Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
- First, who are you?
My name is Ivan Boyko. I'm the founder and the owner of VisualPharm. I'm one of the first people from Russia who started earning money on the Internet back in 1997. Previosuly I worked as a creative director at SWsoft, a US-based software development company. Since January 2003, I started my own business, VisualPharm.
- What do you do?
90% of revenues we get from XP icons for commercial software manufacturers. We complete more than 1000 icons per year for our customers from USA, EU and Australia. Our customer list includes
Our Windows icons are even on the desktops of US Army soldiers and officers. We work for different companies: from small firms like one shareware maker to big companies like VeriSign. Please check some samples from our portfolio.
- Where is your office located?
- I'm afraid there will be some problems with time difference or something.
It's our firm belief that there won't be any such problems. We check email several times a day. Surely we can't be online 24/7, but one of us will answer you within 24 hours, and most often within an hour (if we're online) or 12 hours (if we're not).
- Why the phrase near to the logo is handwritten?
 It is our trade mark. In contrast to many businesses, we can't scale our company. I still have to draw each and every icon you order. So it's a 100% manual work. Since the beginning of year 2003 I make the notes handwritten on our sketches to improve the impression of custom work.
- Could you provide any contacts for some of your clients that you have previously done work for?
- I've contacted you but got no response..?
Please note that we get faxes and voice mail messages through email. So we face with different technical problems such as viruses, spam filters and so on.
So we have to ask you try again and again. We always answer the received messages if we're fine.
Icons Format
- Which icon format do I need?
Usually, customers order .ico or .gif icons.
- If you're developing a GUI application for Windows (Windows icons) , you need .ico icons.
- If you're developing a web application (accessible with a browser), you need .gif icons.
- If you're developing a GUI application for Mac OS (Mac icons) , you need .icns icons.
- If you're developing a GUI application for Linux, you need .png icons.
 You can download .ico files for free to fit to your application. If you want to use icons as watermarks, illustrations or whatever which means you need to resize them, then you need the Adobe Illustrator source, for example .ai or .eps. Important note: we provide .ico, .icns, .gif, .jpeg, .png, .ai, .eps formats for no extra.
- Any suggestions about icon sizes?
It depends on your application, but here are some suggestions from Microsoft Vista Icons Guide: Application icons and Control Panel items: The full set includes
- 16x16
- 32x32
- 48x48
- 256x256
Toolbar icons should be in 16x16, 24x24 and 32x32. So, Internet Explorer has a customizable setting: you may switch on large icons (24x24) or small (16x16). 
- Which color depth should icons have?
Usually, we make both truecolor and 256 color Windows icons; so, they work both in Vista or older versions.
We don't recommend to order 16 color icons. We need to charge some extra to make them manually, and they look ugly if made automatically. Same time, 16 color screens are extremely rare.
- Are your Windows icons compatible with XP, 98 and 2000 at the same time?
Yes, all Windows icons we produce are compatible with older Windows versions up to Windows 95. The .ico files we make contain both:
- true color versions with alpha channel (look great, but only for Windows XP);
- and 256 color versions (look worse, but they're compatible with older Windows versions up to Windows 95).
- Do you follow the Microsoft Style Guide?
Workflow
- How long does it take to create N icons?
Usually it takes 7 days per order + one day per icon. It means it will take 17 days to create 10 icons. Of course we're flexible and will try to fit your deadline.
- OK, what do I need to get started?
We need few things from you to get started:
- A list of icons you need, or a screen shot of your application, or something to get an idea of what you need. Your ideas about metaphors will speed up the process a lot. You can also mark which icon metaphors you like and which ones you'd like to replace.
- Formats and sizes you need. If you don't know, ask us for a suggestion or check Knowledge base for information.
- Your suggestions about how much time do we have. As we've written above: usually it takes a week per order + one day per icon. But if you have less time or if you can give us more time - please let us know.
- We kindly ask about a 50% prepay of our services.
That's all.
- Do you provide pencil sketches?
Only in some very difficult cases. Since in most cases it's more convenient just to discuss the metaphors via email.
- I want to order an application icon, can I?
We appreciate all our leads and we always try to be polite, but we need to follow our schedule too. Application icons take much more time to make and they are more closer to a logo design which is $600 according to our price list.
Now we make application icons only if the order is 10+ icons. Please note that we introduced $1000 minimum order recently in order to serve our major customers better.
Pricing
- Isn't it too expensive to hire you? What are the prices?
Probably not. Many companies from all over the world prefer our services in XP and Vista icons creation. Our prices are simple so customers can estimate the project cost easily.
| XP-style icon |
Sample |
$160 lowered! |
| XP-style application icon |
Sample |
$320 |
| Logo design |
Sample |
$900 |
| Corporate site sketches |
Sample |
$2,500-3,000 |
| Flash animation |
Sample |
$1000 not available now |
| Splash screen |
Sample |
$400 |
| Animated banner |
Sample |
$400 not available now |
Important note: We've introduced the minimum order of $1 000. Please understand us - this is needed to serve our major customers better.
