One of the first steps to theming brilliance for any aspiring themer is the changing of application icons, a skill that any experienced themer will undoubtedly need in their endeavors. And the great thing is, the process of doing so is not that difficult. Because of this, any novice can have a crack at it without the risks of the more complex activities.

Written by XDA Senior Member Rajeev, this simple and straight forward guide breaks down the process of changing app icons into 'bite-size' steps that are easily comprehensible and followed. Using the default phone book app as an example to demonstrate the procedure, the tutorial guides you through navigating the chosen APK with 7zip File Manager, finding where the right image files are located, and replacing them with custom icons of your choosing. The process is also illustrated visually with accompanying screenshots of the various steps. Of course, keep in mind that updating the app through the Play store will reverse this modification.

Changing icons of applications this way is usually recommended over using third party apps such as Desktop Visualizer since the changes will be consistent throughout your device rather than being limited to the home screen. So if you would like to give this a go, be sure to visit the original thread for more information.

[Screenshot courtesy of neizel]