Refreshing the VS Code product icon

[miguelsolorio]

The Icon Journey...Version 2

⚠️ NOTE: Please read our updated response based on the feedback ⚠️

The 2017 icon change showed how much passion and interest there in the iconography for VS Code, and we thank you for that feedback. There are still a few outstanding issues with current icon, and we’ve been spending time over the past few weeks looking at ways to resolve them. We wanted to share where we are and get your thoughts.

The current icon is hard to see on some customers taskbars as well as in some parts of the Windows UI like the file chooser dialog. The size of the VS Code shape itself, when wrapped within the Visual Studio Family ribbon (the “wall” on the right) makes the difference between Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code hard to spot, especially for some customers with color vision deficiency. Finally, some commented that the macOS version of the product icon looks out of place amongst other apps in the dock.

An opportunity to learn

As well as your feedback, there was also efforts going on inside Visual Studio and Visual Studio for Mac on aligning with iconography across Microsoft, being led by Windows and Office. You’ll have seen some of this in the latest product icons for Visual Studio (Windows) and Visual Studio for Mac as well as some of the recent Office icon updates. While this was not our main driver of change, it made sense to learn from the other work and leverage a similar style to solve some of the issues we were seeing.

The proposed icons

VS Code's current Windows icon (above left) and the proposed icon (above right)

Making it easier to find

We are dropping the thick ribbon on the right side of the icon. This allows us to increase the size of the VS Code shape (the key identifier of difference) to a size where it’s now a lot simpler to glance across the taskbar and spot your favorite code editor.

The proposed icons for the stable and Insiders builds of VS Code as well as Visual Studio 2019

To make the icon more legible on a variety of backgrounds (from the desktop to the file chooser), we have added depth to the icon. This allows us to using lighting and shadows to create an overlapped effect, but also has the added advantage of lifting the icon up and off many flat colors it might encounter.

An example of the proposed icon on some of the blues and greens that you can choose in Windows10.

Improving accessibility

To improve accessibility, we needed a something that is more than color, so taking inspiration from the other Visual Studio Preview builds, we have brought a “stencil” look to the Insiders version VS Code while keeping the familiar green.

VS Code's current Insiders build icon (above left) and the proposed version (above right)

Keeping a native macOS style icon

⚠️ NOTE: Please read our updated response, we will not have a custom icon for the Mac, we will use the same icon across all platforms. ⚠️

VS Code's current macOS icon (above left) and the proposed icon (above right)

We’ve kept a macOS style icon for Visual Studio Code on the Mac. We considered having the same icon across all three operating systems but decided to follow the native Mac style. What we also wanted to add to the macOS version was a stronger connection with the Windows icon which would strengthen the recognition between the two versions. Using the same shape, as well as stencil look to the Insiders build, allowed us to do that easily.

Whilst keeping the shape of the background the same for our macOS icons, we were conscious on making sure that VS Code was easy to identify next to Visual Studio for Mac so we’ve adopted a darker look for the shape. This lets you easily spot the difference if you have both installed (and next to each other) in your dock.

Let us know what you think

We would love to hear your feedback on these proposals So let us know what you think!

[Barbapapazes]

Love this idea!

[Stanzilla]

I think a color change is enough to differentiate Insider from Retail, does not have to be a different shape as well. Did you guys explore going into the same direction as the Office guys then? I thought everything across Microsoft has to follow the same scheme now?

[pschfr]

I think having the Insider icon have those cutouts opposed to the stable build makes it look too much like an X, especially a green X, i. e. Excel.

[RandyPJ]

Really nice icons. Its a good idea.

[mstum]

A green X is Excel - the Excel logo never looked like that, but the Mandela Effect will be a thing. How about Orange for the insiders build?

That said, I like the shape, it's in-line with Visual Studio 2019 just like the current icon is like the VS 2017 one. Just no Green X please.

And maybe don't have a gap at all, in small sizes (e.g., Taskbar icon) it looks more like the icon is actually broken and is missing a column of pixels, the 3D look only works at bigger sizes for me.

