2d app icon tool mac#

Keynote uses the podium on both Mac and iOS. The visual connection here is really important because it tells users that they can expect at consistent experience across platforms.Īnd if you have a family of apps, take a look at the iLook icons. The podium was such a strong mark that when we designed our apps for iOS, we simplified the podium to more of a glyph and brought it over. The lineage provides users with a sense of familiarity. As keynote has moved from version to version, we updated the materials, and we've transitioned from a classic to a modern style, but the notion of the podium has remained consistent. It immediately sets the stage for what keynote does, and we didn't want to lose that. Presenters have used podiums for generations, and to add an emotional connection, the presenter notes rest on a warm wooden surface. It is a real old metaphor that many can relate to. Since version 1, all the way back in 2003, the app's identity has been the podium.Īnd why the podium, you ask? Well, the symbology is important, especially today of all days. So, let's think about some of these principles as they related to an Apple app.

2d app icon tool update#

And lineage, make changes to your icon meaningful and deliberate.ĭon't change your app icon every single time that you update your app. Connection.Īiming to create an emotional connection with the user, the icon is the face of your app as much as the UI. If your icon is designed well, it should be quick and easy to read. The second, simplicity your design should be simple and clear, no clutter or over complicate it. The first, metaphor, finding an easily identifiable metaphor that will object or graphic logo a mark. These examples represent some fundamental principles that we still use today when designing app icons. It's got a good balance of black and white. There's implied movement in the angle, a subtle indication of perspective. And how about how this was drawn even in those days? Consider the consistency of line weight. At the time, this was an abstract idea, but it was grounded here by a real world object.

The paint bucket fills your canvas with color, just like spilling a real can of paint on the floor. So, let's take a close look at one of my personal favorites, the paint bucket. Over time the face was removed, and we've come to notice there's just the explanation point.Įven smaller glyphs share the same principle. Or we had to learn a concept like the hieroglyph. For example, they're appropriate some are families, like families of maps or families of documents, and due to time, we've moved beyond some metaphors, either because the technology was surpassed, like the floppy disc remember those, or the metaphor we're seeing is too aggressive, like the bomb. Many are close approximations of real world objects, and some concepts might be a little on the abstract side, but they all live within a system that tells a user that they're interconnected. It also made the platform unique and stand apart from the competition. It made the system approachable and easy to use. Investing in simple application iconography was a way to emotionally relate to the user. Many metaphors have stuck around for three decades of Mac OS.

2d app icon tool mac os#

We're going to take a quick trip down memory lane and take a closer look at some classic Mac OS icons. I hope there are no egyptologists in the room that were offended.īut in all seriousness, we have a long rich history of using symbols, literal, non-literal, as a method of communication, and we extend this to the modern world, but we apply the same principles to the user interface design.įor example, there was your Macintosh. Humanity has been using symbols to communicate ideas since antiquity even Apple was doing this a long, long time ago. It's the symbol that represents your product on the Home screen and the App Store. You all know that every app, even your app, needs an app icon.