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VLC icon alternative for Mac users

macrabbit.com — If you have secretly never liked the VLC logo that sits on your dock, here's an icon set download with simple installation that transforms the VLC dock icon and accompanying filetype icons into a savvy, black, minimalist design. Images and a link to the direct download.

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  • peto650, on 10/12/2007, -2/+21i have always loved VLC's cute little construction cone. Nice icons though. i love the simple, black filetype icons from this set better than the default vlc filetype icons.
    • al28p, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5I like it too, plus its orange colour makes it easy to find on my ever-expanding dock
    • macslut, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11The problem with the construction zone thingie is that it's not an icon. It tells you *nothing* about the thing in your dock other than it's apparently "under construction". Lots of apps are beta or preview, so that would look weird if everyone did that. This new icon at least represents what the app does. I also think it looks pretty decent.
    • mkp2k4, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2And I half expected this to be from Phil Ryu....
    • SanityInAnarchy, on 10/12/2007, -7/+11Since when do icons have to represent what they actually do?

      Let's go through my dock. Very top one is Finder, which is a picture of a couple of faces -- probably the original Mac logo. Clever, but WTF does this have to do with a file browser?

      Second one is System Preferences. This has an apple logo and a light switch. It would make a lot more sense if they called it "control panel", but even then, what does an apple have to do with computers?

      Next is Terminal, the first app to actually look somewhat like it is. But all I can see when it's zoomed all the way out like this is a black square, which seems to have little to do with Unix.

      Next is Thunderbird, then Firefox, and finally, Sunbird. Again: What do mythological animals have to do with computers? At least part of the logo makes sense, though: Thunderbird has an envelope and Sunbird has a calendar. But what about Firefox? What does that pictuer of a globe have to do with the Internet? Well, it's a global network, but it still seems a stretch.

      Next is NeoOffice, which has a cartoonish picture of a sailing ship inside a purplish sphere. You can tell it's a sphere because the edges are kind of 3d-ish. What that has to do with an office, or any of the applications contained within, is beyond me.

      Next is the Network Utility, which has a logo of some radar. Ok, I get it -- the network utility searches for stuff in the network. But wouldn't it make more sense for that to be the Spotlight logo, and have an actual network diagram for the network utility?

      Next is Adium -- a duck. What does a duck have to do with IM? Except that, if you leave sound on, the duck makes really goddamned annoying sounds. Great.

      Next is MacIrssi, which inexplicably has about the same logo as NeoOffice, only instead of being a ship in a sphere, this one has a ship sailing out of a globe towards the viewer. And this has what to do with chat?

      Then there's VLC. Yeah, a cone has nothing at all to do with videa. Weird.

      Then mplayer. One of the few that does look roughly like what you'd expect -- it's a box that could be a very colorful TV, with a play button on it. But, it's kind of hard to tell the difference between that and Terminal, except Terminal is mostly black, and Mplayer is mostly white.

      Next is Cog, which looks like a steering wheel for a ship. I'm getting really confused as to what the deal is with Mac software and sailing ships, or what this has to do with playing music.

      Next is Chicken of the VNC, which has a picture of a chicken sitting in an open can, about the same shape as a can of tuna. This is a VNC client. What does remote control have to do with chickens or tuna?

      Next is Disk Utility, which is perhaps the only good logo that looks like what it is -- a stethescope and a hard drive.

      Next is the X Window System. It has the letter X, inside what looks like a window. That's fair, I guess.

      Next is the Gimp. It looks like some sort of fox. What does this have to do with graphics editing? At least a paintbrush makes sense...

      Next is Acrobat Reader. It loks like a gigantic letter A, inside a box, with most of it chopped off. If I didn't know what it was, I couldn't tell it's an A. It just looks like a ribbon lying on something white -- maybe some cloth.

      Next is FileMaker Pro. (It's for work, and I'm migrating someone off of it, thank God.) It's a blue file folder (why blue?) with the word "pro" in front of it. I think the file folder is a bit old, though, especially considering FileMaker isn't really about files -- it's a database.

      And finally, the Trash, which looks like the round file it's supposed to. Good job there -- much easier to see and more distinctive than the Recycle Bin, I think.

      Most of these icons do not look anything like what they really are. I only know what they are because I put them there, so I know what to expect. The most important thing is, they're all distinctive. The cone is one of two things in my dock which is at all orange, and the other one is Firefox -- even if they were right next to each other, I could tell them apart easily. There are only two or three icons that I could actually confuse, and I don't, because they're next to related things -- NeoOffice is next to Sunbird, while MacIrssi is next to Adium. Similarly, I won't confuse X with anything else, because it's an X, and even if mplayer looked that much like Preferences, they're insanely far apart.

      I like the VLC icon because it's iconic. It's not supposed to look like anything. It looks like VLC, because I've made that association, and it doesn't look like anything else. Anywhere I see the cone, I always know "Thank God, at least they have VLC", which is a relief if I'm trying to do anything with video.