[Nosherwan]

• I like the proposed look for both stable & insiders build specifically the macos one's.
• I love the 3d look of the icons.
• However in the insider build one the stencil dark band or border can be reduced in thickness, after all only an effect.

[pandeysabin]

I love blue icon of #code and the proposed one with blue, I think is good

[Angusoft-India]

Nice ....👍

[flexdinesh]

Love the idea. Both look great but I'm a lil bit biased towards the stencil look. It will make code icon standout from a pile of icons in a glimpse. Time to spot the stencil icon is seemingly less compared to the other new icon.

[behnammodi]

it's great, good job

[gwardwell]

I like what you’ve done here overall. That being said, have you considered drawing from the new Microsoft Office, Skype, etc. logos? The brand consistency might be nice.

[jimmybrawn]

The macOS icons are fire! I want them shipped in the next build. Tyvm

[tauheedul]

I like the blue ones for Mac and PC

[ahmadawais]

I like the second proposal. 👌

[twisstosin]

I've always wondered why the thick ribbon was there, made it look weird, these look a lot better, great idea!

[rjt-rockx]

Most likely an oversight, but the Insiders icons in the Proposed and Windows 10 background presentations aren't rounded at the bottom part while they appear rounded in the mockups of the Win 10 taskbar and the macOS dock.

[vinayakkulkarni]

macOS one looks super dope. Maybe thinner border but the proposed one still looks sweet.

[ngohungphuc]

I love it

[mariusschulz]

Love the depth of the proposed icon! Just the right level of shadows and rounded corners.

However, I'd prefer the macOS icon without the outline — the same as the Windows one. The shape of the outline looks weird to me and doesn't seem to match the typical macOS icon style. I think the "inner" icon would stand beautifully on its own. 🙂

[karol-majewski]

Nice! I wouldn't mind having the Windows one on macOS as well — it's so beautiful! 😍

[WaveHack]

I love the proposed blue icon!

[vitalkanev]

Looking good. I guess. Especially the blue ("stable") one. 😍

[avatsaev]

Get rid of the cutout on green icon, make it same shape as the blue icon.

[andrewfluck]

I like the new icons, however, o do like the old macOS icon background. If you could find some way to incorporate it, that'd be nice it better fits with the system in that's sense

[djlondon]

The new icon looks off centered. When navigating to vscode, I find my eyes drawn to the smaller "x" then having to make the conscious decision to move it to the right (where the icon is bigger) before clicking.

Could we work on making the icon more centered or have the choice to switch to the older icon? Having a smaller surface area towards the middle of the icon is off-putting. Pls +1 if you experience the same.

Or maybe rotating the icon to look like a flask might help :)

It looks better if your dock is on the side.

[ErikHumphrey]

Most icons on macOS have a filled-in center. Because the new icon has a transparent hole in the middle, it looks out of place compared to other Mac apps. I agree with @matpag- @adryd325's implementation of the proposed icon looks consistently better across the board in the dock, the application switcher, in launchpad, and in the application folder. It also looks the same whether dark mode is on or off and regardless of the user's wallpaper color.

I understand the goal of having one icon across all platforms, but it's too bad that macOS visual design language has to suffer. I wasn't particularly fond of the old icon, but at least it looked like a Mac app.

I think it depends on what's behind the Dock, really. It would be nice if Apple kept with the last rendition of the 3D glass Dock from many years ago; it looks nicest on that.

[StefanJanssen95]

Im a bit late to the party, just like last time. Im really annoyed by the VS Code logo using similar colors to the VS 2019 logo (for colorblind people). I dont see any difference between the two and that makes switching between the two really difficult. I am currently creating my own builds with a pink VS Code logo to actually see the difference between the two.

Hopefully this can be taken in account next time there is a logo change?

[ErikHumphrey]

Im a bit late to the party, just like last time. Im really annoyed by the VS Code logo using similar colors to the VS 2019 logo (for colorblind people). I dont see any difference between the two and that makes switching between the two really difficult. I am currently creating my own builds with a pink VS Code logo to actually see the difference between the two.

