One is a line and one is a unique shape. I’ve also never seen an ink pot, but that silhouette is one that is distinct. Looking at the two icons leads down two different recognition paths:
this is a line, what things do I know that are lines? There’s a lot. What could this line be telling me that it does? There’s a lot.
wtf is that shape? There are very few things it could be. What does this shape mean? Dunno, but I’m certain I won’t confuse it with something else.
If I look directly at it and only it, I see a pencil and its shadow. If my eyes are quickly scanning a line of similar icons, I see a diagonal line and a horizontal line.
One is a line and one is a unique shape. I’ve also never seen an ink pot, but that silhouette is one that is distinct. Looking at the two icons leads down two different recognition paths:
this is a line, what things do I know that are lines? There’s a lot. What could this line be telling me that it does? There’s a lot.
wtf is that shape? There are very few things it could be. What does this shape mean? Dunno, but I’m certain I won’t confuse it with something else.
So you see the first image and DON’T immediately recognize it as a pencil? You see it aa an abstract line?
If I look directly at it and only it, I see a pencil and its shadow. If my eyes are quickly scanning a line of similar icons, I see a diagonal line and a horizontal line.