The Breakroom • A blog for the Iconfactory

Unicorn Tears & Rainbow Pillows

April 6, 2009

The Mac community has been watching Microsoft’s new ad campaign closely and we think it’s fair to say they’re not impressed. First we saw actress turned laptop expert, Lauren DeLong, profess that she wasn’t “cool enough” to own a Macbook Pro. Then we got a taste of Giampaolo who told us “Macs are more about aesthetics than they are about computing power.” Uh huh.

Now we have former Fake Steve Jobs himself, Dan Lyons who’s run a “Macs won’t fly in this economy” opinion piece for Newsweek. In the article, Dan quotes David Webster, general manager for brand marketing at Microsoft in regards to Macs “Not everyone wants a machine that’s been washed with unicorn tears.”

Well, pardon us Mr. Webster, but as Mac users we happen to like unicorn tears! During last night’s TUAW talkcast, Mike Rose challenged listeners to come up with an appropriately snarky t-shirt, and our own Talos Tsui was only too happy to oblige. Just remember, every time you buy a “Crappy PC”, a unicorn sheds a tear.

To top it all off, artist David Lanham has managed to bottle up some of the most magical unicorn tears we’ve ever found and make them available just for you as this week’s QuickPix release. Head on over to our freeware page and download them today for your Mac or, yes, even your PC desktop. Don’t wait though, because just like rainbows, they’ll be gone before you know it!

Nothing But the Rain

March 25, 2009

By Webmaster

Preview

We remember back in 2003 when the trailers for Ron Moore’s re-imagining of the short-run but classic 1978 camp sci-fi series began to play. We were not sure what to think. Cylons that look human? Starbuck is a girl? But we gave it a chance despite our concerns about someone frakking with our fond memories of that ragtag fugitive fleet searching for Earth.

Six years and four riveting seasons later we find ourselves wondering what to do now as we re-watch last Friday’s series finale and attempt to wring the last bit of gritty drama, dark humor and spectacular visuals out of what some of us here consider the best television series ever created. Even if you were not completely satisfied with the closing three hours, it was quite a journey.

As a tribute to the end of series Corey Marion and Louie Mantia have assembled a set of icons to help ease your pain. Show your pride in the Colonial Fleet with this collection of folders and rank insignias. Download them now for your Mac, PC or as a handy CandyBar iContainer. So say we all!

Black as Inque

March 3, 2009

By Webmaster

Take the shape-shifting abilities of Clayface and combine them with the sensual curves of Catwoman and you have Inque, one of the most powerful villains from DC’s Batman Beyond. This week’s desktop freeware release from Mindy puts the deadly Inque front and center and makes a perfect addition to any comic fan’s Mac, PC or iPhone desktop. Head on over and let Inque ooze her way into your brain. Enjoy!

A Plethora of Ive Drives

February 24, 2009

By Webmaster

Preview

Apple fans are in for a treat with this week’s freeware release from Louie Mantia. Inspired by the industrial design of Apple’s hardware maven, Jonathan Ive, Louie has gone all out to create Ive Drives.

This massive set of 40 desktop drive icons comes in four styles: Time Capsule, Apple TV, Mac Mini and Unibody MacBook and looks just great on your desktop. Head on over to the Iconfactory’s freeware section and grab Ive Drives for your Mac or PC or as a handy searchable CandyBar iContainer today.

Finally!

February 23, 2009

By Webmaster

Greensboro, North Carolina. Saturday, February 21, 2009. 7:15am. 24 degrees Fahrenheit. Gedeon, Talos, Anthony, Louie and myself arrive at Friendly Center to join a small but fanatical group, including Ian Meyer who had camped out all night, in front of a polished aluminum and glass monolith.

Just under three hours later the new employees joined us outside in the cold for a few rousing cheers. Our new Apple Store manager Dan then exclaimed as he officially opened the doors, “welcome home!”

Our good friends at The Unofficial Apple Weblog have a comprehensive post with links to numerous news stories and photo resources. Also, Talos posted a few pictures along with three videos on Flickr that capture the enthusiasm of the Apple staffers as we are finally let into the gleaming new store.