- I like an icon from your portfolio. Could you please sell it?
Unfortunately the answer is no. Our customers pay for the exclusive work. On the other hand we'll never sell the icons we've created for you.
- What is the price if I order several icon formats/sizes?
The price of $160 includes several revisions, required formats and two sizes. Just tell us what formats and sizes do you need and we'll make them.
The price of an application icon includes extra four sizes.
Surely, you can order more sizes. Please note that we've introduced a fee of $24 per size since we have to adjust the artwork manually.
To find out what formats you may need please check the question "Which icon format do I need?"
Usually customers order 1-2 sizes in one format.
- Is the price $160 for one icon or for a package?
Icon costs $160, export to all required formats (.ico, .png etc.) is included.
Package includes one or two sizes of one artwork. That's enough for most cases. Extra sizes are $24 apiece since we adjust the artwork for new sizes manually.
- I'm the poor shareware developer. Can I have some icons for cheap or for free?
We have such experience of giving the icons to the shareware makers for some donation or incoming link. It wasn't successful: we've sent the icons, but didn't receive neither the promised links nor promised money.
So we decided to stop this kind of charity. Instead of making icons for particular programs we're going to make some icons for free to let Windows users customize their desktops. Please don't ask us when this package will be released. It depends on the amount of orders we get and on the amount of time we have.
- I want to be a web designer. Could you teach me for money?
In most cases I answer this way:
- If you're starting a web development business, then hire a team of professionals.
- If you start your own career, then learn, make many orders for free and become a recognizable professional.
Payments
- How can I pay?
You can pay either with a wire transfer or with a credit card online by buying from 2Checkout. Please note that when you buy our services from 2Checkout, the services are provided by VisualPharm and sold by 2CheckOut.com Inc. (Ohio, USA). Existing customers can pay with a check. But it takes up to a month to clear an e-check with 2Checkout. Although they've promised it takes up to five days, they switched to a manual processing of e-checks recently, and thus it takes much longer. We've no customer up to the moment who wanted to wait for a month before we start drawing icons. But if this is OK with you, you may pay with an e-check. Please note that we appreciate a 50% prepay for our services. Surely you can start with a small order (just one or few icons) to "test the waters". Please use our Live Support Chat by clicking the icon on the top left corner of each page or drop a message to sales@visualpharm.com to get started.
- Do you accept PayPal?
No. We are located in Russia, and PayPal prohibits the use of their services from Russia.
- How can I find your bank account details?
Please contact us before making a payment. We can send you invoice by email, fax or snail mail if needed. Here are our bank details:
- Can I pay in a different currency?
Yes. The list of available currencies includes:
- AUD
- CAD
- CHF
- DKK
- EUR
- GBP
- HKD
- JPY
- NOK
- NZD
- SEK
- USD
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- Australian Dollars
- Canadian Dollars
- Swiss Francs
- Danish Krones
- Euros
- British Pounds
- Hong Kong Dollars
- Japanese Yens
- Norwegian Krones
- New Zealand Dollars
- Sweden Krones
- US Dollars |
You may check the rate here. Please note that the actual rate may differ few cents but this tool allows you to estimate the cost in your local currency. In any case the payment request will be in US Dollars. But while checkout process you would have an option in which currency to pay. Selecting a currency of your credit card may have the following advantages:
- Some card banks will bring in additional revenue by performing the currency conversion in their favor whenever possible.
- Some card banks add additional fees to buyer for doing a currency conversion.
- You will know the exact amount that will appear on your credit card statement.
Legal Issues
- Do you have an icon with a phone? (with a screwdriver, with a thermometer, etc)
Most probably we have this icon. We publish less than 5% of the icons we've done, because people steal them. Please check the next question about our efforts to fight illegal use of our icons.
- I've found the case of illegal use of your icons..?
Unfortunately people steal our icons too often. We meet our icons browsing the web and in some shareware programs. Some friends and partners send us the screen shots of the software with our stolen icons. We're trying to inform people that they use pirated icons in their software and we publish the messages in the public forums, inform Free Software Foundation if the software is distributed under GNU, etc. In general we don't have much success in this activity while it requires a lot of time. Please let us know if you have some knowledge or experience and can help us to take any legal action. Related links:
- Can I use Microsoft's icons?
No. Microsoft prohibits the use of their icons. However you may use the icons shipped with the development tools. More information on Microsoft's copyright policy: Microsoft's Copyright Policy on Icons (on microsoft.com web site)
- Icons you've made for me are the same as you've made for...
No. We never sell the same icons. But we create about 1000-1200 icons each year, so we have some templates for the frequently ordered objects (not icons). For example, we have two templates of the Earth globe, several "XP dummies" (his haircut and clothes color are changed every time) and so on.
Sometimes icons seem to be the same but this is up to the Microsoft Style Guide that specifies the angle, colors palette, round corners etc. So if you pay more attention to the icons you can find many differences.
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