Time Machine Icon in Photoshop

Last week I got sometime to study a bit of icon design, specially the Mac OS X icons. Among all Leopard icons the one that I like the most is the Time Machine one, it's really beautiful and the idea is very clever as well.

With that icon in mind, I sort of challenged myself and I decided to recreate it in Photoshop to see how some of those effects work and, perhaps, start creating some icons as well.

After a couple of hours I had gotten a satisfactory result, I think. So I decided to teach my girlfriend how to create the icon. Well, she stopped on the third step :). But I still think it’s a very useful tutorial.

Time Machine Icon in Photoshop

UPDATE: I think the tutorial will be published this week on PSDTUTS.

About author

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My name is Fabio Sasso, I'm a graphic/web designer from Porto Alegre, Brazil and I'm the founder of Abduzeedo. I hope we can share lots of information, tips, and ideas through abduzeedo.

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When will this tutorial be apearing on PSDTuts?

Sherbert's picture
Sherbert (not verified) 04/12/2008

I love your icons, I feel guilty for not buying you a cup of coffee

Linda Allen's picture
Linda Allen (not verified) 04/09/2008

You do excellent work. I'd see it as well within your rights to delete comments by people who are too cheap to invest in their own education.

Kailie Quinn's picture
Kailie Quinn (not verified) 03/22/2008

I think it's dumb to sign up for a subscription just for a ps tutorial... just my opinion.

Anonymous (not verified) 03/21/2008

Seriously, $9/month is definitely steep. If they has an option to put out a buck or two for one tutorial, I might consider it, but I agree, information should be free.

Tim's picture
Tim (not verified) 03/20/2008

$9 for access to tutorials is ludicrous. How hard is it, really, to add bevel/emboss to a circle, mask a random effect image, and fake a reflection? Worth $9? Hells no.

Anonymous (not verified) 03/19/2008

Wow... Never mind. I can wait.

Andrew (not verified) 03/19/2008

$9/month seems a tad steep

Anonymous (not verified) 03/18/2008

it's shit! how can do you expect people will pay for the knowledge?

FREE INFORMATION!

Anonymous (not verified) 03/18/2008

So is the tutorial only available for viewing on psdtuts? I saw it on there, but you have to be a 'plus' (paying) member to view :(

john (not verified) 03/18/2008

@tenmonkey: I saw that there are 2 good tutorials, at least, on PSDTUTS teaching how to create icons. Now about this one, it took me like 1-2 hours. I was just recreating an existing icon though. Starting from scratch I think it would have taken me days...

abduzeedo's picture
abduzeedo 03/18/2008

Thanks fabio, I like icon design too, but I don't know where to learn it, there are lots of details in the icons, I don't know how to create them very well. Can u tell me where did u find the icon tutorials?

In our country, there is a kind of people who only make icons, we call them UI designer.

And I have a suggestion too, can u tell us how much time did u spend on the works when u finished a tutorial.

tenmonkey's picture
tenmonkey (not verified) 03/18/2008

Great works !

arnaud's picture
arnaud (not verified) 03/18/2008

this is the nice one.
i also agree with you that Mac OS has a great icon.
its so real and look so nice :)
thanks for give us inspiration :)

Dy's picture
Dy (not verified) 03/18/2008

Hey guys, thanks a lot for the comments...

@giackop - it depends, I always send the final image before, so they take a look say if they will publish or not. It usually takes like 1-3 days.

@Braintrove - It would be possible to recreate exactly the same effect as the original icon, however I wanted to simplify the process to avoid too much work. But I think the chrome ring looks very similar.

@Jiminy - I don't know exactly when the tutorial will be published, but I think it's gonna be this week.

abduzeedo's picture
abduzeedo 03/18/2008

Can't freak'n wait for this one!

Andrew (not verified) 03/17/2008

Hey fabio congrats again for the outcome..

And i have a question.. How long does it take to get an answer from PsdTuts if the tutorial is accepted?

Thanx in advance..

giackop's picture
giackop (not verified) 03/17/2008

Inside the glass looks great, but the chrome ring needs some work.

Braintrove.com's picture
Braintrove.com (not verified) 03/17/2008

But where can I find this tutorial??

Jiminy (not verified) 03/17/2008

Nice work :-)

Benny's picture
Benny (not verified) 03/17/2008

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