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iOS 7 icons
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mindwaves
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Jun 10, 2013, 09:57 PM
 
Apple - iOS 7 - Design



I think they look beautiful, much better than the iOS 6 icons. But that Safari icon is ugly.
     
Demonhood
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Jun 10, 2013, 10:01 PM
 
Agreed. I really like Game Center and Photos. I've had quite enough of the blue-centric icons.
     
subego
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Jun 10, 2013, 10:40 PM
 
I don't think that background is a good choice.
     
Tiresias
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Jun 11, 2013, 12:36 AM
 
I love it. Can't wait for the update.
     
boy8cookie
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Jun 11, 2013, 01:03 AM
 
Clock: minutes hand is too long, seconds hand is unnecessary.

Maps: the green on the top left draws too much attention, it should be beige like the rest of the icon.

Notes: Lose the "perforated" line

Reminders: Lose the top most line

Game Center: the bubbles should be flatter, the red bubble has too much orange at the bottom.

Settings: should go back to iOS 6 style, what's the point of gears if they don't connect?

Phone: Really? a handset from 1999? in 2013?

Safari: the white outer portion should be the gray from the settings icon.

I may try my hand at these changes in a PSD just to see what you guys think.
     
Jawbone54
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Jun 11, 2013, 01:32 AM
 
The "flat" design is getting all the attention, but good grief, look at those colors. I really like it.
     
Phileas
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Jun 11, 2013, 06:00 AM
 
The phone is a really interesting choice. Almost all phone icons, on any Os, reference a phone design that went out of use decades ago. I am not sure what the alternative could be.

Also, why the inconsistency? Some icons have a graduated background, some don't. What's with that? And skeuomorphism has managed to sneak back in on the note icon - just remove the top line already.
     
MacinTommy
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Jun 11, 2013, 10:07 AM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
I don't think that background is a good choice.
I agree... I posted this in the iPhone sub but can someone with iOS7 beta do a screen shot of the icons with a darker/black/slate background?
     
ghporter
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Jun 11, 2013, 10:20 AM
 
I think they look kind of "simplified," and not necessarily in a good way. Flat, pastel in a lot of cases, just not terribly inviting for me. Maybe it's just something I'll get used to.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
andi*pandi
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Jun 11, 2013, 10:28 AM
 
Agreed about the safari icon and the clock... the hands are too long. I think the calendar icon could use a red bar again (like video and notes), and the thin type is harder to read.

The photos icon reminds me of something... the Snapseed logo? Picasa? No. Hmm.

The colors seem overly bright to me.

Phileas, about the phone icon... recently a young friend received an old-skool style handset that plugs into the iPhone. It didn't even seem like a joke gift. So the young set does know what a handset looks like.

Good eye on the gradients. I noticed it on the itunes vs passbook. It looks better going dark to light as in the weather or mail icons... but some don't seem to have any, and some have just a nice dark overlay.
     
osiris
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Jun 11, 2013, 11:05 AM
 
It looks like a 15 yr old Japanese girl designed an OS. Ugh.
"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
     
Tiresias
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Jun 11, 2013, 11:09 AM
 
Originally Posted by boy8cookie View Post
Clock: minutes hand is too long, seconds hand is unnecessary.
Meh. Bit nitpicky. On real clocks minute hands do touch the numeral. Without the red second hand it would be a bit spartan IMO.

Maps: the green on the top left draws too much attention, it should be beige like the rest of the icon.
It cuts up the monotony a little; gives the icon a bit of visual bite. I don't mind it.

Notes: Lose the "perforated" line
At first I thought it would look too barren but I think you're right. It represents the remaining part of a torn off page and I thought this update was all about jettisoning the skeuomorphisms.

Reminders: Lose the top most line
Really? It's vertically symmetrical with the bottom-most line.

Game Center: the bubbles should be flatter, the red bubble has too much orange at the bottom.
I totally agree but didn't notice until you mentioned it. It's the only 3Dish graphic and totally doesn't mesh with the rest. Good call.

Settings: should go back to iOS 6 style, what's the point of gears if they don't connect?
Hadn't thought of that but I agree. It's illogical.

Phone: Really? a handset from 1999? in 2013?
It's fine. To me it's the universal symbol for phone just as a road sign with a knife and fork is the universal symbol for "Food Ahead" whether or not those utensils with be used in the consumption thereof.

Safari: the white outer portion should be the gray from the settings icon.
I agree 100 percent.

Only thing to add: Newstand looks pretty cruddy the more you look at it. Too much going on a too little balance. What about a simple graphic representing a folded newspaper—or something?

