Overview
Autodesk’s flagship product and world’s leading 2D and 3D design and drafting tool, AutoCAD, was long into a comprehensive re-engineering process when AutoDesk contracted Rocket to re-design all of the product’s icons to enhance the new user interface design.

The goal was to deliver a final icon design solution that would vastly improve the daily experience of the millions of AutoCAD users around the world, while reinforcing the AutoCAD product brand identity.

Project Timeline
Rocket was given an aggressive schedule of nine weeks to create a new Visual Language for the AutoCAD icons and deliver 300+ redesigned and new icons to engineering for immediate integration into AutoCAD.

Project Challenges
The primary design challenge centered on how to aesthetically reinforce the AutoCAD brand identity into 300+ icons that had not been refined in more than 10 years, while still clearly communicating each icon’s practical functionality. Additional challenges included the need to appeal to AutoCAD’s diverse professional customer base, which covered more than 100 countries in fields such as architecture, mechanical engineering, urban planning, civil engineering, mapping, GIS, and infrastructure management.

Design Criteria
• Not too clearly XP exclusive
• Leading edge but not flashy
• Crisp, clean and elegant
• Not bright/ flashy/ overly colorful
• Not overly detailed
• Not attention grabbing
• Not a jarring experience for longtime users
• Not toy like

Sample toolbar with Visual Language applied to icons

Project Approach
The Rocket design team partnered closely with representatives of Autodesk Creative Communications and Product Design. Together they developed a pragmatic design rationale, an efficient but flexible project management system, and a solid means of securing the input and approval of a wide range of players within the organization.

To deliver the 300+ final icons, the Rocket design team created, reviewed, and revised with Autodesk over 1,650 icon designs. To achieve this design performance, the project consisted of the following:

1.	Joint Rocket-client schedule planning, including the creation of a Risk Mitigation Strategy to minimize delivery risk
2.	Collaborative (Rocket and Autodesk teams) review and definition of the icon Visual Language (look and feel) to be applied to every new and existing icon
3.	Icon metaphor development and review to ensure effective and consistent metaphor usage
4.	Rapid prototyping, design approval and production to create and deliver the icons to the Autodesk engineering team

Project Outcome
Through a very successful collaborative effort, the Rocket design team delivered the assets on time, on budget and to Autodesk’s brand and design specifications. The true test, however, was to come from the users themselves: early Beta testing results of AutoCAD elicited high praise for the new designs - “It is and has the GREATEST and MOST COMPELLING set of new enhancements of any AutoCAD release that I have worked with” - beta customer, Robert Davis.

Client Testimonials 
“[Rocket’s designs] yielded a phenomenally elegant set of icons that have completely revolutionized our users' interaction with the product.”

Rudi O’Meara, Senior Art Director
Autodesk

“It was a real pleasure working with such a talented and dedicated bunch.”

Jeffrey Lopes, Director of Product Design
Autodesk

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