It’s always good to see the McNeel design team open about developing features and ideas, and to encourage suggestions and criticism. It almost feels like Rhino is open source.
We, as users, care passionately about the tool we interact with daily, and that passion, while oscillating between love and hate, can sometimes translate to strong opinions that range from uneducated to idiotic.
With so much attention around the subject of icons (including mine), I’m worried about how much a minuscule sample of users (with its portion of sub-informed, self-appointed design specialists) can direct the “visual narrative” of the app.
There was always some lack of “ultimate visual identity cohesion across all icons,” which I see is being addressed more seriously. Complaints like dark mode being perceived as a lot worse just by not having the white stroke around icons, and the reduction in contrast in the new scheme, are valid, but I fear trying to reach each individual need leads to a worse product overall.
Take Grasshopper 2 for example; nobody was asked on, “What are your feelings about this specific icon so that you won’t feel triggered?” yet, the result speaks for itself: it’s an incredible product just from the iconography and user experience standpoint.
My hope is that Rhino is continuously improving, powered by intention, a solid vision, strong leadership, and not just catering to a few loud voices.
In my opinion, some icons need to be scaled a bit to make them more coherent with the rest icons. For example, here I marked 4 icons that look a bit weird due to their area being considerably smaller.
Icon #1. The white highlight must be wider to accentuate the flatness;
Icons #2 and #3. The base must be wider, and the tip of icon #2 must be higher (compare it to the cone icon on the left side). The left wall of icon #2 must be brighter, despite that its trimmed version (icon #3) has the same shade of blue. The reason for that was already proved a few posts above, where the discussion was about how the adjacent colours affect the perception of other colours. Icon #3 has a brighter top wall, which brightens the whole icon, while icon #2 is perceived as noticeably darker overall;
Icon #4. Must be wider, taller (with a visible hole) and with a brighter highlight. Currently, it looks considerably smaller than the pipe icon on its right side.
Rhino’s are far too basic and basic (except for a few select colors like Smurf blue and lime green).
If we wanted the essentials, we should opt for icons similar to those implemented in Vray 7, for example: in shades of gray and without too many frills.
The old icons of SolidThinking were unbearable: too saturated blue, tiny and with saturated blue frame around the toobars. They vastly improved their UI in the recent years with the current large 3d-like high-contrast icons with toned down saturation, though I still prefer the simple icons of Rhino 7 and Rhino 8.
Take the icons for creating a box, for example. Rhino’s isometric perspective of the box (along with the dark outline and minimum amount of colours) is far easier to read than the 3d perspective box in SolidThinking (which is further made more difficult to distinguish due to the missing outline and the unnecessary gradient that blends with the background in some areas).
In fact, every surface and curve icon in SolidThinking has a gradient, which kills the purpose of the icons to provide an easy and quick perception of what they actually do. They have way too much details, a similar gradient and contrast, thus the user is forced to stare at them for a longer period of time to be able to distinguish the differences. Too high contrast is actually bad for the UI. It must be balanced.
Not to mention that the gradient of the curves is anti-user for colour-blind people. I see portion of the curves as red, another portion as green. That’s caused by the gradient itself.
I recently came back to Rhino after being away for several versions. Love the software, but one thing that’s definitely adding to the learning curve for me (and I from what I read I think others too) is the icon clarity.
A lot of software has moved toward simpler, more universal icon styles, maybe borrowing from the International Icon System ISO (fewer colors, clearer shapes, consistent line weights). For example, the “Move” icon in most programs (AutoCAD, Fusion 360, Photoshop, SketchUp, Blender etc.) is basically the same, so you recognize it more quickly. In Rhino, some icons, including Move, feel a bit abstract or unfamiliar, so switching between apps takes more effort than it probably needs to. Or more of a barrier for new users.
I really like what’s happening in WIP9 with using gray icons and adding color only to show what’s being modified. That makes things way easier to read. But when whole tabs are full of high-saturation icons next to each other, the overall look gets a bit visually loud and distracting.
Personally, I think pushing the “less is more” idea a bit further would really help: simpler silhouettes, less color overall, and more consistent line weights in the icons so everything feels more unified.
