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Icon Genres and Families

Icon genres help communicate what users can do with an application before they open it. Applications are classified by role—user applications, software utilities, and so on—and each category, or genre, has its own icon style. Creating icons that express this differentiation helps users distinguish between types of icons in the Dock.

Figure 11-1 Application icons of different genres—user applications and utilities—shown as they can appear in the Dock

For example, the icons for user applications are colorful and inviting, whereas icons for utilities have a more serious appearance. Figure 11-2 shows user application icons in the top row and utility icons in the bottom row. These genres are further described in “User Application Icons” and “Utility Icons.”

Figure 11-2 Two icon genres: User application icons in top row; utility icons in bottom row

The graphic flexibility of Aqua icons can also help users identify files associated with an application. In iTunes, for example, a visual cue provided in the application icon is carried over into icons for other files associated with iTunes, forming an icon family, as shown in Figure 11-3.

Figure 11-3 An icon family: The iTunes application icon and its associated icons