

Try out the design on the device and in multiple contexts and sizes. Working on a 1024 × 1024-pixel canvas can be deceptive.A very big part of the conceptual stage of app icon design should be dedicated to thinking about whether a given design will scale gracefully. Overly complicated icons that cram too much into the canvas often fall victim to bad scalability. An app icon needs to work at multiple resolutions, retaining the legibility of the concept across the range of sizes. It needs to look good in the App Store, on “Retina” devices and even in the settings panel. Because the icon is going to be shown in several places throughout the platform, and at several sizes, it’s important that your creation maintains its legibility and uniqueness. One of the most important aspects of an icon is scalability. When going through the aspects, try to imagine icons that you like and how the individual aspects take shape in the icons on your home screen. That’s not because I feel like it is the best or only way to illustrate these things, but it has the added benefit of my knowing what thoughts went into the process. A lot of these examples will be based on my own work.
APPICON 1024 HOW TO
I’ll discuss each of my five core aspects of app icon design, give tips on how to improve each aspect and show off some examples of how I’ve worked with that quality. Now, let’s look at some of the best practices in designing app icons. Tools like the ones found on Apply Pixels offer clever PSD templates that can help you get off the ground quickly.Ī short video demonstrating how to use one of the templates on Apply Pixels The Five Core Aspects This set of carefully crafted designs will be used in the many contexts of the operating system where users will encounter your application - including the iOS App Store and Google Play, the settings panel, the search results and the home screen.Īpp icons can essentially be made in any application capable of producing raster files, but common choices are Photoshop, Illustrator and Sketch. ( View large version)įrom a practical standpoint, when you’re making an app icon, you are creating a set of PNG files in multiple sizes - ranging from small sizes like 29 × 29 pixels all the way up to 1024 × 1024 pixels - that need to be bundled with your app. App icon packages consist of a range of sizes. The approach, the tools, the job and, therefore, the criteria for success are different. Icons are most often raster-based outputs customized to look good within a square canvas, at specific sizes and in specific contexts. It’s an important distinction for a designer to make: Logos are scalable vector pieces of branding designed for letterheads and billboards. While they certainly share branding-like qualities, they’re under a lot of different restrictions. The word “logo” is thrown around carelessly these days. Think of it as a tiny piece of branding that not only needs to look attractive and stand out, but ideally also communicates the essence of your application. An app icon is a visual anchor for your product. The first things you need to understand when setting out to create an icon is what exactly an app icon is and what job it performs. 50 Fresh Useful Icon Sets For Your Next Design.Icons As Part Of A Great User Experience.

