How time flies when you’re pushing pixels! It seems like only yesterday we were looking back on 2007, and now it’s a year later and once again it’s time to reflect on our accomplishments. The year that was 2008 featured an iconic tribute to a movie legend, important updates to Twitterrific and xScope, and saw an addition to our arsenal of talented icon artists.
Back in January, ARTIS Software and the Iconfactory introduced xScope version 2.0 to heaps of positive reviews from designers and developers alike. xScope’s addition of the Dimensions tool was hailed as a much-needed innovation that freed designers from the bonds of traditional screen measurement techniques.
xScope wasn’t the only piece of software to receive updates in 2008. Other apps that received updates included Twitterrific, which won an Apple Design Award at WWDC for Best Social Networking App, and our addictive game Frenzic which finally came to the iPhone in November. The mobile versions of Twitterrific and Frenzic both met with critical and popular success in 2008 and proved the viability of developing for the iPhone platform. Stay tuned in 2009 for cool updates to both the desktop and mobile versions of Twitterrific, we think you’ll like what you tweet :-)
While Craig was slaving away over Twitterrific, Anthony was hard at work crafting not one, but four new icon sets to help celebrate the return of Indiana Jones to theaters around the world. The Iconfactory worked hand-in-hand with Lucasfilm to create a stunning iconic series dedicated to the legendary screen hero in our month (and a half) long tribute to Indiana Jones.
Elsewhere on the icon front, the workers put pen tool to canvas to create 25 new releases and 15 updated sets for Leopard in 2008. A grand total of over 850 freeware icons were created along with 16 fun desktops to almost double the number of pixels pushed in 2007. Collection highlights from the year included Arcade Daze System, Smoothicons 13, Refresh Folders, Patapon, iPhonica, and the year ending Somatic Rebirth System set. We also managed to add two new families for designers and developers to StockIcons.com. All in all, 2008 was a great year for icon lovers.
The year ended with a bang as we hired our first new icon artist since 2004, Louie Mantia. Formerly of Tapulous, Louie gained recognition in the Macintosh icon and GUI community and joined the Iconfactory team in November of 2008. He instantly set his skills to creating new Quickpix and icon releases including Frenzic System and the Nightmare Before Christmas. We’re excited to have Louie onboard and know that he’ll be creating some of your favorite freeware goodies in the years to come.
As we close up shop and power-down our computers to spend some much needed time with family and friends, we wish you the best and hope you have enjoyed our efforts in 2008. It bears repeating that we would not be where we are today without our loyal visitors. You give us the incentive to create, you support our efforts by registering our software, and you challenge us to innovate and stay ahead of the fray. For all of this and more, we thank you and invite you to visit us again in 2009. As always, we have new goodies in the pipe plus a few surprises up our sleeves that you won’t want to miss. We’ll be back to our regular schedule after Macworld, but in the meantime Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and see you in 2009!
