You probably haven’t noticed, but it’s been the most huge blast of a day for me since, well, ever. Today was not just the release day of the new Icon Designer (which is still sliced, so sue me), but I also took the lengthy three-hour trip to Amsterdam to meet up with Jasper, Hugo, Dirk and Koen of MadebySofa. I also met the ex-Sofa intern, Jorn, who blogged a while about his experiences in the team. As a Dutch powerhouse of neat interfaces, icons and applications, MadebySofa has been inspiring for me so far, and today has only intensified my respect for the crew.

Here’s a photo shot by Dirk, kind enough to replace my frantic blurry photoboothing of the crew.

We discussed various things, had some great lunch and showed each other work. For me, it’s been the first time I ever met another icon designer, let alone Jasper Hauser, so it really was like coming home. I felt a bit sorry having to leave in the afternoon to make sure I could get a new battery for the Macbook Pro on the way home so I could get some work done, but the day was fantastic and more than worth the extraordinary traveling fees of the public transportation here. MadebySofa’s still Europe’s (the world’s?) only and best Mac team when it comes to interaction and interface design, and I feel honoured to work and talk with them. I spent an hour or so working on Icon Designer and sending emails to clients, as a part of the crew was out for a bit of the day celebrating Hugo’s birthday (happy one again, Hugo!).

So, enough for the great day I had in Amsterdam, on to the fresh meat. What do I have in store for you? Icon Designer has had layout, loading time, and graphic tweaks and changes, and now features two new icon sets for you to download freely. As space was getting scarce, I added a page containing all my freeware work so far, updated my client work with a few new icons I was allowed to show, and testimonials of very happy clients. I also added an about page, so you can read a bit more about me, and see how the process of icon design goes in general. I hope you like the additions and tweaks to Icon Designer and if you enjoy it, please drop a comment or an email; it makes me feel like making the freeware sets and the website is worth my time. Also check out MadebySofa, the greatest designers and developers out there in our low lands, and stay tuned for interesting developments down the road.

Update; added a picture shot by Dirk. Click it to read Sofa’s notes (and see who’s who).