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Inkscape is a very simple yet powerful vector graphics program. You can create and edit any svg image and even include other images in it. It is easy to use - it took me about an hour to create this icon although I had no previous Inkscape knowledge. I also tried out some advanced functions as gradients and drawing bezier curves. It was really fun creating an icon, maybe I’ll create my own for my fotoalbum.

Inkscape

An Inkscape package is already included in my favourite distribution Ubuntu. If you’d like to have more information about Inkscape I’d like to redirect you to the Inkscape Website. There you’ll find news, an FAQ and most important tutorials to get to know how to work with Inkscape.

The Icon

The icon uses the well known question mark to represent the help functionality. It has orange background because it is meant to be included into the uni@klu homepage I’m helping out sometimes. I already did some icons on that page but never used a vector graphics program to do that (I used The GIMP instead).

It has some bezier reflections on the upper half and an oval reflection with gradient on the lower third of the icon. This way it has a very glassy look. This has not been my idea, many icon themes use this technique to create high quality icon sets. Personally I like flat icons more, but this one will hopefully be the first of a new set at uni@klu.

The Source

If you’re interested you can have the Inkscape svg file. Just drop me a line and I’ll send it to you asap.