Along with a handful of great features, TweetDeck 0.25 introduced a new icon. Though unpopular with some users, I believe the design is a step in the right direction. The minimalist treatment of the signature crow now feels connected to the application’s largely typographic, streamlined interface, and the containing shape solves my pet peeve of the icon disappearing against dark backgrounds.

That being said, the bird is still a little faceless for my tastes, lacking a certain element of personality or character. Which is why I’ve updated my previous replacement icons to incorporate the successful elements of the new design. Pick your favorite color (yellow, silver, green, pink, blue, red or classic) and off you go!

Download Now (ZIP, 831kb)

Installation

Windows

1. Extract the ZIP file
2. Find or create a shortcut to the TweetDeck executable
3. Right-click the shortcut and select “properties”
4. In the “Shortcut” tab, choose “change icon”
5. Click “Browse,” and navigate to the “win” directory of the extracted ZIP contents
6. Select the icon you would like to use, and click “Open,” then “OK”
7. Click “OK” or “Apply”

Mac OS X

1. Extract the ZIP file and navigate to the “mac” directory therein
2. Pick which color you’d like to use, and rename that file to “Icon.icns” (note capitalization)
3. Make sure TweetDeck is closed, and locate the TweetDeck application (usually found, appropriately enough, in your Applications directory)
4. Right-click (or option-click) the application and select “Show package contents”
5. Navigate to the “Resources” directory, and drag the “Icon.icns” file you created earlier into it (you may have to input an administrative password to overwrite the default icon)

This May, I’ll be presenting Graphic Storytelling in New Media at WebVisions 2009. I’m extremely excited to discuss the compositional, narrative and iconic potential of comics as applied to the interactions and communities inherent to the web. My knowledge of where these two incredible mediums converge did not come suddenly or unexpectedly; without comics, I may not have fallen in love with the web at all.

I was a wee lad when I first started accumulating old Peanuts and MAD paperbacks. They had the graphic straightforwardness of film and animated cartoons, but they moved at my speed, trading in the dimension of time for a command of composition. Of course, I had no idea that was why I liked them. Scott McCloud had to tell me that.

I remember vividly discovering and being enamored with Understanding Comics when I first found it at my local library. I read it cover-to-cover in one sitting, absolutely enthralled as McCloud de-mystified the elements of the medium while simultaneously elevating the level of wonder inherent to it.

Among other things, Understanding Comics partially or completely initiated my enthusiasm for:

• Storytelling
• Crafting experiences
• Composition
• Symbols and iconography

In short, the foundations of visual communication. The passion born at that moment exists to this day; I attempt to infuse that feeling into everything that I do.

Join me on Friday, May 22 at 10:30am Thursday, May 21 at 2:45pm at the Oregon Convention Center. We’ll take a look at the web through four-color, halftone glasses, and uncover your inner storyteller in the process.

Update (4/27): The presentation has been rescheduled one day earlier in the afternoon, see the correction above.