Fantastic Logos

I've had a few requests for insights into the process of making icons. Instead of answering individually, I've decided to make this the first subject of a range of articles to be authored here at PixelResort. This won't be a tutorial or a step-by-step walkthrough, more like a general guideline based on my own experience. It's how my workflow crops up. Enough disclaimer, let's see if we can make an icon. To illustrate the creation of an icon, I've decided to redraw my old TextEdit icon from the bottom up.