Sometimes being abstract is the right approach, especially if the app covers many tasks, isn’t easily describable, or if being memorable is important. Sometimes being descriptive is the right approach, especially if the app is easily describable, or if App Store search discovery is important. The best advice I can offer is to try many things, as quickly as possible. The same process was also used for the Display Buddy app icon (Display Buddy is an upcoming app from The Cocoabots).Īpp icons can be almost anything that vaguely relates to the job the app does. I wanted the iStat suite to share common colours and elements, so I tried to ensure they had unique silhouettes, to make it easy to distinguish them. This process was used for the creation of the suite of iStat app icons. Steps 3 and 4 are omitted for icons that don’t require any 3D work. I doubt my process is unique, but it does seem to produce repeatable, respectable results.Īll steps may be repeated many times when trying out different ideas. There’s typically six main steps I use when creating Mac app icons. Yes, your icon absolutely has to work on any background, including white, black, or photos of pets. A unique silhouette is a nice bonus, but not always essential. Yes, it should feel like it has a similar weight to the rest of the system icons. Yes, it should be legible at small sizes. Certainly not more than a couple of letters or numbers, anyway. Yes, you have to choose something that can be represented as one or small number of objects. There are some guidelines that can be used to help rate icon ideas, and work out which concepts should be taken to a more polished stage. It’s an exhausting process that seems to go nowhere, before finally producing a worthwhile result. It’s been a struggle for almost every Mac app icon I’ve worked on.
I’d go as far as saying I don’t have much insight on strategies for finding a good overall icon idea. There’s a bit of tension in those requirements, and I find creating decent Mac app icons pretty difficult. They have large vibrant areas of colour, yet they contain enough contrast and shading to give them a sense of volume.
My favourite Mac app icons are simple enough to be easily read in the Dock, yet they contain interesting details when viewed up close.
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