Since I was feeling creative today, I decided I would work on some cosmetic issues in EclipseFP that have been bothering me for a while. They make the whole thing look unprofessional and out of tune with the rest of the Eclipse environment. Luckily, Eclipse has a User Interface Guidelines document for me to follow.
I started with some icons. The Guidelines specify precisely how they should look. The icons used in the Package Explorer are now in the same style as their Java counterparts:
Note how the Haskell source files have a nice lambda icon, and the literate source file also has its own icon. The Haskell project itself has a subtle lambda overlay. (I see now that I missed the Libraries icon. Also, the text “[GHC]” should be dimmed. Made a note of these.)
Editors, too, get the new icons:
And finally, the one that I’m most proud of. I figured it would be nice to have the new official “lambda-and-bind” Haskell logo somewhere. And what better place for this than the icon of the Haskell Perspective? So I brushed up my pixel painting skills and drew a variant of the Haskell logo that blends in with the Eclipse environment:
It’s always there, subtle, but visible, recognisable and fresh. I like it.
EclipseFP GSoC '09 
June 21, 2009 at 13:56
Good work, I like them! Although not really necessary they provide a nice, haskellish feeling. Noticing that the upright books in the current libraries icon almost form a lambda I’m curious about the next version.
June 24, 2009 at 01:08
i wish i could control the size of fonts on the project explorer. unfortunately, on linux, the fonts are somewhat big. just compare the project explorer on vista and, say, ubuntu.
and have fun with your gsoc project :).
June 24, 2009 at 12:44
Well, since that all goes through GTK, you should be able to set your font size system-wide. Ubuntu, you say? System -> Preferences -> Appearance -> Fonts tab -> Application font.
Hey, 9pt actually does look much better than 10pt, thanks! ;)