Make Your App Icons Boring • Hacker News Board

Re: Make Your App Icons Boring

#11

Post by mikeryan » Mon, Jul 09, 2012, 7:01 PM UTC

mmuro wrote: post #10

mikeryan wrote: post #7

Icons currently on my iphone which I would confuse with Sparrow LinkedIn Twitter Google Voice imo Safari App Store Voice Memos As much as the author would like Cinematic to be a utility its not. Sparrow is used every day it deserves to have a spot on the app launcher. This seems like a product owner trying to project his own ideal concept of his app "Like Sparrow, I hope that Cinematic will become a utility for my us…

Did you seriously just point out all of the blue icons you could find? Regardless of the fact that they would seriously be confused with Sparrow's icon?

No I actually skipped a bunch, Rdio, Skype, Get Glue, Facebook, Stocks, Weather, Chase

I went with ones in the similar color palette with a white icon

Re: Make Your App Icons Boring

#12

Post by brittohalloran » Mon, Jul 09, 2012, 7:18 PM UTC

Respectfully, I like the old one better.

Re: Make Your App Icons Boring

#13

Post by 10dpd » Mon, Jul 09, 2012, 7:18 PM UTC

OK so you've posted some of your ideas on icon design, now provide some robust evidence that your ideas are valid. Otherwise, this is merely speculation.

Re: Make Your App Icons Boring

#14

Post by jeffchuber » Mon, Jul 09, 2012, 7:21 PM UTC

I agree that there is a difference between designing for utility versus designing for entertainment but respectfully, the new icon looks like bloatware.

Re: Make Your App Icons Boring

#15

Post by badclient » Mon, Jul 09, 2012, 7:27 PM UTC

brittohalloran wrote: post #12

Respectfully, I like the old one better.

Seconded. The new one looks like the pink car. The old one looks kinda boring but the colors at the edges make it easily identifiable around a dozen other icons.

Re: Make Your App Icons Boring

#16

Post by nestlequ1k » Mon, Jul 09, 2012, 7:32 PM UTC

This feels like cargo culting. You're copying Sparrow's icon that exists for an app people use every day. I think you're also associating the icon with the app polish itself.

Stick with the old icon. It's much better for an app that is never going to be on someone's iPhone dock and needs to stand out from the 100 other apps people have installed on their phone.

Re: Make Your App Icons Boring

#17

Post by jkaljundi » Mon, Jul 09, 2012, 7:40 PM UTC

If you want to go the way you preach, you need to simplify your new icon much more. Lose some of the details - too much of it now with the film strip end and the internal part of the film roll. Losing the film strip end and internal part altoghether makes it not related to a film - more of a rotary dial - but then again in real life size at a quick glance you would not relate to film or movies with your new icon anyway. May be a film spool with not rounded but triangular angles, a dotted edges filmstrip or a camera icon.

Re: Make Your App Icons Boring

#18

Post by tsunamifury » Mon, Jul 09, 2012, 7:42 PM UTC

Everything doesn't have to match exactly all the time. Thats not the definition of minimalism nor even good design.

Copy the thematic elements that work for you, and create new ones that make you stand out.

Re: Make Your App Icons Boring

#19

Post by chaostheory » Mon, Jul 09, 2012, 7:44 PM UTC

I'm not a designer; but I feel that mistaking good taste, i.e. the expensive black luxury car on the right, with 'boring' just isn't accurate.

Re: Make Your App Icons Boring

#20

Post by mortenjorck » Mon, Jul 09, 2012, 7:57 PM UTC

mikeryan wrote: post #7

Icons currently on my iphone which I would confuse with Sparrow LinkedIn Twitter Google Voice imo Safari App Store Voice Memos As much as the author would like Cinematic to be a utility its not. Sparrow is used every day it deserves to have a spot on the app launcher. This seems like a product owner trying to project his own ideal concept of his app "Like Sparrow, I hope that Cinematic will become a utility for my us…

This seems like a product owner trying to project his own ideal concept of his app "Like Sparrow, I hope that Cinematic will become a utility for my users,"

Exactly. Designing an icon in the vocabulary of the core communications apps on the iPhone is inviting yourself to a party the user may or may not want you at. Sparrow has obviously earned this; I doubt Cinematic has.