120+ Icons and Counting

The initiative

Jakub Steiner writes that GNOME's app-icon-requests project has quietly turned into a small design factory. Back in 2019 the project ripped up the old Tango-era rulebook — no more seven-size, hyper-detailed icons — and swapped it for a geometric, colorful language that's actually doable. It has been reported that the project has received over a hundred icon requests; each request pairs a developer with a volunteer designer and, bit by bit, makes the Linux desktop feel more cohesive.

How it works

Think GitLab issues, pencil sketches, and patient iteration. If you follow GNOME's Human Interface Guidelines you file a request, a designer picks it up when they have spare time, sketches metaphors, and works with the maintainer until everyone's satisfied. In-house art still wins for speed and control, sure — but for projects willing to wait, it’s a free, community-driven route. Apps in GNOME Circle or aiming to join get attention faster, and the pipeline lives on GitLab and Flathub.

Standout icons

Some of the best stories are small and stubborn. Alpaca, the AI chat client, went through several rounds to land the right llama. Bazaar took eight months and 16 comments to evolve from a shopping-basket sketch to a market-stall final. Papers — the document viewer — kept reading glasses and a colorful stack of pages after dozens of back-and-forths; the GitLab thread shows the give-and-take that actually makes an icon feel like the app. It has been reported that there are 127 completed icons you can browse, from core GNOME apps to niche Flathub tools.

Why it matters

Why fuss about icons? Because tiny glyphs are shorthand for identity. A good icon tells you what an app is without shouting, and it plays nicely next to dozens of neighbors on your desktop. The emotional core here is collaboration: designers’ aesthetics meeting maintainers’ attachment to their apps. It’s slow work, sometimes messy. But when it clicks, the desktop feels smarter — and a little friendlier — for everyone.

Sources: blog.jimmac.eu, Lobsters