Black and White impenetrable icons

[handrawn]

I am not advocating one set as better than the other, quite happy either way... most of the time i am looking at the workspace....

but the chances of xara reverting from bw icons is likely nil; it's not the way 'professional' apps do things these days

[xtom]

I still like the colour buttons, they made interacting with the software a bit more pleasant. From the screenshots it looks like Affinity has some colour to their UI buttons and it looks good too.

[Daniel]

the chances of xara reverting from bw icons is likely nil; it's not the way 'professional' apps do things these days

I found Office 2010 the easiest version to use because it had the most colourful toolbar buttons. Office 2013 was pretty flat and difficult to distinguish buttons because it was either monochrome or very nearly monochrome, but to their credit, the current version of Office 365 (Microsoft 365? If there's one thing that Xara and Microsoft have in common, it's that they can pick confusing product names and version numbers) has re-introduced colour and it is much better for it.

Affinity has some colour to their UI buttons and it looks good too.

It has, and it does. I can't use it for toffee though, every time I try, I give up because I can do things in Xara quicker - even with ropey toolbars.

[handrawn]

..office 365.....has re-introduced colour...

up to a point it has, but again, the colouration is now done for empasis rather than having everything coloured for the sake of it

and it is much better for it

a new suit of clothes is still just a suit of clothes

[Jonopen]

I still like the colour buttons, they made interacting with the software a bit more pleasant. From the screenshots it looks like Affinity has some colour to their UI buttons and it looks good too.

Here are both of Affinity Designer's options side-by-side. Having tried each one over a period of time, I personally prefer the colour ones. The small flashes of colour definitely guide me to the tool I want quicker. I do however, know some users that much prefer the mono set. Having a choice is the answer.

[handrawn]

now we have decided on the shape of the tables, can we start the meetings ? [old 'blob' joke, sorry]

[gwpriester]

To paraphrase Mary's grandmother, "Is life a contest to see how obscure we can make the icons?"

I totally agree with the comments here. Even though I have used Xara since 1996, I really have trouble discerning between the icons, especially on the Infobar.

[handrawn]

true - I can understand that, but... are the icons not always in the same place in the UI [Ui's to include full view] and on your floating toolbars? if so, I really don't see the issue...

[DD]

I don’t want multicoloured prettiness just a way to make states 2 and 3
instantly, easily, obviously stand out from state 1.

May I start a challenge ?