Updated navigation bar icons for the Unity Dash have been proposed for Ubuntu 13.04.

The updated designs by Matthieu James iterate rather than overhaul those currently used in Ubuntu.

Rounder icons are proposed for ‘Home’, ‘Files’, ‘Photos’ and ‘Video’ lenses.

The Applications Lens icon sports the same ‘A’ design as that used on the new Ubuntu Software Center and Software Updater icons debuted late last month.

It certainly says “Applications” more than that the currently used ‘ruler, crayon, pen’ icon.

#Uh-oh

So far, so good. The changes are refined versions that better convey the content of their respective lens.

But, somewhat controversially, this updated set suggests replacing the traditional Gwibber ‘blobby-bird’ lens icon for the official Twitter bird.

Since Gwibber is more than just a Twitter client (although I know of few people who use it for anything other than Twitter) you might wonder whether this makes sense.

The good news is that it’s unlikely that this will remain the default Gwibber Lens icon. A new icon design was mooted during the development of Ubuntu 12.10 but its creation was shunted over to the Ubuntu 13.04 development cycle.

What do you think of them? Improvement?

[box style=”alert”] Ubuntu 13.04 is in active development. Changes featured here are not complete or indicative of the final release, due April 2013.[/box]