Cross-project icon repository?

[matthijsmelissen]

There are quite a number of projects using the same icons as we do (or icons derived from common svg files). Do we want to maintain the icons ourselves, or do we want to contribute to a cross-project icon database?

Projects using 'our' icons include Potlatch 2, OsmAnd, NavIt, openstreetmap-de, and openstreetmap-fr. The original set has been extended by various parties, see here, here, here, and here. As such, development on the icons is highly fragmentized.

Reasons for using a cross-project repository:

• Projects can more easily profit from development icons in other projects
• Consistent use of icons between projects

Reasons not to use a cross-project repository:

• Added complexity
• It is easier to make icons that only look good in one particular size, and different projects might require different sizes
• The original icons have a dark background, which leaves less space for the icon itself

A good candidate for a central repository would be https://github.com/twain47/Open-SVG-Map-Icons.

[matthijsmelissen]

See also @pnorman's post at #658 (comment).

[HolgerJeromin]

Just to clarify: The repository https://github.com/twain47/Open-SVG-Map-Icons is the "original set", not an extended set.
We should ask @twain47 about his opinion.

[twain47]

I'm not sure I understand the question. Is it about adding extra icons?

[matthijsmelissen]

Hi @twain47, the question is whether it makes sense to try to centralize the development of icons. Currently development is distributed throughout a large number of projects. Your repository would be a logical place to head to. Not sure of all practical consequences, this is a bit of a brainstorm issue...

[gravitystorm]

Since it's a wider, cross-project question it might be worth discussing this on the dev@ mailing list rather than here.

[Klumbumbus]

It is easier to make icons that only look good in one particular size, and different projects might require different sizes

You could handle different sizes also in one repository, e.g. supermarket16.png and supermarket32.png

[twain47]

Sorry about the delay, I lost track of this until I was reminded.

At the moment I've been generating slight variants as different version numbers, e.g. estateagent.svg, estateagent2.svg, estateagent3.svg. Variants (still as svg) can be made with different levels of details more suitable for rendering at different resolutions.

Personally I've no interest in non-svg icons. I want scaling and dpi independence.

[pnorman]

Personally I've no interest in non-svg icons. I want scaling and dpi independence

Although I'm converting icons to SVG, SVG doesn't give you complete independence - see how the Maki project has different SVGs for different target sizes

[twain47]

Which is exactly what I said in the rest of my comment

[matthijsmelissen]

The OsmAnd project has created some pretty nice icons, in the current style, for example:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/osmandapp/OsmAnd-resources/master/icons/svg/place_of_worship/monastery.svg
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/osmandapp/OsmAnd-resources/master/icons/svg/shopping/baby.svg
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/osmandapp/OsmAnd-resources/master/icons/svg/water/spring.svg

@twain47 Would you be interested in adding the new OsmAnd icons to your repository, provided the creator is willing to release them under PD/CC-0? That would be a first step in centralizing things. If so, I could create a PR to your repository.

[matthijsmelissen]

@twain47 Another question: there is a huge icon collection on http://osm-icons.org/ of over 1000 icons, in the style of your repository. Not all of them are very good, and some won't work on low resolutions. On the other hand, others are pretty cool, like shop=beauty, shop=charity, and shop=antiques.

What would your opinion be on merging some or all of these in your repository? The site itself has no git or svn access, so having them in a git repository would be nice.

[matthijsmelissen]

To keep the use of icons consistent across projects, we could consider having a policy that we do not accept any icons for new features that have not been uploaded first to @twain47's repository (or another cross-project icon repository if @twain47 does not want to extend his icon set). That would mean that if someone wants to add a feature that doesn't have an icon yet, he first creates a PR in @twain47's repository, before creating a PR here. Opinions? @gravitystorm?

[gravitystorm]

I'm against that policy. Consistency is a nice-to-have, but it's not a hard requirement.

[matthijsmelissen]

I wrote a pull request to add some Osmand-icons to the SJJB repository: twain47/Open-SVG-Map-Icons#5

@twain47 I tried sending you an e-mail, but I'm not sure if I have the right address. Did you receive my message?

[matthijsmelissen]

I don't think there's a lot of enthusiasm from the other projects to have a common icon repository. I therefore don't think there's a point of putting effort in creating a common repository now. I will close it for now, but if anyone thinks at a later point that it's useful to have a repository, I'd be happy to re-open it.

[nebulon42]

I think something like this cannot be announced, it has to evolve. Another problem is that iconic representation is also quite subjective, agreement is difficult. I have created nebulon42/osmic to collect and organise my icon efforts. Icon related discussions could also happen there if it would clutter this repository here. I'm not trying to establish this as central icon repository, though.

[matthijsmelissen]

@nebulon42 I still think it would be nice to see have some more consistency between the different projects. I guess the best way to go forward would be to write pull requests for Osmand and openstreetmap-website with the icons that have been rolled out. Would you like to do that or shall I do that?

[nebulon42]

I agree that more consistency in terms of icons would be good. But I'm not sure if it is still too early to attempt that? I wanted to reach a certain state in this repository first (i.e. all current icons replaced by SVG) before expanding work to other repositories. But if you want to try, I guess it doesn't hurt to attempt it.

[matthijsmelissen]

The advantage of reaching out to OsmAnd and openstreetmap-website earlier might be that we might get more people on board helping with the conversion. But I'm fine with waiting too.

[nebulon42]

I see your point. I guess I should still focus on getting some icons done, but if you want to go ahead I'm happy to provide support where appropriate.
Just for clarification: Which icons does openstreetmap-website use? Or do you mean -de / -fr / -hot?

[matthijsmelissen]

Which icons does openstreetmap-website use?

They are used when viewing a changeset. Example, see bar left.

[nebulon42]

Ok, I missed that. Yes, I think this is a great starting point.