Hopefully this can be taken in account next time there is a logo change?

Visual Studio's logo is an infinity symbol, whereas Visual Studio Code's is a fish.

[SoftHippo]

I came here after seeing the Release Notes showing off the new logo to say the same thing as @StefanJanssen95. A large amount of people are red/green colorblind (the most common kind) and this icon is incredibly hard to tell apart from VS2019 (the little line on the left of the VS2019 icon is insignificant on a dark, small taskbar). Maybe a colorblind mode is appropriate, like in many other apps.

[StefanJanssen95]

Visual Studio's logo is an infinity symbol, whereas Visual Studio Code's is a fish.

wow, yes that is true but barely quickly recognizable.

[selvarajblr93]

Visual Studio's logo is an infinity symbol, whereas Visual Studio Code's is a fish.

wow, yes that is true but barely quickly recognizable.

Logic wise visual studio code is 75% of infinity

[matronator]

@adryd325 Really thanks!!!

How to install on macOS:
Just go in application, find Visual Studio Code app, right click, show package content, open Contents folder then Resources folder and replace Code.icns icon with the one provided by adryd. (you can rename it instead of replacing it if you want to restore the old icon at some point)
Then just remove it from dock or restart it and it will show up.

Didn't worked for me. I mean, it kinda did, but not all the way. This is what I mean:

Click to expand image

I quit VSCode, removed from Dock and did killall Finder but it's still the same. Gonna try the sudo method. Btw, I'm on Mojave 10.14.5.

EDIT: Clearing the cache from jonaskohl's comment worked. Thank you and big thanks to @adryd325 for the macOS-friendly icon 👍

Oh, and just to be clear. That I'm using the @adryd325's icon, doesn't mean I don't appreciate all the time and effort put into the new design by the VSCode team! 😉

[adryd325]

Try `killall Dock`

…

On Fri, Jun 14, 2019 at 5:57 AM Matronator ***@***.***> wrote: @adryd325 <https://github.com/adryd325> Really thanks!!! How to install on macOS: Just go in application, find Visual Studio Code app, right click, show package content, open Contents folder then Resources folder and replace Code.icns icon with the one provided by adryd. (you can rename it instead of replacing it if you want to restore the old icon at some point) Then just remove it from dock or restart it and it will show up. Didn't worked for me. I mean, it kinda did, but not all the way. This is what I mean: Click to expand image [image: weird] <https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/5470780/59500776-6f01af80-8e9a-11e9-8d77-e922177403ea.png> I quit VSCode, removed from Dock and did killall Finder but it's still the same. Gonna try the sudo method. Btw, I'm on Mojave 10.14.5. — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#71827?email_source=notifications&email_token=ALOM2RA4NCHAPZ4Q6LSAQDDP2NTO3A5CNFSM4HD7G7SKYY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVREXG43VMVBW63LNMVXHJKTDN5WW2ZLOORPWSZGODXWKM5Q#issuecomment-502048374>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ALOM2RAMG5QSNOIEQTZ2KQ3P2NTO3ANCNFSM4HD7G7SA> .

[matronator]

Try killall Dock
…

@adryd325 Thanks, already fixed it (post edited, but it probably didn't show up in your mail notification) 😉

[ErikHumphrey]

You can also achieve something similar for just the .app by opening the new image or ICNS file with Preview, hitting Cmd+A, Cmd+C, then clicking the small icon of the Get Info window (below) and hitting Cmd+V to paste the new icon into the pool. Fastest way to change all your icons on macOS.

[matronator]

You can also achieve something similar for just the .app by opening the new image or ICNS file with Preview, hitting Cmd+A, Cmd+C, then clicking the small icon of the Get Info window (below) and hitting Cmd+V to paste the new icon into the pool. Fastest way to change all your icons on macOS.

👍 I've been doing that for folders, great feature. But you would still have to update the cache so the change would show up in Dock/Finder/Launchpad (or at least I had too).

