The biggest problem with iOS7's design is mostly consistency. I think Windows 8 is better (even though I absolutely detest it) because the design is more unified. iOS7 has icons with gradients sometimes going from dark to light. And other times, it goes from light to dark. The angle of the gradient between icons also changes. Some icons have a lot of detailing, some are incredibly simplistic. And the worst is that it utilizes incredibly saturated colors that any serious designer would never use. Apple is breaking Design 101 rules.
Your observations are correct. However, it doesn't appear as if you've ever properly or fairly also scrutinized the icons that were present in iOS 6 or prior.
You don't notice a wide array of inconsistencies there as well? Left to right gradient on music, diagonal stripes on phone apps, radial "explosion" textures on store apps. Glass effects on some icons, while it's completely missing on others.
Apple has actually applied an overarching theme in iOS 7 while abolishing some very arbitrary feeling attempts to introduce some uniformity. (Similar "store" and "phone utility" icons, for example)
Beyond that, iOS 1-6 had icons that appeared to be created by several artists who communicated very little or were intent on adding their own stamp to the design. Passbook and reminders are completely contradictory designs to that any previous icon. Newsstand is possibly the laziest of them, being a mere resize of the shelf used in iBooks... Which is just an design stolen from Delicious Monster.
As far back as iPhone OS 1.0- Phone and SMS appear to have a shiny plasticy gradient... Glass is present on about half of the icons. Settings, while beautiful, is unlike any other app. When 2.0 came out, many apps were brought into the glassy theme, while others remained soft looking. And then there's Settings. Still alone and inconsistent.
Calendar, contacts, calculator, notepad, Game Center... All entirely different from phone, weather, photos, etc.
Calc actually got little glassy buttons and then later turned into a soft rust color?
And then there is that FaceTime icon. What is that? I'll tell you: It's a lens copied from the camera app with its color adjusted slightly and then pasted on the SIDE of a grey square and triangle meant to resemble an ancient studio camera that is pointing to the right. THE SIDE!
As (s)he was finishing up, (s)he probably said out loud: "And just to top it off, let's put a bumpy texture behind it that vaguely resembles an asbestos popcorn ceiling! Now just steal the border from the settings app, lower the contrast... Oh! Can't forget that glass texture. But UGH! It's too distracting! Let me turn that opacity down to 4% because I can't let that innovative design theme that hardly anybody is following get in the way of my ART."
The point being: iOS 7 is a model of design consistency when compared to all previous versions of iOS. I only picked at the icons, but go from one stock Apple app into another and look at the colors, textures, backgrounds. As a student of design (and I don't care if you are a professor teaching it) you should always be observant and open minded and willing to give a fair analysis.
Clarification: despite being inconsistent from launch, iOS has for the most part been a collection of very beautiful ideas. I appreciate most of the icons and UI elements from any version. Until now, we've never seen a real theme from Apple. They did what they wanted to do and it worked because it's the phone everyone lusted after. Now that Apple is competing against other similar quality devices and software, the disorganized collection of beauty has been set aside in favor of a real theme that is actually fairly consistent from element to element.
I've taken arts and design classes at several schools and one of the messages every professor or instructor or pro has eluded to at some point was when something is surprising or strange or "incorrect" feeling, it isn't WRONG. Art can't be wrong.
Sorry for the length, but by implying Apple doesn't hire "serious designers" because they dared to create something radically different (but not without flaws!)... Is offensive.
Could you give me the info about that "Design 101" class that told you that there are things you can and can't do while creating digital art? I'd like to possibly audit it and provide some feedback about setting boundaries on creativity. Thanks.
PS: This bickering is eerily similar to Anti v Pro gay rights discussions. Intolerance is such a disgusting trait.
