Pro Graphic Designers chime-in on iOS 7

[satchmo]

The problem with armchair designers, is that they know nothing about the brief/challenge or parameters set (myself included)

Sure, not all the icons don't match. But consider Apple's challenge. Make it feel new but at the same time instantly recognizable to existing base of users.
My guess is that this is an iterative step. We'll see more to come in the coming years to 'harmonize' the look.

 

[spinedoc77]

I agree Metro is boring. It needs dynamic lighting (instead of photoshopped lighting that ios still uses) and parallax layers like iOS7.

But I'm a huge nerd when it comes to design and just see all of the flaws and inconsistencies in iOS7. It's not a huge step forward that I would've liked.

Hmm, I find the tiles in Metro the opposite of boring. The live ones have something no one else has, information. With android you have to set up a widget, but most of them do not match each other in theme, color, font, etc and when you get a bunch together on screen they look horrible. iOS doesn't even have any option for live tiles or widgets so out of the 3 I'd say iOS is the most boring. Even Metro's non-live tiles are decent, they have nice bright solid colors. iOS7 is still trying too hard IMO, I never understood why all the work was wasted into the design, but I guess I'm one of the weird ones who use my phone functionally and don't dote too much on how the icons look.

 

[jonnyb098]

I think people forget this is just the beginning (as Ive said). And completed in about 6 months time. It will become more refined over time.

I doubt it will be 6 months. Thats December. New devices will be launching in 3-4 months. The " This is only the beginning" remark is meant to be big picture future. It doesn't mean "Hey folks this is only beta one...."

----------

The problem with armchair designers, is that they know nothing about the brief/challenge or parameters set (myself included)

Sure, not all the icons don't match. But consider Apple's challenge. Make it feel new but at the same time instantly recognizable to existing base of users.
My guess is that this is an iterative step. We'll see more to come in the coming years to 'harmonize' the look.

So this means it has to look like a mish-mash piece of crap in the interim? They went to the trouble of "trying" to completely change the look. Drastically different yet still keeping a silly old style camera icon?

 

[nevesis]

http://t.co/Rtk4qfS4v9

 

[tasset]

I'm not thrilled with all the new icons either, but to be honest the ones I dislike the most (Camera, and the awful Settings) will be buried in a folder on page 2 now that we have Control Center. GameCenter and NewsStand the same which I don't use anyway.

 

[iZac]

I only just realised that the parallax motion is from the background and the icons. I thought it was just the wallpaper. Its clearly seen when you have the control centre open and you can see the 2nd row nearly disappears behind the translucent upper layer.

I agree with the sentiment around here, the OS feels half finished at the moment, but yes, it's because it is.

Having said that, They surely wont change too much between now and ... ~September so perhaps we'll all be looking forward to iOS 8 to fix our little frustrations.

By that time they might have unified some of the look between iOS and OSX too.

 

[jonnyb098]

As a professional graphic designer I was shocked by what I saw in both a good and bad way. My thoughts:

Function:
As far as functionality goes, I was delighted to see a control center (minus the design) and notification center updates as well as new multitasking. SOME of the new apps look like a step in the right direction (photos, calendar, settings, safari minus the icon). However simple things like not being able to quick reply to messages is baffling. Its in the new OS X but not here? Seems like a huge selling point.

Look:
However all of this has been hampered by thin "line drawing" style icons and "buttons" mixed with garish, child-like home screen icons and color choices. The home screen icons are literally all over the place in terms of design. Gradients have never been harsher and more in your face than they are in iOS 7. Not to mention most designers growl in the face of gradients that look like these. Game center has glossy bubbles while others have a completely flat appearance. And lets not mention the disaster that is the safari icon. Its just plain ugly and Apple will be forced to change based on just about every comment on the web- no matter how much one loves the new OS. A much more middle ground would have been preferred here as far as the icon design (a simpler gradient , no gloss ,iOS6 modification). They also need some sort of subtle shadow underneath to not blend into the wallpaper image as we currently see on many screenshots floating around. Helvetica Neue was a good choice for font so not much to say there. Maybe use light instead of ultralight in some place.