      I think if I put one of these icons in my dock, it would look too much like mplayer (not necessarily a bad thing), and also too much like Terminal (a VERY bad thing). The VLC Cone is just VLC.
      • Mikecol, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Listing example after example isn't a replacement for a valid argument. You didn't show how having an unrelated icon is to be preferred over an icon that indicates the function of the app.
    • FlyingLlama, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3^^^ holy ***** dude thats alot!!! :)
  • chrisntr, on 10/12/2007, -15/+5I would love to see some icons which are for Mac OSx AND Linux :(
  • mikevickrocks, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3I personally like these by ~weboso (great iconist!). Anyways, here they are. (first one is Version 2.0 while second one is Version 1.0
    http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/15262742/ or http://www.skinbase.org/rate.php?skins=14689
    • davdav, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Weboso has been making beautiful icons for the longest time. Good to see his work spread.
    • andrebrown, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1@davdav, is there a way to change it without changing your whole theme though?
    • Bjarke, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Download Themepark from Versiontracker. You can find the ressource file for the menu apple and replace it.
  • theblueprint, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Nice work, nice site. I love VLC as an app, but never was big on the dock icon. I just reinstalled OSX, and had been looking for the right custom icon for VLC. Thanks & dugg!
  • mikevickrocks, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1For some odd reason, my links link to Digg, and they don't work. So...just copy and paste instead of clicking the link.
    • andrebrown, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2They worked for me...
    • mikevickrocks, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3Edit: I'm a middle clicker on Firefox and that's what doesn't work, if you just regular left click they will be fine. I'm sorry for the confusion. I hope someone enjoys them as much as me! VLC is a great program! Thanks!
  • upsilonh24, on 10/12/2007, -6/+14Geeee... no offense but... a headline for a single icon... that's... well....kinda weird...
    • funduk, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3infact if you read the story it's a lot more than 1 icon. it's the program icon and ALL the filetype icons, the total would be something like 20...

      but yea, it wouldn't be news if the vlc icon wasn't such junk in the first place, but EVERYONE knows how tacky the default one looks on the dock, replacing it is worth a digg, although I have been using these icons for months already :p
    • korteenea, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5@funduk

      I don't understand how VLC's default icon doesn't fit. Not every application icon needs to look like it's part of iLife; as far as I know, VLC's default icon violates none of Apple's icon design guidelines.

      Granted... VLC's previous icons were rather unsightly, but personally I think the current one is one of the best Mac application icons I've seen.
    • crimson117, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7It's a headline because digg users found it interesting. That's what digg does. If you want one random person to pick all the headlines, go to a regular news site.
    • simX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3No, I'm sorry, but VLC's icon DOES violate Apple's HIG. The traffic cone tells you NOTHING about what the application does. Absolutely NOTHING. It sits in your Dock, making it look like something that needs to be replaced, something that's under construction, not a video player! It doesn't matter that the traffic cone icon is very detailed and looks good -- it just doesn't fit as an icon!

      Their previous icon, where the traffic cone was superimposed on a screen, was better, but it still wasn't good. This replacement icon is much more suitable to what an icon actually does.
    • DCWhite612, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Does Adium's green bird icon tell you what its used for??
  • bdmbdm, on 10/12/2007, -7/+0+digg for a nice site!
  • mingistech, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Just installed them.... they look much nicer than the default icons. :)
  • gxcdesign, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2I dig the cone...nice how the icon has changed over the years of OS X
  • neiltc13, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I like the main application icon but the document icons are horrible. They look out of place being black.
  • sandeepg, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Anyway of changing the icons in XP without changing the entire icon set?
  • elmimmo, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2I understand someone might find likable the original VLC icon, but the original filetype icons should constitute a criminal offense ^_- Kudos to MacRabbit.
  • korteenea, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Personally, I feel that VLC's default application icon provides much more personality and identity to the program than this one does. The cone represents VLC, and to remove it from the icon would be like taking Adium's icon and making it a screenshot of a buddy list. That said, I'd really like to see filetype icons similar to these, but in an orange that matches the cone.
  • dickyducky, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3ALOT better than the default traffic cone~!!
  • definiteform, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2I wish that would work for windows; that looks amazing.
  • redsrule2500, on 10/12/2007, -14/+5Typical Mac users, caring more about the cute little designs than the actual product [roll_eyes]
    • korteenea, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11Actually, it's kinda nice to not worry about the actual product... mainly because it's already so top-notch. It frees us up for things we enjoy. like making icons.
    • Jugalator, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3So the product is top notch, but the icons aren't? I have to wonder if that's the truth, or the bar is set higher by the users as for the visuals than the product.
    • kris33, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Have you ever tried a Mac? The actual product is often much better than the pc-version of it!
    • geekdreams, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I've used VLC on both Mac and Windows, and I prefer the Mac version because the interface is nicer in many ways. It's just that good programmers are rarely good designers, so the default icon is an eyesore on an otherwise-beautiful desktop.
  • GregoryHarbin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Yay! I'm so happy to get rid of that ugly cone. It's been the only thing I hated about my Mac dock since I made the big Switch. All my media files looks cool with their new icons, too.

