The fact that BB refused to even employ an image which is related to their title shows that they likely gave very little informed thought to the aesthetics as well.

I don’t get the animosity towards the Bare Bones icons. Yeah, the wacky “B” on the old BBEdit icon was a mistake, but other than that, BBEdit’s current icon suits the product well. It’s distinctive and easily recognizable at all sizes, and, the right angles suggest the tools of a draftsman (perhaps a play on the old Bare Bones draftsman mascot?). Perhaps you wouldn’t call it beautiful, but I think it’s at least handsome.

As for the Yojimbo icon, Adam’s rendition is quite nice. Judging by his other work, I’m sure it would have looked great in its final form. But in this case, I think I’d still have to vote with the current red moon version. Thanks to Adam’s polish, I think it looks quite nice: it’s simple, distinctive, easily recognizable (at least it is for me), and attractive (again, at least to me). Of course, critiquing icons is highly subjective.

With the greatest respect to Adam, I personally feel the angled book theme is tired (as is the angled stack of papers with a pen for document-based apps). Yeah, I know it has inherent meaning that tells the user what kind of app it represents. But if the app’s brand identity is strong enough, those hints aren’t necessary. Does anybody NOT know that BBEdit is a document-based app? The BBEdit brand is so strong in the Mac community that its icon has almost become synonymous with text editing.

The icons for BBEdit and Yojimbo are bold, unconventional, and, as others have already mentioned, irreverent. And I think it works for them.

Now, for Jason’s comment on the “Yojimbo” name, Wikipedia reads: “In Japanese, a yojimbo (用心棒) is a bodyguard or security person.” A yojimbo might be a rogue Samurai or they might be a trained assassin. So why not a Ninja or any other character with a mean flying kick? It all part of the app’s brand and fits with it’s motto: “Master the Onslaught”. A little bit dorky? Maybe. But it’s also cute and memorable. And like the icon, I think it works.