Today, David releases the rest of his Studio Ghibli desktops for your Mac, PC or mobile device. Mononoke Mask Dark is a dark version of the Mononoke Mask desktop released earlier this week. Kodama features a forest spirit from Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke film. Head on over to the Freeware section to get the rest of these charming desktops!
The Breakroom
More Studio Ghibli
October 18, 2012
“They mostly come at night. Mostly.”
October 9, 2012
You didn’t really think we’d forget about Halloween did you? As anyone who has visited us knows, Halloween is our absolute favorite holiday and this year we’re pulling out all the spooky stops. We’ve been hoarding pixels like corralled zombies and now it’s finally time to open the barn doors.
We’re kicking off our month-long tribute to all things Halloween with a special set of icons and desktop pictures inspired by everyone’s favorite time-traveling alien, Doctor Who. Ged has been crafting his Doctor Who Vol 2 icons for ages and now they’ve materialized to save humanity & spruce up your hard drives all at the same time. Doctor Who fans will recognize many of the iconic (sorry) items from the long-running BBC series including Matt Smith’s sonic screwdriver and the erie Pandorica.
As if that wasn’t enough, David Lanham has also jumped on the Doctor Who bandwagon and created a new set of beautifully detailed TARDIS wallpapers for your Mac, iPad and shiny new iPhone 5. If you look lovingly at the TARDIS like the Doctor does, these wonderful scifi wallpapers will keep you smiling for eternity. David’s even created two alternate versions for you – Version B and Version C.
Head on over to the freeware page to download both of these fantastically fun freeware offerings and then bookmark the Iconfactory for regular visits in October as we bring you more amazing, free scary stuff in the weeks ahead. Don’t forget to visit our spooky new Halloween Pinterest Kate has put together for you chok full of fun holiday info and links. We hope you’ll stay tuned for everything emerging from the lab, fun stuff is in store so enjoy the annual creepy factory makeover, and Happy Halloween everyone!
176 more pixels
October 5, 2012
This is a quick post to let everyone know that xScope Mirror 1.2.2 has been approved and is available in the App Store now. xScope for Mac is still waiting for approval but you can start using the iOS version to preview your new apps and app updates on the glorious new iPhone 5 display. Check for updates in the App Store on your iPhone now!
xScope@2x
September 11, 2012
We are very pleased to announce that an updated version of our popular suite of screen design tools is now available. xScope 3.5 includes fancy new graphics for those fortunate enough to own a MacBook Pro with the impossibly beautiful Retina Display.
We spent a significant amount of time retooling this version to overcome the substantial challenge of measuring the tiny pixels on Apple’s new flagship laptop. We also added a fourth mode to the indispensable Mirror tool making it even more convenient. A Photoshop document can now be mirrored as you edit with no copying, dropping or saving required. Additionally the Ruler now has handy alignment guides and an inverted mode that works great on dark backgrounds.
Check the Version History for information on these enhancements as well as details about a few other improvements. Then check for updates in your version or go grab the update in the Mac App Store. And if you do not already own xScope, try it out at xscopeapp.com to find out what you are missing.
Please note that because of the Retina Display updates, xScope now requires OS X Lion (10.7) or OS X Mountain Lion (10.8).
Flare 1.4 Adds Retina Support
September 6, 2012
Flare 1.4 is now available, featuring a new high-resolution interface for Retina displays. Version 1.4 also adds Twitter sharing and Save to Aperture on Mountain Lion, as well as fixes to the external editor mode, color management, and more.
Check out all the changes in version 1.4 on Flare’s version history page, or head on over to the Mac App Store to purchase Flare at the discounted price of just $9.99. You can also try it for free from FlareApp.com. If you love to tinker with Flare, don’t forget to post your creations to the ‘Made with Flare’ Flickr pool when you’re done. It’s your chance to show the world your images are only the beginning.
Twitterrific: New Rules, Same Road
August 22, 2012
Like most third-party developers, we had been anticipating an announcement regarding Twitter’s API for several months. Twitter had hinted at new guidelines designed to make users’ experience with the social network more “consistent” across the board, but we really weren’t sure what it would mean for the future of Twitterrific. Now we know and can speak towards what the future holds for our efforts on the platform.
