Talk about me with the mobile phone theme design of the ten years

Want to know what changes have been made in mobile phones and theme designs over the past decade? Take a look at today's memoir of the designer, which not only reflects the history of the UI design industry over the past ten years of aesthetic style, but also a lot of UI design predecessors walked the road, full of memories. Raise posture to collect!

A few days ago just saw "Charlotte worry", watching the movie Heart is full of regrets, who youth without some stories. Bamboo has been designed for almost 10 years, and today we are going to talk about some personal growth experiences. Everyone can listen to the story. Have a question or want to say, leave a message to discuss together at any time, because this is not academic share, is a relaxed story. What I have to say is already stated. Theme design, because the theme design throughout my years of design career. is a very important part of my work life.

　　The first step of the 2003-year Life cell phone

Boys like games Digital what, so I just like to pay attention to digital products, see "Trendy electronics" "Volkswagen Software" or something. Around 03, mobile phones began to spread among students. At that time the mobile phone basically Nokia, Sony Ericsson World.

My first mobile phone Nokia 3100, there are many mobile phones are black-and-white screen, mono ringtones. So with a 3100 color screen, the phone with a chord feels special. This phone is very classic, do not know how many people remember. The screen is 128*128, 4096-color, 1.5-inch screen, now look very humble, but at that time look around people are still very admirable.

Nokia's interface is still very monotonous, so can only change wallpaper, ringtones or something. Students don't like personality, so they think differently. Three great pleasures in life: Change the color shell, change the bell, change the wallpaper.

In the past, Nokia's data cable is not to the current data wire transmission of various data, want to get a wallpaper ring or anything to rely on SP download, or a special store to you under. So the SP is still very profitable at that time. Download ringtones Buckle 2 yuan, a wallpaper buckle 1 yuan. It should be more lucrative than sticking to the film now.

　　2004 Gao Mobile Phone was born

In the 2004-year market out of such a mobile phone, Sony Ericsson's T618, we see from the picture on the feeling of a sudden 3100 than down. The screen is 128*160 1.8 inch TFT screen. The key is that the ringtones are 32 chords and can be exchanged for a variety of topics. This is not the Nokia. So Sony Ericsson's mobile phones were popular among student boomers. At that time, holding this mobile phone but times have face, Gao standard.

Unlike Nokia's closures, Sony Ericsson also provides editing tools that ordinary users download editing tools and can edit their favorite themes.

This tool can be freely defined from wallpaper to selection boxes, text colors, pop-up layers, and Notepad calendars. Basically, the default icon can not be defined, the user can be defined, but also can see that the proceeds, so all of a sudden the emergence of too many excellent topics. It can be said that the first time the average designer can be so close to participate in the theme design.

But Sony Ericsson isn't cheap. More than 2,500. Save a long time to finally start, for students but a huge fee. At that time my greatest pleasure is to it168 this site to find free topics, estimated domestic users have not returned to God, or no pay habits, foreign excellent topics are to be charged. There is plenty of free lunch in the domestic forum.

　　2006 The first time to do the theme

By the end of 06, I could not restrain, still want to change mobile phone, but Sony is still very expensive. Then I chose the moto.

This phone has a lot of meaning to me because from him I started to touch the theme design of the phone. At that time Moto still very scenery, V3 blade mobile phone global hot. I choose this phone because it is cheap and enough. 2-inch screen, 260,000-color, or smart machine. Say is a smart machine, in fact, can be installed some developers themselves to tinker with the software.

However, Moto is not Sony, the user understanding or better to do consumer electronics. The theme function is still weak. There is no topic editing tool available to users. Then began to envy the next door, the vast theme of the Sony Ericsson Forum.

This is at that time E2 main screen screenshot, just look quite fresh, look at the long time to start their own desire to do the theme.

Remember when I said this was a smart machine? Different from the closed system of many mobile phones. This system is the Linux system, the biggest advantage of this system is open. Just met a cow on the forum, and he said his own ideas. Clicked He is in charge of contacting a Russian programmer. Hand-written a tool that is responsible for extracting the firmware from this phone. Just a word. I got the design, he got the code. Responsible for the theme package.

In fact, I am still a design rookie, PS level is just make use of. What to do? There is a lot of mature Sony Ericsson theme design for reference. I start with changing the background picture, the interface is to pull the gradient. Draw High light. I still can't draw the icon, so I look for the material everywhere. I guess that's when I was really in touch with the subject design.

But the actual design is not just this. Extract a bunch of pictures and have to guess what the file corresponds to what picture

Feel the. This is probably the way, hundreds of pictures. You have to find out which ones need to be replaced. At this time I learned to look at the file name. Good naming habits are convenient and convenient for others. From then on I developed a habit of naming clear.

At the same time I learned another thing, is to wrap themselves. Is that you have to make a beautiful effect drawing to attract people to download. And find a fascinating theme.

When Vista was more popular then I copied it. How, is not feeling much better. Also cool a lot. The icon is all down the material, the interface is to pull some gradient. The elements on the interface are cut and cut everywhere. But the final piece of the effect is good.

