document-save should look less like a mimetype

[newhoa]

Problem

document-save and document-save-as look like mimetype icons. document-save is a symlink to text-x-install. Also because of the coloring, they can be confused with disabled icons.

Current:

Proposal

It would be nice if this looked a little more like an action or button style icon.

[newhoa]

Just quickly tried out the Download emblem. I like it, but I wonder if using it for an emblem, folder, and save icon would be too confusing. Maybe there could be some variation for it (wonder if a mix of that and the "partial download" arrow might work)?

[newhoa]

Here's another proposal, more closely matching the browser-download, and document import/export icons:

prop2 was kind of meant to represent a "save changes to the document" look, but it looks a little close the import icon? Not sure about that one. Edit: Actually, after coming back to this I seem to like prop2 the most now.

prop1 looks a little more right maybe? More of a hybrid of download and export. And not too far off from the current document-save, just less mimetype-looking using the "document" symbol of import/export.

Still would need to make a "save as" version.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be helpful!

[mare1203]

The Save action doesn’t need wheel-reinventing because someone feared TikTok kids were dumb. The tried-and-true diskette metaphor is still the most usable one, and that hasn’t demonstrably changed across generations.

i'm not too young, but even to me the floppy icon means nothing.

[danirabbit]

@newhoa I would be down with making it more like the other document icons using a tile shape as the base and using the same color arrows as the download/import/export icons. I think that reasoning makes sense.

For "Save as", what about using a folder icon as the base? Since this opens the file chooser that might make more sense than trying to convey file renaming

Older versions of the "Open" icon had an arrow pointing out of the folder, so maybe an arrow pointing into the folder could make sense here

[1280px]

I think Firefox icons might be a useful reference too:

Open file = "take" a file from a directory (up arrow)

Save file = "put" the file to a directory (down arrow)

The only downside I see is it will make all three (open, save, save as) icons appear way too similar, as they all will use the folder as a base. Which is why I prefer @newhoa's prop1 idea.