A graphic symbol should be readable at a single glance. What they've done is more like an illustration.
     
subego
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Jun 11, 2013, 11:42 AM
 
Originally Posted by osiris View Post
It looks like a 15 yr old Japanese girl designed an OS. Ugh.
It feels very "android", which to me means "customized by someone with no taste".
     
BlueSky
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Jun 11, 2013, 11:50 AM
 
They're inevitable, and IMO a lazy and predictable direction. After years of gloss and bevels, where else is there to go?
     
andi*pandi
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Jun 11, 2013, 12:15 PM
 
To someplace consistent?
     
Tiresias
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Jun 11, 2013, 12:16 PM
 
But they're much easier on the eye with far less visual information to process.

Perhaps that's a natural direction to take given the size of a smartphone screen how much time people spend staring at it.
     
andi*pandi
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Jun 11, 2013, 12:18 PM
 
looking at that screen cap makes me want to turn the brightness down on my monitor.
     
osiris
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Jun 11, 2013, 12:21 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
It feels very "android", which to me means "customized by someone with no taste".
Harsh comparison, but unfortunately true.
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Hawkeye_a
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Jun 11, 2013, 12:30 PM
 
Not a fan of the color palette. It looks too 'neon'. The flat look is alright, but the colors are off putting for me.

Also on the few screenshots i've seen, the fonts are all inconsistent. Some skinny, others bold, some small, others big, etc... looks kinda messy.

The gradient style makes it look like clip art. I think I prefer the icons and fonts on iOS6.
( Last edited by Hawkeye_a; Jun 11, 2013 at 12:49 PM. )
     
Waragainstsleep
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Jun 11, 2013, 01:14 PM
 
Is it me or does the shine on the Game Centre bubbles look out of place next to all the other flat icons?
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
The Godfather
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Jun 11, 2013, 01:19 PM
 
Looks and feels like Gmail had a drunken night with a Zune.
Will avoid until it is toned down.
     
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Jun 11, 2013, 01:20 PM
 
Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep View Post
Is it me or does the shine on the Game Centre bubbles look out of place next to all the other flat icons?
Newsstand as well - they both have depth.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
Phileas
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Jun 11, 2013, 01:24 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
It feels very "android", which to me means "customized by someone with no taste".
I was just looking at the icon set I am currently using on my Nexus and thought that it looked a lot better than the new iOS style. Which is something I would have never thought I'd do just two years back.
     
MacinTommy
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Jun 11, 2013, 04:28 PM
 
For anyone wondering like I was.... I think it looks good with a black background. (Thanks @dlwilson)
     
subego
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Jun 11, 2013, 06:09 PM
 
Originally Posted by Phileas View Post
I was just looking at the icon set I am currently using on my Nexus and thought that it looked a lot better than the new iOS style. Which is something I would have never thought I'd do just two years back.
Post it again so I can tease you again for having Pintrest on your home screen.
     
subego
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Jun 11, 2013, 08:49 PM
 
I do want to be clear though, it was obvious by what your particular home screen looked like it was most definitely customized by someone with taste.
     
jmiddel
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Jun 12, 2013, 01:48 AM
 
I know this is yet unfinished, and it shows. The lack of consistency is annoying, as is the sameness of the Photos and GameCenter motifs, and the fugly Newsstand app is a bit similar to those two, but not. clash. Couple of colors are Windows Metro like in their rawness. And it looks a bit child oriented in its simplistic graphics in Reminders, Notes etc. And of course the old style gradients vs the flat look. Do we need so many bright colors? When does color become an excess of information as opposed to a helpful reminder? It's a very promising mess. Like.
     
Doc HM
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Jun 12, 2013, 01:59 AM
 
Quick survey of random associates showing them iOS7 on my dev phone. 9 users "ugh" 1 user, "It's OK"
Flat is fine, the colours however are far too garish. Green is way to neon, absolutely no sophistication at all. Consistency is poor across logos, Safari is simply appalling, so is weather, settings, notes, stock, newsstand is a joke, right, photos, like game centre seems to come from another place entirely. Folders need a rethink.
Thank god its an early beta.
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Spheric Harlot
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Jun 12, 2013, 02:13 AM
 
This will be fine and necessary on a new low-end iphone available in six colors.
     
Tiresias
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Jun 12, 2013, 07:25 AM
 
It's odd that the camera app is now a SLR camera circa 1970 instead of just a lens and thus MORE skeuomorphic than before.
     
Hawkeye_a
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Jun 12, 2013, 10:20 AM
 
Something occurred to me regarding the new color palette.....

