User Interface - SoapSoap Application Icon

We wanted the icon to achieve several things beyond visual appeal. We wanted it to retain iconic value visually transmiting key ideas in an uncluttered manner. With 32 bit icons now the norm there is a tendancy to create visual masterpieces with hundreds of small details. We feel this misses the point of iconism flying in the face of several thousand years of iconic art history. We also wanted to create an icon that ploughed through the visual noise on a toolbar much like package design should rise above the visual clutter when merchandized on a shelf with a hundred other products.