Totally get that redesigning icons is a huge job and longtime users may have strong opinions, just sharing observations from a returning user who’s loving Rhino but sees room to make the UI clearer. And especially important to be more inviting for people to switch to Rhino from other apps.
Is there any way to unify the icons between Grasshopper and Rhino? Imagine a single, coherent platform. Grasshopper’s Move and Project icons already show how much clearer things could be.
Now, why not borrow a page from Blender’s playbook? Endless freedom to tweak the UI, link it to your favourite tools, and build your own ecosystem. Blender grows stronger every day, and once you start using it, it sticks. I use it constantly with Rhino, but still no Rhino-themed integration in their world. Did Rhino forget to send Blender a friendship request?
Do UI designs really have to be locked in the hands of developers? Do they have time to understand the tastes and minds of millions of users? Why not let the community play, iterate, and create? That’s what creative freedom is all about!
Open up Rhino. Stop being boring. Give us the ultimate NURBS engine, the best chassis out there, and let the community handle the ‘carrosserie’, the bodywork. We will make it shine, and everyone wins!
I have to agree with other’s. while i think its cool to have updated graphics of the icons I think the colour palette is distracting. I aslo agree with Emma, as a blender user myself there are SO MANY cool UI/UX features in blender that makes the application feel smooth (I’d even argue it’s the smoothest experience ive ever had). I understand that rhino looks the way it does is to be familiar for new and old users but at the same time things need to change and we need to move forward
This project stems from years of experience with Rhino 3D and a desire to make the interface more intuitive, efficient, and visually appealing. As an industrial designer, This Rhino user re-imagined the icons to prioritize clarity and ease of use.
I fail to see a single icon that’s better than Rhino 7/8 icons. The “Lens length” icons are nice due to the cinema look. But the rest are very difficult to read as they are mostly dark, black and white, rarely have some dark blue or yellow, and lack a distinctive outline. Just my opinion.
That’s exactly the point, it’s your opinion! and design is incredibly subjective. Some people prefer a cleaner, less cluttered UI, while others love filling their screen with icons. Some rely on the command line, others live on the gumball, and everyone ends up shaping their workflow differently. At the end of the day, our preferences don’t always align with each other, and that’s perfectly fine.
Rhino’s engine is phenomenal, but debating colour shades won’t change that. The community can often do a better job tailoring the UI than McNeel themselves. Look at RhinoArtisan, they reshaped the interface to fit their needs, and you can do the same and share it if someone gives us the opportunity. We just need to make sure people understand it’s not taboo. There’s no ban, no anathema, no secret cult handbook. Rhino is just a very powerful NURBS engine, so let’s customise it, use it, and enjoy it to the fullest.
Well, while it’s my opinion, I’m pretty sure that if you ask 1000 people whether these icons are mainly black and white, have no distinctive outlines, and are more difficult to read than their respective Rhino 7/8 counterparts, at least 999 of them will tell you exactly the same (unless they are totally blind or biased for some reason). Icons for the texture mapping should be colourful instead of black and white. That’s counter-intuitive. Textures are coloured 99% of the time.
This is more logical. Geometry is blue, cutting is either red or orange (I see your proposed orange as green, but it’s my colour-blind eyes). If it was a lighter orange I would see it as orange.
I feel that most workflows today mix Rhino and Grasshopper, especially in AEC, so unifying their icons would make sense. Grasshopper is essentially a plugin inside Rhino, so sharing a common visual ecosystem could help people understand which tools relate to each other. I rely on the command line in Rhino, but many others use icons, and having consistent visuals would make it easier to move between the two environments. Rhino is a manual modelling tool, while Grasshopper is a visual programming system that adds automation and logic on top of Rhino, so aligning their interfaces would make that relationship clearer.
The RhinoUI setup is basically one guy’s passion project, his own “Rhino, but make it fashion” moment. He loves tweaking the software to fit his vibe, and hey, if he wants to share with others his custom interface for a few coins, fair enough. It works for him because he models all day, so that layout feels like home.
But honestly, even though I like the Rhino 9 WIP, you have to admit the whole thing could use a serious glow-up. Rhino is insanely powerful, yet the interface is starting to look like it time-traveled here straight from the 90s. With everything it can do, it deserves a proper makeover, like taking an old Mustang and turning it into something you’d actually brag about.
If it was a lighter orange I would see it as orange.