Bad apps:
Some of the apps are really beautiful like weather (taken from yahoo almost pixel for pixel) while others like camera are just plain ugly. The mix of actual graphical buttons and pure text buttons in the music and photos apps is a confusing mess. The now playing screen for music should not be white and draws attention away from the album art. Notes and reminders look like they still belong comfortably in iOS 6? Textures and inner shadow on the font? Hmm.

Hopefully they sort all this out in a few months but iOS 7 is quite jarring to be gushing over and looks very unfinished. And if those icons ARE finished, I bow and shake my head in disbelief.

Say what you will but in certain areas Forestall got a lot right (minus the green felt). The iOS 6 Music app style is a great example of a middle ground between flat and textured design and is a much better design example that they could have built upon.

I realize everyone will not agree but the thread is for pro graphic designers to sound off.

 

[Black Magic]

As a professional graphic designer I was shocked by what I saw in both a good and bad way. My thoughts:

Function:
As far as functionality goes, I was delighted to see a control center (minus the design) and notification center updates as well as new multitasking. SOME of the new apps look like a step in the right direction (photos, calendar, settings, safari minus the icon).

Look:
However all of this has been hampered by thin "line drawing" style icons and "buttons" mixed with garish, child-like home screen icons and color choices. The home screen icons are literally all over the place in terms of design. Gradients have never been harsher and more in your face than they are in iOS 7. Not to mention most designers growl in the face of gradients that look like these. Game center has glossy bubbles while others have a completely flat appearance. And lets not mention the disaster that is the safari icon. Its just plain ugly and Apple will be forced to change based on just about every comment on the web- no matter how much one loves the new OS. A much more middle ground would have been preferred here as far as the icon design (a simpler gradient , no gloss ,iOS6 modification). They also need some sort of subtle shadow underneath to not blend into the wallpaper image as we currently see on many screenshots floating around. Helvetica Neue was a good choice for font so not much to say there. Maybe use light instead of ultralight in some place.

Bad apps:
Some of the apps are really beautiful like weather (taken from yahoo almost pixel for pixel) while others like camera are just plain ugly. The mix of actual graphical buttons and pure text buttons in the music and photos apps is a confusing mess. The now playing screen for music should not be white and draws attention away from the album art. Notes and reminders look like they still belong comfortably in iOS 6? Textures and inner shadow on the font? Hmm.

Hopefully they sort all this out in a few months but iOS 7 is quite jarring to be gushing over and looks very unfinished. And if those icons ARE finished, I bow and shake my head in disbelief.

Say what you will but in certain areas Forestall got a lot right (minus the green felt). The iOS 6 Music app style is a great example of a middle ground between flat and textured design and is a much better design example that they could have built-on.

I realize everyone will not agree but the thread is for pro graphic designers to sound off.

If you step back and look, iOS 7 was based on the Yahoo Weather app design. The only problem is they didn't copy the Yahoo Weather style icons because maybe it would clash with the old third party apps.

Also, the weather app is Yahoo weather. If you look at the bottom left, you see the Yahoo logo. Hell, the weather app in iOS 6 even in notification is Yahoo.

 

[Frankied22]

As a professional graphic designer I was shocked by what I saw in both a good and bad way. My thoughts:

Function:
As far as functionality goes, I was delighted to see a control center (minus the design) and notification center updates as well as new multitasking. SOME of the new apps look like a step in the right direction (photos, calendar, settings, safari minus the icon). However simple things like not being able to quick reply to messages is baffling. Its in the new OS X but not here? Seems like a huge selling point.

Look:
However all of this has been hampered by thin "line drawing" style icons and "buttons" mixed with garish, child-like home screen icons and color choices. The home screen icons are literally all over the place in terms of design. Gradients have never been harsher and more in your face than they are in iOS 7. Not to mention most designers growl in the face of gradients that look like these. Game center has glossy bubbles while others have a completely flat appearance. And lets not mention the disaster that is the safari icon. Its just plain ugly and Apple will be forced to change based on just about every comment on the web- no matter how much one loves the new OS. A much more middle ground would have been preferred here as far as the icon design (a simpler gradient , no gloss ,iOS6 modification). They also need some sort of subtle shadow underneath to not blend into the wallpaper image as we currently see on many screenshots floating around. Helvetica Neue was a good choice for font so not much to say there. Maybe use light instead of ultralight in some place.

