I've been a long-time user of Textmate for all of my web coding and general plain-text editing needs. The application is packed with amazing features and I love the simplicity of its interface. However, the long intervals between new Textmate updates have led me to investigate a few alternatives…

The most appealing of the Textmate alternatives I examined is Sublime Text. Sublime Text is an upstart text editor that closely follows the Textmate model of what a text-editor should be while adding some compelling new features to the mix. Sublime's coding features rock, but being a design guy as well as a web developer, I've found its rather distinct lack of eye candy to be a major drawback.

To help address the eye candy issue, I decided to take a shot at making a replacement to Sublime Text's default application icon. That lime slice and sketchy 'S' number you see at the top of this post is the result. In case you are unfamiliar with Sublime Text's current application icon, it's the grey square to the right of this paragraph.

The replacement icon is available for download in a variety of formats using the link below. As Sublime Text is a cross-platform app, I've included icon options for Mac (ICNS), Windows (ICO), and Linux (PNG) in sizes ranging from 512x512 to 16x16 pixels.

Installation

To install the replacement icon on a Mac, navigate to your "Applications" folder, then right-click the "Sublime Text 2" package, and select "Show Package Contents". Now you can navigate to /Contents/Resources/ and replace the "Sublime Text 2.icns" file with the one included in the ZIP — Be sure to back-up the original icon file in case you want to restore it later.

I'm not sure where you would replace the icon files on a Windows or Linux installation, but have a look around in the folder where you installed Sublime Text and you'll likely find the appropriate files.

Posted by DesignKode | Sublime Text Replacement Icon

Here's a fun design project I recently completed. Over the last couple of years, my dad has taken up beekeeping and this fall, he was busy harvesting and jarring the first batch of honey.

Naturally, some sort of label was needed for all those honey jars and I provided the design above. The labels are printed on 4" x 2.5" sticker stock before being affixed to the jars.

The name "Tubby Bottom Honey" is drawn from the area where the honey is produced and apparently has it's origins in the Choctaw language.

Posted by DesignKode | Tubby Bottom Honey

When Eric McKenna Spreng decided to turn his musical pursuits into a full-time career, he needed a website to promote his services to the public. DesignKode had a hand in getting Eric's Ravensfell Music Works website completed and it has now launched at www.ravensfellmusic.com.

The graphic design for the website was done by Kirsten Gellella of Eye Cuisine and HTML and CSS layout were provided by Meg Golden.

I contributed by creating a set Flash audio players for streaming Eric's music online and by creating a music store to enable sales of Eric's mp3 albums and individual mp3 tracks through the site.

Check it out here and be sure to give a listen to Eric's music... some great stuff there.

Posted by DesignKode | Ravensfell Music Works

DesignKode is releasing this set of 40 free high quality icons for your web site and application GUI designs. All icons in this set are 32 x 32 pixel PNG image files. You may freely use these icons in your commercial or personal projects without attribution.

If you would like to share this icon set with others, please do so by providing a link back to this page at http://www.designkode.com/blog/free-developer-icons or by using one of the social media links below. Do not link directly to the download file or upload the icon set to another site for redistribution.

Posted by DesignKode | Free Icon Set for Developers

iSled

"iSled showcases Minnesota's 20,000 miles plus of groomed snowmobile trails and the community that rides them, helping riders stay up to date on trail conditions, repair and riding tips. iSled also provides GPS-based compass direction to pubs, restaurants and gas stations for your sled that can operate even when out of 3G range!"

Head over to isledmobile.com to check out the new site or stop by Mica's company site to learn more about their upcoming mobile apps and software development services.

Posted by DesignKode | iSled App Lauches for Snowmobilers

There's a new icon set for iPhone developers available in the DesignKode icon store today. The iPhone Toolbar Button Icons set contains 100 PNG icons designed for use in Bar Button Items on the iPhone Toolbar.

Toolbar button icons present a unique design challenge because of the vertical height constraints of the button shape, which requires the icons to fit within a roughly 20 pixel square. The icons in this set are all PNG image files with alpha transparency and have been colored black so that they may be easily distinguished in the Mac OS X Finder. Check out the quick reference guide PDF for a list of all the icons in this set.

When the icons are placed into a Bar Button Item in Interface Builder, the icon will display as white with a beveled edge. The coloration effect is produced automatically by the iPhone SDK, helping to maintain a consistent look across iPhone apps.

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While you're in the icon store, be sure to check out our Tab Bar icon set for iPhone and iPad developers. The Tab Bar icons are larger than the Toolbar icons, designed for the 30 x 30 pixel area of Tab Bar buttons. The Tab Bar icons also come in both PNG and vector SVG formats.

Posted by DesignKode | Toolbar Button Icons for iPhone

LakeLander

LakeLander is a great new iPhone app that helps you plan lake-hopping seaplane trips to remote destinations in Minnesota. Recently, I worked with the developers at Mica Limited to create LakeLander's graphics, including the app icon, launch screen and an assortment of toolbar icons and map pointers. The application provides maps, directions and information for the many recreational destinations that can be reached throughout Minnesota by seaplane. If you are planning a lake-hopping trip or just want to dream about the possibility, give LakeLander a try. It's a free app, so download it today.

Description from Mica Limited:

"Whether you're looking to fly to a romantic lakeside restaurant with your spouse, a golf course with a buddy or a fishing trip with the family, LakeLander can help you plan your trip! With over 800 lakes and every seaplane base in MN, LakeLander can help you get there."

See more screenshots here »

Posted by DesignKode | LakeLander Available in the App Store

Today, DesignKode is announcing the release of a new icon set for iPhone and iPad app developers. The set contains 130 150 icons in both PNG and vector SVG formats, designed to be used in the Tab Bar of iPhone and iPad apps.

DesignKode's Tab Bar icons are delivered as solid-color, grayscale PNG image files, as directed in Apple's HIG. The hallmark gradients and blue highlighting effects of the icons seen in iPhone apps are applied automatically by the iPhone/iPad SDK at runtime. Designed for the Tab Bar, these icons also work well in the iPhone's Toolbar and Navigation Bar objects.

In addition to the set of PNG images, the set contains a vector SVG file for each icon, which can be easily resized to fit any dimension. SVG is an open standard vector graphics format which can be edited using either commercial or free, open source illustration software.

With icons for medical, publishing, sports, games and many other topics, this icon set will help you rapidly develop attractive interfaces for a wide variety of application types. To learn more or to purchase the icon set, visit the DesignKode icon shop.

Posted by DesignKode | Tab Bar Icons for iPhone & iPad Apps