Seven rounds of icons up for review now: the original 20 probe-character concepts (Katie's first round), 25 post-feedback explorations, 25 borescope-informed survivors, a background-study round (10 variants of the same cable-arm character with JugScope-styled backgrounds), a brand-cohesion round — Wrench McGee (Airworthy Labs / JugScope's mascot) holding a borescope across 10 pose variations — a re-run of that same round using image-to-image off McGee's canonical PNG to lock the borescope (Batch 5 drifted back to a wrench in half the icons), and a fresh round of 20 icon-optimized variants tuned for app-icon use (tight composition, simple backgrounds, readable at 60px). Tap your favorites in any batch and tell Scott which ones land.
Design family inspiration
JugScopeIllustrated mechanic-cylinder mascot — visual family target
Original cable-armThe first cable-arm direction
How to read this page
Batch 1 is Katie's first review of 20 probe-character concepts. Batch 2 is the post-feedback exploration that pushed away from the amber-on-black brand combo. Batch 3 is additive — built directly on what survived Katie's review (icons 1, 2, 3, 18) and informed by real-borescope hardware (LED-ring tip, semi-rigid cable, dual-lens hint). Batch 4 takes the original cable-arm character from Batch 1 (B1-05 — the canonical "arm IS the scope" portrait) and varies only the background — 10 JugScope-styled environments to find the right backdrop. Batch 5 tries a brand-cohesion play: Wrench McGee, JugScope's existing mascot, holding a borescope instead of his usual wrench, across 10 pose variations (DALL-E 3 reverted to a wrench in roughly half the icons — namesake-tool training bias). Batch 6 re-runs the same 10 concepts but with gpt-image-1 image-to-image off the canonical McGee PNG, locking the character and forcing the borescope substitution. Batch 7 takes the Batch 6 recipe and re-tunes for actual app-icon use: tight centered composition, simple backgrounds (solid, gradient, painterly halo, or concentric circles), no scene narrative — 5 compositions × 4 backgrounds = 20 variants designed to read at 60px. Pick favorites from any batch.
Same character, same tool, retuned to actually work as an app icon
Batch 6 nailed character + borescope (10/10 fidelity) but those compositions were small scenes — engine bays, hangar floors, workbenches with props. They look great at 1024 px and collapse into noise at 60 px. Batch 7 holds character and tool identical, drops the scenes entirely, and varies along icon-relevant axes only: 5 tight compositions (front hero, three-quarter, chibi, bust, app-icon centerpiece) × 4 simple backgrounds (warm amber painterly halo on slate, solid muted teal, peach-to-rose gradient, concentric umber circles) = 20 variants. Subject fills 60–80% of frame, no secondary objects, no scene narrative. Designed to read at 29–60 px.
SAME mascot (canonical PNG locked)SAME borescope (override forced)+ centered subject 60-80% of frame+ simple backgrounds onlyno busy scenesno secondary props
Batch 6 · 2026-05-04 · Wrench McGee with borescope (image-to-image, locked character identity)
Batch 6 — Wrench McGee with borescope (gpt-image-1 image-to-image)
Same 10 concepts as Batch 5, but the borescope is actually a borescope this time
Batch 5 used DALL-E 3 text-to-image with a long character description. The model reverted to McGee's namesake wrench in about half the icons — a strong training bias that text alone could not override. Batch 6 re-runs the same 10 scene concepts using OpenAI's gpt-image-1 via the images.edit endpoint, with the canonical Wrench McGee PNG passed in as the reference image and an explicit override prompt forcing the borescope. input_fidelity=high locks the character (engine-cylinder body, spark-plug head, aviator goggles, big eyes, gloves, painterly style) while the prompt swaps only the tool. Tool fidelity is now 10/10 borescopes.
SAME mascot (canonical PNG locked)+ image-to-image (not text-only)+ borescope forced via overrideno wrenchno rigid hand tool
Batch 5 — Wrench McGee, the Airworthy Labs mascot, holding a borescope
Brand cohesion with JugScope — same mascot, different tool
Batch 5 — Wrench McGee, the Airworthy Labs mascot, holding a borescope. Brand cohesion with JugScope. 10 pose variations. McGee normally wields a wrench (his namesake tool); for BoreShot he wields a borescope — BoreShot's signature tool. Character identity is held as constant as DALL-E permits across all 10; pose, environment, and lighting vary. Same brand family across both apps.
SAME mascot as JugScope+ borescope replaces wrench+ JugScope-warm illustration treatmentno white backgroundno amber-#F5A623 dominant
Batch 4 · 2026-05-04 · original cable-arm character (B1-05) · varied backgrounds
Batch 4 — Original cable-arm character (Batch 1 B1-05), 10 background variations
The original cable-arm character (Batch 1 / B1-05), JugScope-styled backgrounds
Original cable-arm character from Katie's first review (Batch 1, archetype B — the canonical "arm IS the scope" portrait, B1-05). Character is held constant; background varies across 10 environments inspired by JugScope's warm illustrated workshop family. None white — the prior round's cream backdrop is killed. Point is to find which background reads best with this character.
SAME character (B1-05)+ JugScope-warm backgroundsno white backgroundno amber-on-void
Built on Katie's survivors, informed by real borescopes
Riffs on icons 1, 2, 3, and 18 from the original review (the cute round mascot direction Katie loved), now with subtle real-borescope hardware cues — LED-ring halo around the lens-eye, semi-rigid coiled cable as a friendly tail, twin-lens "pigtail" buds. Five palettes (sage/coral, sky/peach, mint/plum, berry/blush, butter/teal) — none amber-on-void.
The first response to Katie's marketing review: lean into cute/round/friendly, drop the hardhat-on-scope silhouettes, drop the mouths-with-teeth, explore color palettes that step away from the amber/black brand combo.
The original cable-arm / peeking-probe / dual-eye family across five archetypes — the set Katie reviewed. Items 1, 2, 3, and 18 were her survivors and form the basis of Batch 3.
A — Classic Probe-Body
B — Cable-Arm
C — Peeking Probe
D — Ground-Down Explorer
E — Dual-Probe Two-Eye
Leave feedback for Scott
Select your favorites from any batch above, then hit the button to open an email with your choices already filled in.