Bad apps:
Some of the apps are really beautiful like weather (taken from yahoo almost pixel for pixel) while others like camera are just plain ugly. The mix of actual graphical buttons and pure text buttons in the music and photos apps is a confusing mess. The now playing screen for music should not be white and draws attention away from the album art. Notes and reminders look like they still belong comfortably in iOS 6? Textures and inner shadow on the font? Hmm.

Hopefully they sort all this out in a few months but iOS 7 is quite jarring to be gushing over and looks very unfinished. And if those icons ARE finished, I bow and shake my head in disbelief.

Say what you will but in certain areas Forestall got a lot right (minus the green felt). The iOS 6 Music app style is a great example of a middle ground between flat and textured design and is a much better design example that they could have built upon.

I realize everyone will not agree but the thread is for pro graphic designers to sound off.

This guy knows what's up.

 

[HMI]

I'm not a pro graphic designer, but here is my first reaction anyway:

I think some of the icons are awkward, and might be able to learn to deal with those, but what I really dislike is the use of pink and other feminine color choices in the text and some icons. That would be the deal-breaker.

I hope I can change that, or that Apple would change that for me.

Why can't Apple just let me pick from a list of available color pallets or create my own color pallet to use as the UI color scheme.

I don't want to stare at pink everyday.

 

[myrtlebee]

I'm not a pro graphic designer, but here is my first reaction anyway:

I think some of the icons are awkward, and might be able to learn to deal with those, but what I really dislike is the use of pink and other feminine color choices in the text and some icons. That would be the deal-breaker.

I hope I can change that, or that Apple would change that for me.

Why can't Apple just let me pick from a list of available color pallets or create my own color pallet to use as the UI color scheme.

I don't want to stare at pink everyday.

Exactly, I wish it were more neutral. The starkness of the neon with all of the white, along with the pink just reminds me of gaudy 2009 T-Mobile. I especially don't like the pink and white in the music app. Dealbreaker. The black music player is perfect as is on iOS 6 on my black iPod touch. If they would bring in a more neutral color option, redesign the icons, and tamper down the transparency, I would consider updating. iOS 7 already looks dated - they have missed the flat and thin bandwagon by a couple of years. I hope a red update "1" circle doesn't permanently stay on my settings icon once iOS 7 is released just to bug those of us who prefer not to update.

 

[V900]

I like the optimism that some people have: "Oh, they'll get it sorted before release" "it's just a beta" etc. but as far as the look and design, isn't this pretty much it?

I can't remember Apple changing much design wise between their previous betas and gold. (Maybe a single icon updated or two)

And you'd also think that with a release like ios7 (First release without Jobs being a major influence on it, a major break with previous UI) you'd really think that they'd try to make the beta as visually finished and close to the final vision as possible.

In other words, I think that this really is the vision of whatever committee that's behind the UI.

And there really is SO MUCH wrong with this. The icons are awful, way too many colors, and inconsistent design, buttons that don't look at all like buttons.

I mean, it's not just a question of "oh, we'll just fix up this camera and Game Center icon, and make it pretty in a later release, but for how it's fine".

The team/persons behind this REALLY believes that a bunch of colored blobs is a fine metaphor for Game Center, and that a colored kaleidoscope is an alright representation for a camera for hundreds of millions of people.

That they can make so bad choices design-vise, on such a fundamental level is very troubling.

 

[darky90]

I agree, icons in general are a bit childish-like and the usage of gradients like this was surprising from a company like Apple. I understand the whole simplicity concept going on but I feel this goes back to intro to graphic design 101. Honestly, I think I like the old icons better.

I'm excited they're using Helvetica Neue though.

 

[darngooddesign]

...iTunes and the AppStore have circles around the icons, but the other icons don't have them. There's no consistency.

And one icon has magazines, and anotehr icon has a sun with clouds and another icons, etc. No consistency.

Why is gamecenter a bunch of balloons?

Because that's the apps interface. It represents groups of actions and circle of friends. Almost a Venn diagram as someone else pointed out. The old icon looked like a 4-in-1 game app which has no bearing on a social app where you interact with other gamers.

Why is the cameraroll a bunch of colored petal things?

Its the photos app and its an abstraction of the sunflower used previously

Or a camera that looks like the camera icon?

Plenty of people have DSLRs. I can't imagine that a pro designer wouldn't.