Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

What would iOS 7 icons look like if Android geeks made them?

xcodeaddict

xcodeaddict

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 2, 2013
602
0
What would iOS 7 icons look like if Android geeks made them? Can you imagine? I don't think anyone would ever complain about iOS 7 icons being "ugly" or "designed by a 2nd grade student" if iOS was made open source like Android, and we saw examples like this...

Whoops, aesthetic fail:

nexusae0_icons_thumb.jpg


A set, visible boundary is a good thing for icon design
 
Um they're all disproportionate to one another. Symmetry is vastly underrated as a design element.
 
SA Spyder said:
Um they're all disproportionate to one another. Symmetry is vastly underrated as a design element.
Click to expand...

Precisely (or not, pardon the pun :D). This is precisely what is wrong with the majority of design in products... "It'll do" mentality. No, it won't do... AT ALL.
 
xcodeaddict said:
What would iOS 7 icons look like if Android geeks made them? Can you imagine? I don't think anyone would ever complain about iOS 7 icons being "ugly" or "designed by a 2nd grade student" if iOS was made open source like Android, and we saw examples like this...

Whoops, aesthetic fail:

Image

A set, visible boundary is a good thing for icon design
Click to expand...

Where is the public outcry over the neon green line beneath the icons??
 
SA Spyder said:
Um they're all disproportionate to one another. Symmetry is vastly underrated as a design element.
Click to expand...

Add to that there is no commonality between them, no repeating theme, no reference to a recurring colour palette either.

I would really like it if we were able to select from a range of colour palettes on iOS 7, but, also realise this would entail a hell of a lot of work too. I do find the current colour range a bit too, umm, mardi-gras like... Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I do however, like the white and opaque treatment.
 
Trius said:
Where is the public outcry over the neon green line beneath the icons??
Click to expand...

There wasn't one - folk in Google land have no strict design boundaries for it to even become a conscious consideration, and I mean that without trying to sound snotty - the proof is in front of your eyes, in real pixel evidence. There's no rule and boundaries in Android, which is why it is such a free-for-all mess - that's what happens when noone is held accountable, and everything is "open" and fuzzy... ugh.
 
Personally, I find icons that are left bare as different shapes to be much easier to search for with my eyes.

On iOS, and on some Android devices, all the icons have a rounded box around them, that unfortunately makes them all look similar at first glance.
 
kdarling said:
Personally, I find icons that are left bare as different shapes to be much easier to search for with my eyes.

On iOS, and on some Android devices, all the icons have a rounded box around them, that unfortunately makes them all look similar.
Click to expand...

Consistency is what makes iOS, and inconsistency is what breaks Android.
 
That smiling messages app was one of the reasons I left Android. Could that look cheaper?
 
Then download different icons and make them what you want. There are talented artist on both sides.

I think its a moot point if the icons can be changed don't you?

Plus is it me or does this thread scream insecurity? "Oh iOS is getting ugly icons well uhm well uhm Androids are bad too!!" Seriously gimme a break.
 
xcodeaddict said:
Consistency is what makes iOS, and inconsistency is what breaks Android.
Click to expand...

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." - Emerson

One major point of icons is to be easily recognizable, just as with road signs. You'd not want Stop and Yield signs to be the same shape as parking signs.

Not to mention that Apple's own design team... well, here, I'll let them speak for themselves:

icon_shapes.png
 
kdarling said:
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." - Emerson

One major point of icons is to be easily recognizable, just as with road signs. You'd not want Stop and Yield signs to be the same shape as parking signs.

Not to mention that Apple's own design team... well, here, I'll let them speak for themselves:

View attachment 417983
Click to expand...

Yes, that's a Mac where there's more space, but you already know that. :)
 
kdarling said:
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." - Emerson

One major point of icons is to be easily recognizable, just as with road signs. You'd not want Stop and Yield signs to be the same shape as parking signs.

Not to mention that Apple's own design team... well, here, I'll let them speak for themselves:

View attachment 417983
Click to expand...

Props for the Emerson quote. I also don't find anything wrong with different sizes or shapes, consistency is an illusory benefit in icon design. Some of those Android icons look far better than some iOS 7 icons, but I can't say the vice-versa.
 
cynics said:
Then download different icons and make them what you want. There are talented artist on both sides.

I think its a moot point if the icons can be changed don't you?

Plus is it me or does this thread scream insecurity? "Oh iOS is getting ugly icons well uhm well uhm Androids are bad too!!" Seriously gimme a break.
Click to expand...

iOS 7 isn't ugly though - I don't think that at all. Yes, there are talented icon designers on both "sides", but Android is still uglier and clunkier overall, and that extends beyond the screen onto the hardware, in many, many cases - noone can deny that (actually they can, and will :D)

So you think I am "insecure" because I think iOS is consistent & beautiful, and Android is a clunky mess with no rigid, pleasing and aesthetically meaningful boundaries? I don't see your thought pattern, but if it pleases you to think that, go ahead - feel free :)

I think Android is a great achievement, it just has poor boundaries and that is its' downfall - and a pig is still a pig, badly applied makeup or not.
 
The use of icons on Android is also much different. Because they use a launcher, the desktop does not have to contain every app. So you aren't looking at a grid of icons. I think the fact that iOS requires all apps to appear as a grid of icons, it requires conformity at a different level.
 
xcodeaddict said:
There's no rule and boundaries in Android, which is why it is such a free-for-all mess - that's what happens when noone is held accountable, and everything is "open" and fuzzy... ugh.
Click to expand...
http://developer.android.com/design/style/iconography.html
:)

But I agree that some of the Android apps are pretty fugly (especially from the Play Store, that's one detriment of it being so open to devs) but then again, iOS and OS X aren't saints either.
 
paulbennett95 said:
http://developer.android.com/design/style/iconography.html
Click to expand...

That's new, it's too late - ugly is the norm in Android, because it was allowed from the outset. Those are "recommendations" whereas the Apple HIG is VERY strict, with good reason - you're using THEIR platform to make money - so respect that AND the image of your company, and make an effort!!! :p

Do you know what another FAIL is with Google? They can never make up their minds what to call something, or how to theme an interface - "Play Store"? So I buy only games there? No? Oh... - explain how that relates to APPS? Apple call it "The App Store" - it does what it says on the box.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back