For the past several months, we’ve been working on a major update to Twitterrific that we’re very excited about. There were concerns that this new version might end up on the cutting room floor prior to Twitter’s announcement, but after reviewing the new restrictions and speaking with the team at Twitter, we’re pleased to report that our development plans remain unchanged.
We’re re-doubling our efforts to bring you an all-new version of Twitterrific: one that complies with Twitter’s new guidelines and makes reading and posting to Twitter even easier and more fun.
You’ll be hearing more about this new version in the days and weeks ahead, but for now we want to assure our loyal users that we’ll be continuing to develop for Twitter for the foreseeable future. We hope you’ll continue to support our efforts to bring you the kind of quality software you’ve come to expect from the Iconfactory. Stay tuned folks, the best is yet to come.
A New Era for CandyBar
August 3, 2012
If you love to collect, organize and customize Mac OS X desktop icons as much as we do, CandyBar has probably been your best friend since it launched back in 2007. Unfortunately, over the years Apple’s efforts to make OS X more secure have slowly crippled the app. Customizing icons of signed apps causes the Mac App Store not to recognize potential updates and the new release of Mac OS X Mountain Lion means it is no longer possible to customize the OS X Dock at all.
We and our good friends over at Panic have taken a hard look at the future of desktop icons on the Mac and unfortunately, the writing is on the wall. There may come a time, very soon in fact, when it won’t be possible to customize any system level icon on the desktop except perhaps folders. Apple’s push to sandbox applications, the addition of signed apps and the increasing unification of OS X and iOS mean CandyBar’s days (in its current form) are numbered.
Given all of these developments, Panic is no longer willing to charge money for CandyBar and we agree with them. As of today, the app is free to download and officially becomes unsupported. Users who purchased CandyBar in July can write to us for a full refund. To help existing CandyBar users, we’ve set up a new Iconfactory knowledge base that answers basic questions about the app, although it will remain officially unsupported by us as well.
Because Cabel and the rest of the Panic gang love the Mac and their icons as much as we do, they’ll continue to keep CB working with minor icon updates, but they cannot guarantee it will continue to function in the future. We’ll also be here, making freeware icons for you to download and enjoy as long as we can. Icons are our passion and they helped get us where we are today. We love pushing pixels and sharing our creations with you, our loyal visitors and fans. We’re hopeful that CandyBar or its software cousin will eventually return in a new form that plays well with the App Store and gives desktop icons new life, but that day is not today.
We encourage you to surf on over and read Panic’s blog post about CandyBar to get their side of the pixelated story, and where we go from here. We thank everyone who’s supported our and Panic’s efforts by purchasing CandyBar or downloading one of our iContainers. We hope you’ll enjoy our iconic creations for years to come. Onward ho!
New Low Prices!
July 31, 2012
At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in 2003 we had a booth in the Exhibitor’s Pavilion. During that event we launched a new product targeted at developers. Stockicons.com gave small software design shops a more economical way to add professional quality icons to their applications. The site launched with four collections and 320 icons. Over nine years later it now includes 18 different styles, up to 5 distinct collections per style and a total of 3,286 icons in various sizes and formats.
Thanks to everyone who has purchased our conveniently bundled, ready-to-use graphics and we are announcing today that we are cutting prices drastically as an answer to the competition that has emerged in this category over the past few years. You can now buy sets of high-quality hand-drawn icons for as low as $29. Head over to stockicons.com today and check them out!
Summer On A Stick
July 24, 2012
Summer on a Stick is a set of ice creams and popsicle icons to keep your desktop stylish, cool and refreshing. Designed by Kate England, these icons are inspired by childhood memories. Refreshing like popsicles on a hot, sunny day. Nostalgic like a childhood memory. The clarity of a recollection, expressed with simplicity, rich in colour and with elegant lines.
Summer on a Stick is designed in a crisp, contemporary Art Deco style where vintage meets modern, just like childhood memories revisit us in the present. Download for your Mac, PC or as a handy Candybar iContainer today. Enjoy!