Good Things In Worn Packages

February 17, 2009

By Webmaster

If there’s one constant in the universe, it’s that you can never have enough application replacement icons. Anthony proves the old adage once again with the release of this week’s freeware collection – Litho Extras Volume 6.

This latest set of organic and distressed desktop icons includes popular app replacements such as Things, Coda, Front Row, VLC and more. As an added bonus, there’s a multi-state status icon for all you Adium junkies out there. If you’ve missed Anthony’s previous Litho installments, be sure to round them all up and give them a home. An offset icon is a terrible thing to waste. Litho Extras Vol. 6 is available today for your Mac, PC or as a searchable CandyBar iContainer today.

xScope Winning Hearts & Minds of Developers

February 16, 2009

By Webmaster

Over the past year, two of our ‘children’, Twitterrific and Frenzic, have received a great deal of attention. But while these popular pieces of software have been having their moment in the sun, our award-winning tool xScope, has been quietly winning the hearts and minds of developers everywhere.

We realized this at Macworld when a gentleman came up to our kiosk and asked us to skip the Twitterrific & Frenzic demos and instead show his friend (a fellow web designer) xScope. It only took a few seconds with the Dimensions tool before he was hooked. We’re proud to say they aren’t the only ones.

Web developer Paul Stamatiou is another professional who’s recently discovered the power of xScope. He’s written an excellent review that nicely summarizes the software. Paul walks through the entire application tool by tool and is most impressed by Dimensions, calling it “almost worth the price of xScope itself”. He ends up giving xScope a full 10 out of 10 and says it is “definitely worth its price”. We couldn’t agree more.

If you work as a designer or developer, use the Mac platform and are not familiar with xScope, we invite you to head on over and check it out. We think you’ll quickly discover why so many of your peers feel so passionately about this swiss army knife for the screen.

Smoothicons 14 Slides On Over

February 10, 2009

By Webmaster

If there’s a truism here at the Iconfactory, it’s that visitors can’t get enough of Smoothicons. These playful, bold icons that Corey designed originally back in 2000 pop on the desktop and make using your computer a joy. So we’re only too pleased to announce Corey’s latest additions to the Smoothicon suite of creations, Volume 14. MacBook owners will delight to find new versions of their favorite portable hardware as well as the entire array of iPod Nano colors to pick and choose from. Head on over to the freeware page and pick up Smoothicons 14 as a Mac, PC or Candybar iContainer archive today.

Helios Database Stock Set Released

February 5, 2009

By Webmaster

StockIcons.com has released a set of 52 add-on icons to extend the basic Helios collection into the realm of data management. This release contains icons covering concepts such as tables, scripts, records, and many others, and is a must have for anyone needing icons dealing with these specialized topics.

Like all of our royalty free stock icon collections, Helios Database comes with 7 optimized bitmap sizes ranging from 16×16 up to 512×512 pixels. These expanded sizes mean that your purchase is ready for use with Windows Vista and Mac OS X Leopard “out of the box”. In addition, every purchase includes scalable PDF files which are perfect for large format print projects. Helios Database is available today for $179.00.

With the economy and budgets tightening, Stockicons.com continues to provide developers and designers with an affordable and quick solution to your project’s icon needs. We invite you to visit Stockicons.com, check out free samples and learn how our products can help you today.

Right Out of Dante’s ‘Inferno’

February 3, 2009

By Webmaster

If you’re a child of the 70’s and 80’s then this week’s freeware release is right up your alley. Gedeon Maheux has recreated one of his favorite movie robots of all time to bring some space-spook to your desktop.

Back in 1979 Walt Disney Pictures tried to cash in on the country’s obsession with all things Star Wars with the release of The Black Hole. Panned by critics, the film was essentially a haunted house movie set in space. Although it may not have been a critical success, it did make an impression on kids of all ages. Now you can relive The Black Hole’s macabre tale with Gedeon’s new Maximilian wallpaper for your Mac, PC or iPhone desktop. Just don’t turn your back on him, V.I.N.Cent’s not around to save the day!

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