[EvilTony]

The easiest way to refresh the icon in the dock on MacOS:

1. Pin VS Code to Dock (Keep in Dock).
2. Quit VS Code if it is open.
3. Unpin VS Code from dock (Remove from Dock).
4. Open Applications in Finder and drag the app back to the dock.

[matronator]

The easiest way to refresh the icon in the dock on MacOS:

1. Pin VS Code to Dock (Keep in Dock).
2. Quit VS Code if it is open.
3. Unpin VS Code from dock (Remove from Dock).
4. Open Applications in Finder and drag the app back to the dock.

Don't know why but this is exactly how I did it the first time and it didn't worked. I had to quit VSCode and follow instructions from a comment above.

sudo touch /Applications/Visual\ Studio\ Code.app;
sudo touch /Applications/Visual\ Studio\ Code.app/Contents/Info.plist;
sudo touch /Applications/Visual\ Studio\ Code.app/Contents/Resources/Code.icns;
killall Dock Finder

[ErikHumphrey]

In my experience, quitting the application and restarting it (by clicking it in the Dock) almost always updates its icon, but whatever works. Logging out and back in or restarting is probably pretty fast nowadays, too.

[voltuer]

Windows 10. Updated. Same icon.

[jamilraichouni]

Windows 10. Updated. Same icon.

Same here. Windows 10, Updated VSCode, started the latest version, ran command

ie4uinit.exe -show

but still have the blue icon.

[ricarditodev]

How do I update the icon in windows 7?

[Oopspw]

Why did you choose a fish without the head as the logo?

May I remind you something from the time when the previous icon was introduced:

So I'd say the fish is doing better now.

that's good

[alexanderby]

Why did you choose a fish without the head as the logo?

May I remind you something from the time when the previous icon was introduced:

So I'd say the fish is doing better now.

As for a logo designer, the previous change stabbed me in hart, so I drew this cartoon to explain what's wrong with the icon as much as I could.

Today from technical point of view the icon looks great. Thanks for the change, now I can click on it without negative emotions. Hope the logo will become infinite ♾some day!

[infinnie]

Why did you choose a fish without the head as the logo?

May I remind you something from the time when the previous icon was introduced:

So I'd say the fish is doing better now.

As for a logo designer, the previous change stabbed me in hart, so I drew this cartoon to explain what's wrong with the icon as much as I could.
Today from technical point of view the icon looks great. Thanks for the change, now I can click on it without negative emotions. Hope the logo will become infinite ♾some day!

It used to be the Visual Studio icon.

[KillyMXI]

@alexanderby Oh, nice to see the author of the image here. I had this picture saved, but couldn't remember where I got it from.
Thank you for making it.

[orta]

Hah, that image came up on my Microsoft on-boarding this week - you're now famous @alexanderby 🎉

[Kallaste]

I hate the new icon so much that I am downgrading my VS Code version, and will be changing IDEs if it is not reverted, because I simply cannot stand to look at something so awful all day. Did anyone actually test this icon on a real machine before it was implemented, or just look at it in product presentations? I have a hard time believing that anyone who had seen it in a real world environment on a real Mac would ever let it out of the design room.

Quite frankly, this is the worst logo I have ever seen for any product anywhere. It has no regard for the Mac aesthetic that all my other icons follow. All the other icons in my dock are either rectangular or have some other visually appealing symmetry. This one is lopsided and totally out of place. Why did you have to change for the sake of change? This logo is just really, really bad.

I guess it was a nice run while it lasted.

[adryd325]

@Kallaste

Alright, I understand design is important, even when dealing with programming, but this is a severe overreaction. I suggest just replacing the icns file. Sure it's hacky and it's not a permanent solution (though you could chmod it to be read only) but as a developer, you can handle that.

As far as ditching vscode as an editor, if the icon was the only reason you chose it, please do so, of not, it's kind of rediculous to change editors only because of an icon. Something that is rarely part of the editors UI.