Corey B. Marion, co-founder of The Iconfactory, dies age 54

AppleInsider

Designer and The Iconfactory cofounded Corey B. Marion has died, aged 54, following a long battle with cancer.

Corey B. Marion

Marion founded The Iconfactory in 1996 with Talos Tsui, and Gedeon Maheux, when he was 29. For a quarter of a century, he led the firm while also designing icons -- including the company's own factory logo one -- and created a typeface based on his own handwriting.

"Our beloved Iconfactory founder, Corey B. Marion, lost his multi-year battle with cancer this past week, he was 54," says a statement on the front page of the company's site. "It's difficult to put his loss into words except to say that without Corey, there would quite literally be no Iconfactory."

"Corey, Ged and Talos met in 1994," it continues, "and we soon began a journey together that spanned 28 years. From day one, Corey did exactly what he loved most - designing, pushing pixels and creating icons."

"We hope you'll join us in celebrating his life via the digital gifts he gave of himself as well as send warm and comforting wishes to his entire family," says the statement. "Our sadness is tempered by the fact that his art and legacy live on in all of us here at the factory as well as for all those, like yourselves, who have enjoyed his creations over the years."

The Iconfactory produces sets of icons, such as free ones commissioned by Paramount to promote a "Star Trek" film, and over 100 for Microsoft Windows XP.

Corey designed logos, emojis, and wallpapers too. Plus from 1997 to 2004, he was a judge on The Iconfactory's annual Pixelpalooza icon design contest, created specifically for the Mac community.

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daven

Good company. I used them when I needed a company logo when I sold my shareware in the early 2000s. 

emoeller

Very sad news, condolences to all who knew and worked with Corey.

I've used iPulse since it first came out on every Mac I've owned (and hope to in the future).   A little app that provides a wonderful graphic detailing for me how my Mac is operating.  

Kotzel

This is very sad news:( I read AppleInsider daily,  to open this up and see this  😔.

Firstly, my condolences to his wife and kids.

30 years ago this August 17, I started work at Advanced Media Graphics in Greensboro and didn’t sit too far from Corey.  Among other things, AMC worked on Barnes & Noble catalogs when those were still in print.

I watched Corey in awe all the time. His wizardry on the Mac, photoshop, or anything else he touched was at lightening speed. I was more a PC guy and understood Aldus Pagemaker thus, Graphics Communications. I don’t think I knew what a Mac was at that time, and would ask Corey- why is that video card $1500?? This was 30 years ago and when you could get a 3rd party card for a MAC, or was it that other MAC clone….

So for me, Corey was truly a communicator through graphics. I always wanted to see anything Corey created. I recall a Christmas card he designed, and I was like how did he get those bells inside those words.. at 25 I thought it was magic. I asked Corey so many questions at times he probably was like this has nothing to do with your job. 😃😄 I was just curious and I knew he was a unique wizard.

Corey was the Goat then… & still. Let’s not forget his present unique collection and taste in beers, whiskeys….I enjoyed following him on FB and was still in awe of his fight.

RIP Corey and my sincere condolences again to his family.

Ken

jdw

Sadly, the article doesn't link the specific page to those Star Trek icons.  I can only assume this is what is being referenced?

https://iconfactory.com/startrek/

aderutter

Cofounder not cofounded on the strapline?

sad news

jeffpenningtonnc

It is a sad day, I will miss Corey.  I worked with Corey for most of the 1990s starting at AMC and then Image Technology / MCI.  We shared an office at AMC, played tennis together, sometimes ate lunch at Mugs Deli where we could get a half sandwich and a bowl of soup for $3.00.  We were always down for some good Mexican food, a quesadilla at Applebee's, or maybe a steak and cheese sub at Rico's, We were brothers somewhat during this period of life, with little responsibility other than our jobs since we had no families yet.  Sometimes we worked late evenings working on jobs together, printing four color process film.  We were known to start a long film job printing and go play a few games of tennis until it completed.  

Sharing an office with Corey, I was amazed at his skills in Photoshop.  May not seem like much now with all the advancements in technology, but I remember him taking a photo of a building under construction that still had dirt on the ground, adding nice green grass around it, changing the gray sky to a bright blue and touching up photo to make it "pop".  I was amazed at what he could do.  For me, it seemed he literally had the ability to alter reality.  I was just a copy artist of sorts, with the job converting existing artwork to digital for use in desktop publishing.  Corey was an artist, clearly on another level.  I was somewhat his "sous chef" doing smaller jobs that required far less talent and imagination.  It was obvious that Corey had great things in his future beyond AMC and Image Technology.

Corey was a great friend and role model, immensely talented, humble, always upbeat and prepared to help in anyways possible. He was a loyal friend who was always there when you needed him.  During that period of life, he was the brother I never had.  I wish we could have stayed in contact through the years, but our careers took us down separate paths.  I went into software development which eventually took me out of Greensboro and into the RTP area, he stayed the course in graphic design and started Icon Factory in Greensboro before starting his own family.  

I will miss you dearly my friend, thanks for all the memories.

Jeff Pennington,

Snow Camp, NC

pairof9

Sad indeed, but what a flashback to OS 9. Those were great tools to design with.

docno42

Sad news indeed and my condolences to his family.  The Iconfactory is an old school Mac company; it and its founders had and continue to a huge impact on the Mac community.

skippingrock

His icons always inspired me. 

May he finally Rest In Peace.