The bright reds,pink,green and blues.remind me a lot of HongKong/China. Hmmmm
     
MacinTommy
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Jun 12, 2013, 10:58 AM
 
Here's a gallery of iOS 7 with a slate/gray rock background. I like!
iOS7 - Imgur
     
Laminar
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Jun 12, 2013, 10:58 AM
 
Originally Posted by boy8cookie View Post
Settings: should go back to iOS 6 style, what's the point of gears if they don't connect?
     
Tiresias
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Jun 12, 2013, 02:27 PM
 
Shhhh.

Close your eyes. Open your mind.

     
subego
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Jun 12, 2013, 02:47 PM
 
Originally Posted by Tiresias View Post
It's odd that the camera app is now a SLR camera circa 1970 instead of just a lens and thus MORE skeuomorphic than before.
A flat lens is a circle.
     
pooka
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Jun 12, 2013, 03:46 PM
 
Having played with it, it seems... really unfinished. And kind of gross. The timer. Holy shit.

New, Improved and Legal in 50 States
     
Doc HM
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Jun 13, 2013, 04:21 AM
 
small thing I know but I find the switching between pure icon (photos) and absurdly literal (notes) to be jarring. It shouts out that they are struggling with a unified graphic language.

I know iOS6 did this as well but the overruling visual ID was the gloss and 3D, strip that out and you really need a stronger visual hook than just "flat"
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Tiresias
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Jun 13, 2013, 07:03 AM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
A flat lens is a circle.
Yeah, I guess.
     
ajprice
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Jun 13, 2013, 07:26 AM
 
Jony Ive Put Apple's Marketing Team in Charge of iOS 7 Icon Design - Mac Rumors

"The site goes on to note that the design is "firmly a 'work in progress'", and that the look and feel of the icons and other new UI bits are likely to change significantly as the iOS 7 beta proceeds."

It'll be much easier if you just comply.
     
badidea
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Jun 13, 2013, 08:16 AM
 
...and what about all the 3rd party icons in iOS7? They will all have to get new icons for iOS7 or this will just look like a weird mixture of styles!?
***
     
andi*pandi
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Jun 13, 2013, 08:49 AM
 
3rd party icons have always been a weird mixture of styles. Some followed apple's skeu instructions, some didn't. Some have their own bizarre branding policies to follow.

I just spent 3 months designing an icon, just a logo and a slight gradient, back and forth, different gradients, different colors... and ultimately marketing decided to go with a plain white background because it was more "brand friendly".

Marketing should never be put in control of design. Everything becomes idea soup, tasting like either bland nothing or overkill horribleness.
     
shifuimam
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Jun 13, 2013, 09:18 AM
 
The colors on that music icon sure look familiar...

( Last edited by shifuimam; Jun 13, 2013 at 02:16 PM. )
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Phileas
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Jun 13, 2013, 10:37 AM
 
Originally Posted by andi*pandi View Post
I just spent 3 months designing an icon, just a logo and a slight gradient, back and forth, different gradients, different colors... and ultimately marketing decided to go with a plain white background because it was more "brand friendly".
I'm glad your time was spent wisely.
     
Hawkeye_a
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Jun 13, 2013, 10:48 AM
 
Originally Posted by andi*pandi View Post
Everything becomes idea soup...
Quite frankly.... that's what iOS7 UI looks like right now to me.

And the more I look at the icons and color the more it looks gaudy and ghastly.

EDIT>> WTF is the game center icon supposed to be? multi-colored bubbles? How would anyone equate that with games? wouldn't something like a rubik's cube or a dice or something like that be more effective at communicating?
     
Laminar
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Jun 13, 2013, 11:11 AM
 
Originally Posted by Hawkeye_a View Post
wouldn't something like a rubik's cube or a dice or something like that be more effective at communicating?
Perhaps they should incorporate some green felt texture to really drive home the "game room" image.
     
andi*pandi
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Jun 13, 2013, 11:36 AM
 
Originally Posted by Phileas View Post
I'm glad your time was spent wisely.
Oh, the last year has been spent "wisely."
     
Phileas
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Jun 13, 2013, 11:50 AM
 
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
Perhaps they should incorporate some green felt texture to really drive home the "game room" image.
I think that's a brilliant idea. That would make it look like a gaming table.
     
andi*pandi
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Jun 13, 2013, 11:57 AM
 
     
Phileas
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Jun 13, 2013, 12:19 PM
 
The next industry ripe for interruption - baking.
     
osiris
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Jun 13, 2013, 01:53 PM
 
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
Use the force. Be the gears.
"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
     
 
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