    THIS is why I come to Digg...thanks guys!
  • weisheng, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I actually prefer the default icon, there are lots of alternative icons for media players at Iconfactory.
  • 25tolife, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3construction cone has always be the best IMO
  • TheZenCowSaysMu, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Awesome! Now the application icon actually looks like a movie application, rather than something completely unrelated.
  • andrebrown, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Why is everyone being dugg down?
    • ripcord, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Not sure, I'm guessing people are upset that this is the 4th or 5th in a series of very lame Mac articles that have made it to the front page. History of Adium's icon -> How to change Handbrake's icon (and some of its interface) -> How to change Adium's icon (and some of its interface) -> New icon for VLC!!

      There's got to be way more exciting things going on in the Mac space...As a Mac user these things are just embarassing, it makes us all look like shallow fanboys/girls.
    • ThirdPrize, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I some how doubt it. Any thing exciting happening that is.
  • UU7etc, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2No icons for .wav files it seems.
  • buzzert, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Really cool. It follows Apple's Human Interface guidelines for icons. The cone, although looks good, does not, so it's inconsistant with the rest of the icons (making the dock look weird)
  • SmeRndmGy, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2You have to install special software to change an icon on a mac? Really? I never knew the UI was that locked down. Should be one of the options on the right click menu, or in the properties somewhere. I find it very hard to believe that you need to install third party software just to change icons. Can someone with a mac confirm this for me?
    • TheWriteGuy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3It's not an inconvenience; it's a feature!
    • somnambulist, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4You do not need 3rd party software to change an icon. It's a simple matter of selecting the target, hitting Get Info, and pasting in the new custom icon to replace the existing. That said, utilities like Candybar (http://www.panic.com/candybar/) make it much easier to change the default system icons globally, which would otherwise require mucking about in resource files in /System .
    • Bootes, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5You don't need any extra software. For this app you just need to replace some files inside. Here are the instructions included with the icons this article talks about. http://img439.imageshack.us/img439/1158/iconkt0.jpg

      For changing a regular app icon you just have to right click and go into Get Info. Then you can paste a picture from the clipboard as the icon.
    • SmeRndmGy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2OK good, you can change the icon without installing extra software. I would be very surprised if you couldnt.
  • friarbayliff, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Very cool. Not that I really disliked the old one.
  • balance07, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0would love to see these simply as .png.
    • Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Then open them up in Preview and export them as pngs :P
      There are also Windows applications that could do this too, like Axialis IconWorkshop.
  • Powerdrift, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I've been using this icon for many months now. But I recently changed back to the cone. The vibrant orange really stands out.
  • Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Very nice. I'll be adding this to my collection of Mac stuff.
  • ThirdPrize, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Worst icon ... ever!
  • liveinabin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I don't usually go in for icon mods but, yeah, this is a marked imrovement. Nice work.
  • MacGeekGuy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Now, we're not going to have to go through a digg article for every OS X icon release are we? I mean, there are sites like osxicons.com, etc. for that stuff. Head over there... if we got a digg article for each set, that would really be annoying. I think we should nip *this* activity in the bud, myself.
    • Powerdrift, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Uh... is it just me or is osxicons.com just some money-maker?
    • DrGamez, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Thank you. I hate how digg is getting bogged down with pointless little things like this. It should be about news.
    • SanityInAnarchy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2And what makes you think you should decide what it's about?

      Digg is about whatever people want it to be about. And I like seeing something like this every now and then -- no digg (I like the cone anyway), but it means every time I hit Digg, there's probably going to be a pagefull of stuff I've never seen before. You can't say the same for Slashdot.

      Speaking of which, if you want fewer articles, head over to Slashdot. What's keeping you here?
    • Spaz007, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1News about a icon for just ONE app, announcements about future announcements of a product. Really Digg is all about the spam.
  • EnricoFermi, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2macs are so sexy, I want one
  • MrPhelps, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I always thought this icon was a private joke referencing the bouh-team of Centrale Paris, the engineering school the developpers are from...
  • bigDee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I definitely wouldn't replace the orange cone. It's what makes VLC distinctive from everything else and it also adds a little flare to the dock. I downloaded this to replace all the file type icons though because the default icons just didn't make sense. I don't know if its supposed to be a small cone or what but it's hard to tell what it is. This icon set is great.
  • vinay427, on 08/28/2008, -0/+1Great work!!! I especially like the application icon. Nice and shiny. Now it matches in with most other mac application icons.
  •  

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