Commodore Icons

[Thermoptic]

First Post, First pixel art. I love pixel art, often just hang out at pixeljoint or play old retrogames to watch the beautiful art. But I have never actually made any pixel art.. until now. I got inspired when i saw the "Antiseptic Videogame Systems" http://starvingartist.deviantart.com/art/Antiseptic-Videogame-Systems-23217105 created by starvingartist and decided to make a couple of pixel icons of the commodore systems.
So this is my first pixel creation, noob stuff. Created in photoshop.. yes there are probably much better apps to create pixel graphics, maybe i will use them next time.

here are the icons:
Download link here: http://ahlberg.deviantart.com/art/Commodore-Icons-70563314 (Windows and Mac icon formats)

[Scuba Steve]

They are decent pixel works... and there is nothing wrong with Photoshop for pixeling.  The one thing that really ruins several of the icons is the computer created gradient.  The C64 logo looks like an uncomfortable mix of hand selected blocks and computer shaded colours.  A few of the systems suffer the same problem, most notably the Ramlink and CSX.  I'd suggest pulling out the photoshop gradient and either going with a solid colour or shading it yourself with fewer colours.

Like I said, they're decent... but they feel lost.  I adore the crisp look of Vista and Apple icons, with their smooth colours... but the combination of pixeling and those same blending techniques doesn't work here.  Your icons have potential, but make them TRULY old fashioned and pixeled with no modern tools.

[JonathanOfDrain]

I'd just like to quickly add to what Scuba Steve said, I compliment you on your efforts but your result need some tweaking. The icons look pretty nice and had I a use for them I guarantee them a spot on my desktop. They aren't too pixel art ish though. Looking at the floppy disk alone you can see some subtle noise (spray can). I think you should pick one of these icons and try to cut the colors down to 16 or 8 colors if you can. Pixel art is a real test in restrictions. I also suggest you keep at this whole pixel art thing and try your hand at more organic shape later on.
Somewhere on these forums there's a list of resources and programs that are ideal for pixel art. I suggest you pick one of them up. I use graphic gale simply because I have it. Photoshop has a bad habit of tempting many people with gradients and filters, these are frowned up in the pixel art world.

Keep it up! I'd love to see these remade pixel by pixel.

[Scuba Steve]

Photoshop has all the tools needed to do pixel art... and then some.  The only reason I don't use it is because it is a memory hog and takes a while to start up... not what I need when I want to quick push a couple blocks.  The simple answer to overusing Photoshop's tools (and it's not just pixeling that can be abused by overuse of photoshop)... is to just not use anything other than 1px brushes with no aa and the fill tool.  Of course there are plenty of tools like selections, layers, colour correction... which, when used by a knowledgeable individual, can save time and still be pixel art.

Photoshop may be overkill, in terms of features needed for pixeling, but it has the tools you need and a good artists knows how to use the tools correctly.

[Thermoptic]

Thanks for the feedback guys! Yeah now i notice that there are many mistakes if I wanted these to be real pixelart. The colors and the Gradient effects is something i will try to think about the next time. i understand that restricting the colors is very important. witch is more "popular" 8 or 16 colors? it would also be fun to have some color pallets to go after to restrict it even more. is there maybe some site with different color pallets? maybe for the c64 and Nes colors?
I dont think i will change these icons now. but the next time i release some icons or art I will definitely keep these tips in mind! Thanks

[AdamAtomic]

witch is more "popular" 8 or 16 colors?

Depends very much on what sort of game engine or hardware you are designing for.  For many years the dominant game hardware has been easily capable of 16 colors or greater.  However, I think what you're really asking here is "how many should I use?"  The answer to which is a very frustrating "exactly as many as you NEED".  Having a goal in mind is good, but if you get there with only 7 colors, or 12 or something, or you NEED 21, then generally speaking that is just fine   You can only follow the limits you set for yourself, but as far as the principles of pixel art go, the best thing to practice is simply using the amount that the end product requires...