. After some Photoshop work, you'll have your own custom images that you selected.

Sensiva

Platinum Icons set

I always use Platinum icons sets, they are available in AMX website

128 Pixels Set

64 Pixels Set

48 Pixels Set

32 Pixels Set

I say they are great, and I agree with GSLogic, Images.google.com is great too

annuello

I think I would have to agree with Mark Roberts. I've seen various Doc Camera, VCR, Cassette & DVD "icons", but they are no where near as clear as plain text. Perhaps the icon artist has to put a lot of detail into the icon to discern it from other peices of equipment. However, this extra detail means that the icon has to be studied longer by the academic as they try to figure out what the picture represents. Add to this the problem that equipement comes in many shapes, sizes & configurations. Is there such a thing as a standard "PC" or "Laptop" icon? Are all cassette bays always on the left? Do all Doc Cameras look the same?

When an academic is in a rush to get their class started, they seem more concerned with getting their content onto the projectors than whether or not the touch panel icon looks cute or is animated.

I'm still sticking with text only for equipment, and have actually removed equipment icons that I believe are not clear. The one exception if for the integrated Lectopia system. Since that system uses well-defined braning, I use the Lectopia icon in that instance. Having said that, I still put text below the icon for those that do not recognise the icon.

I use transport icons, using the "AMX Icon" font rather than bitmaps or PNG. The font approach is much easier to resize, change colour, etc. I feel that no text explaination is required since there seems to be an industry standard for transport icons.

You may find that changing the button style (font, border, colour, etc) will give the buttons a fresh look, without having to use icons. I'm a big fan of the Arial font for active screens, since it was designed for that purpose.

Roger McLean
Swinburne University

DHawthorne

I often use both icons and text. The icons are really just there for the cool factor; the text is the real determiner. How easy is it really, to eyeball the difference between a CD player and a DVD player by icon? After you are used to the system, perhaps it's simple enough, but my goal is always for a complete stranger to be able to pick up the panel and be able to use it without instruction.

mpullin

There are some really nice, clear icons for devices (that have the text included in the graphic) in RTI's TheaterTouch Designer software (for the T3s). "Red Silk" is my favorite style.

It's fairly easy to get them out of that software as well. Simply make a button, Cut it, open MSPaint, Paste, cut away the black stuff and save it as PNG!

mstocum

Thanks everyone, I'll check out the stuff posted.

vining

DHawthorne wrote:

How easy is it really, to eyeball the difference between a CD player and a DVD player by icon?

I agree with Dave the the icons do offer a certain "cool" factor but the line above says it all. I'm in the business and I don't know what those icons are for the most part. Black electronic boxes are just black eletronics boxes to the customer. If you write AVR that still means nothing to the average person. The exit icons and stuff like that make sense but a recliner w/ ottoman could be any number of rooms. The pool I get, the refrigerator.. is that the kithcen or do I control it? Increase or decrease ice box temperature.

For these reasons I tend to avoid them accept when the coolness factor makes sense.

mstocum

DHawthorne wrote:

How easy is it really, to eyeball the difference between a CD player and a DVD player by icon?

Fortunately, for my purposes, CD players don't exist. I have exactly 5 inputs to worry about, PC, Laptop, DVD, VCR, and Doc Cam, for all of the rooms.

jweather

NMarkRoberts wrote:

I truly feel that beyond the obvious icons for transports and volume control, we should avoid icons as they do not add value. Almost all of the icons I have seen on touchpanels are very very ugly and difficult to make out.

Icons and text are a great combination... far from "not adding value", the icons provide easy visual targets even the second or third time a user uses the same system, rather than requiring them to read through the labels every time. If the icons aren't helpful/recognizable, there are always the labels. If screen real-estate is at a minimum, definitely drop the icon, keep the label -- although the icon-only approach sometimes works with home theater favorite channels -- people recognize NICK's orange splat even when it's a tiny icon.

Jeremy

NMarkRoberts

jweather wrote:

people recognize NICK's orange splat even when it's a tiny icon

I agree that the high quality immediately recognisable icons associated with TV channels are the exception... they are designed by professionals for this very purpose and are endlessly reinforced in all media.

Unfortunately most available icons for AV sources are tiny, naff and useless. The Platinum icons cited below are lovely and tempting but I just don't see how the source icons add value - the more obscure ones are a bit desperate.

Generalising grossly, we folk on this forum have many technical skills and talents but rarely do they include graphic design abilities (other than perhaps "knowing what we like") so it's best for most of us to avoid that area entirely.

Before (I think) Windows 3.1 (woo! so long ago!) the colours and icons seen on the screen for most PC software were determined by the programmer. Naturally most software was ghastly to look at. I found that the only way to avoid endless arguments about colour choice in the software I wrote was to build a colour picker into the package, and show that first in any demo, so that colour blind / taste blind / opinion blessed folk knew that they could make it as gaudy as they liked in the comfort of their own homes; and we could move on to what the software actually did.