Nisus Writer Pro & Nisus Writer Express

I was recently asked to modernise the icons for the Mac word processors Nisus Writer Pro and Express. For the Pro icon they wanted something that felt familiar to users but which still embodied a significant change. The icon draws on the feather from the cap of the Nisus Man and turns it into flowing ink.

For the Express icon they wanted to simply update the old design so it felt more at home in user's docks next to apps like iTunes and Safari.

I always try to walk the tightrope between the beautiful old photorealistic OS X icon style and the current flat design trend, which I often feel it taken too far and produces some really hideous iconography.