The current icon looks pretty outdated compared to the other apps. Simplify it to keep it looking modern.
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Do you have an icon you would like to propose for replacing it?
Looks fine to me: https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/3.11/Lib/idlelib/Icons/idle_256.png A piece of paper with some Python code, and the Python logo in front of it.
What specifically is outdated? Compared to what? How should it be simplified? Your new version has just as many elements, and the same general style.
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I would agree that the icon has perhaps too much detail â on my device, the lines of code on the paper can almost look like âdirt on the screenâ since they become so small.
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I see this one on macOS:
Which can be found in two places in Git and is at least 17 years old:
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The 16 bit version used in the corner of Windows/Linux IDLE windows is a bit ugly to me so I am open to a change. I would prefer a bit of a mouse rather than a pen, the snakes in upper left corner, and minimal text of some sort. Maybe different for different sizes.
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Hello Iâm the designer behind this icon
Thanks for sharing my work.
If the community wants it I can do some touch up on this icon. And you can have it?
I only made the alternative because I couldnât stand looking at the original one.
So it would be with great pleasure to se mine as the replacement.
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Itâs not permitted to cover parts of the logo.
From the PSF trademark FAQ:
When using the Python logo, please make sure you donât alter the shape outline. Color changes to the logo are fine. Changes to the outline shape are not (this includes cutting off parts of the logo, twisting it, taking the elements apart, covering parts of the logo, etc.).
Adding extra visual elements adjacent to the Python logo to show an association is generally permitted, but subject to Working Group review. Please send in a mockup for approval in all cases.
Well, it looks like dot matrix paper for one thing. . . 
Naturally, a new icon must follow the guidelines.
Would something along these lines be subject to review?
Thanks for your consideration.
As a curiosity, I just want to point out that the current icon (though 18 years old) doesnât follow the guidelines, as the logo is twisted.
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Iâm not sure what âtwistedâ is supposed to mean in the guidelines, because further down it says âRotations of the logo are permitted.â
The logo should have gone through our PSF trademark process: PSF Trademark Usage Policy and PSF Trademark Frequently Asked Questions.
Unfortunately not many people were aware of this at the time.
For any new derivative logos, please always get permissions from the TM Committee prior to using.them. Thanks.
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So far, this discussion has mixed together 2 separate sets of IDLE icons: the ones in âŠ/Mac/Icons/IDLE.icns, used with macOS Aqua machines, and the ones in âŠ/Lib/idlelib/Icons/idle*.*, used everywhere else. The latter include individual .png files of various sized and idle.ico, which bundles all sizes together for use on Windows. In any case, the two groups must be discussed somewhat separately and any comment should say which it is about. My comment above is about the idlelib icons. I am not quite sure which group OPâs criticism is aimed at.
The tilted rectangle icons in IDLE.icns follow one of the 3 major icon styles I see on my Mac. It was produced by our mac people. I have nothing to do with it and little to say about it.
On the other hand, I am the main idlelib maintainer and would review and most likely merge any change to the non-Aqua icons. The current âIDLE iconsâ are actually âPython application iconsâ written for pywin32 and copied into cpython in 2006. In 2014, they were copied into idlelib/Icons, and .gif versions added. They replaced the tk icons in the upper left corner (on Windows, at least) of IDLE windows. Find more in a revised idlelib/Icons/README.txt: Rewrite idlelib/Icons/README.txt by terryjreedy · Pull Request #123329 · python/cpython · GitHub.
To me, pen and paper have nothing to do with IDLE. For idlelib/Icons, I am thinking of something like the python.exe icon I see on Windows, but distinguishable. It is the Python logo on top of a stylized console window. @malemburg Would something like that need approval?
Looks like this:
I believe all derivatives need approval, but this sounds acceptable because itâs not changing the logo outline or shape.
Indeed, all derivatives need approval. As long as they donât change the shape of the logo and clearly separate it from other graphic elements, this should be ok. The TM FAQ has examples of what works and what doesnât.
The variant used with Aqua machine would need a closer look, since there is a similar logo floating around the net which changes the shape and looks rather similar.
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I added trademark info to the icons readme. Revise idlelib/Icons/README.text further by terryjreedy · Pull Request #123364 · python/cpython · GitHub.
If I make new icons, I will use the current python.org source files. The FAQ does not discuss the problem of low resolution (16 bit) icons, but I presume the guideline would be to preserve the shape the best possible.
i stopped doing follow-ups to this thread, because I imagined the community would get to a conclusion at some point.
I guess I was wrong.
The tilted rectangle icon was introduced with the Aqua theme for Mac around 24-25 years ago.
The guidelines for it were changed in macOS Yosemite, and as a result, the Python icon hasnât followed Mac icon conventions for the past 10 years.
The tilted rectangle icon was fully phased out with Big Sur four years ago, which coincides with the time when I designed the above icon.
My icon follows Appleâs current guidelines for app icons, and with a few adjustments as mentioned above, it also adheres to Pythonâs guidelines, but it requires approval (a process of which I have no knowledge).
I do not disagree, I took the current icon and updated it to follow Apples Human Interface Guidelines.
FYI, my icon has been available in the wild for quite a while now and is frequently downloaded, used, copied, and redistributed. Over the last four years, it has consistently been one of, if not the most, downloaded icons on the free online repository for Mac icons, macosicons.com, among more than 24,000 icons, which suggests that others besides the author of this post appreciate my work.
Iâm as I stated in my first post Iâm willing to make edits to my first draft and give it to the community. If you want it.
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A problem with this thread is that the OP was apparently talking about the app icon used on Mac on the dock, rather than the IDLE window icons in idlelib/icons that appears on the title bar of IDLE windows on *nix and Windows, but not Mac.