Look at the effect of the designers of foreigners to publicize their own. I'll draw the gourd. Put on your blog address.

　　2006 First Prize

I've got a lot of problems, I've got a bottleneck. Always cut clip paste other people's icon material, always feel the overall inconsistency, as if the upper body wearing a suit, lower body you pass a pair of jeans, awkward, so I have to learn to draw icons.

Remember 06 Nokia launched a series of mobile phones, admiration series.

It was amazing to have a monotonous interface with other vendors. So I thought about moving this design to E2. By the way half copy half modified to do the corresponding icon. At that time took this theme to participate in the forum competition, also took the prize, the prize to now I still keep. A 1G SD card.

06 Station cool began to set up, standing cool start is a very small wallpaper download station, but there are many beautiful wallpaper. So I also often patronize. Found that there is basically no possible reference to the site, that is, it168 Ericsson's forum has a relatively large amount of topics. The quantity is very big, but the quality level is not neat, abroad has a deviantart, the foreigner at that time the graphic design standard definitely surpasses the domestic one big cut.

　　The starting point of the 2007 Cock-and-silk reverse attack

The 07 iphone was released, and the former aristocrat Nokia may not have thought the bad luck started this year. The direction of the mobile phone theme also changed, the previous mobile phone theme of various contour shape of the icon is Unified Lake. Everyone look at this is the 07 mobile phone interface, we guess can see that is that the mobile phone interface?

After 07, basically all the handset manufacturer's default theme is toward a pancake background to put an icon in the direction of development. When the iphone did this, there were a couple of things that took into account the formal uniformity of the image. The iphone is a touch-screen phone. Rounded, rounded rectangles these rule shapes look fuller. More suitable for touch from the user's experience.

Android is starting to get up, too. But Android is a maverick, and it may have his own philosophy of design. His official system is still in various shapes. Not bad, but the uniformity is much worse than Apple.

This is an ordinary user's Android phone interface, you can see. The icon has a shaped rectangle with rounded corners. Even rounded rectangles are small. It's messy. Andro is much cheaper than the Apple machine. So many buy an android machine is still a cheap picture.

　　2010 First time in the theme competition

Although not as good as the Gao Apple interface, but the shy people in the pocket of the pursuit of beauty is not? So the major Internet manufacturers began to do the theme market. Android is also a more open system, there is an interface layer on the system layer, the interface layer has a called launcher launcher, which can be arbitrarily customized to customize a variety of icons, interfaces, plug-ins, and even the desktop how to switch. It can be said that freedom is very large. Internet manufacturers customize various topics on launcher.

Of course a company's design team strength is always limited, how to do? Find websites to run the theme contest.

There are a lot of domestic design competitions, but there are a few companies that run the game as a long-term job. One is millet, one is the Charm clan, one is 360. Have opened the theme store so positive before, all want to use the theme market to promote their theme application. Who catches more mobile users, there is more traffic to the portal.

So it's all under a lot of Kung Fu, 360 is monthly awards. The millet is according to the download quantity carries on with the designer to divide. And a slogan was put forward. Designers only do peace of mind to do design, code implementation are linked to the completion of millet. This is still a great appeal, because designers do not have to consider the cumbersome implementation of the adaptation problem. Millet market up and down load is not the most professional GUI designers. But some continue to optimize the theme of continuous debugging and follow-up user feedback enthusiasts.

So everyone has the opportunity to also do a theme spread up. Not only to exercise their ability, but also to earn an extra money, he le. 2010 I also eager to, for the first time to participate in the 91 network Dragon engaged in activities. In fact, I should not call the first time to participate in the competition, it should be said that the first time to participate in the regular competition.

At that time still very popular texture realistic icon, but unfortunately, only to get the participation award. But also good, at least also exercise their own set of mobile phone theme design capabilities.

　　The 2012 flat Pandemic

From 2012 onwards, the industry began to discuss the issue of flattening, to be materialized. There's no extended discussion here. Of course, flattening began to pop up a lot, which is beyond doubt. The same style also affects the design of the theme.

Perhaps in the system-level design flattening, the materialization can have a bunch of theories to discuss whether to meet the user experience, whether it is more conducive to users to use the operation or something. In the theme design, I think it is not good or bad, is a style, just like fashion, this season popular objects, tired of watching. The next season is a flattened style. Perhaps soon the flat style of everyone again tired of watching. The quasi materialized style will return again.

2013 just finished the Konka theme design competition, I also participated. Although I personally like the style of the object, but I think should not be a design style limits themselves. So I also tried flat style.

Of course, in this competition, there are also many excellent theme design, do not go flat line, adhere to the return of the object.

　　2013 finally won the prize

This time to participate in telecommunications, "China Telecom mobile phone cloud desktop mobile phone theme Design Solicitation", think for a long time, I want to do a different design. Now the flat is so popular. I'm going to go back to the tide. I design textured icons. At first it was simple, and I designed a theme when I was learning the design theme. This theme is female-dominated. Unfortunately, it's a semi-finished product. Always thinking about when to finish. The so-called obsession, there will be echoes. After so many years finally have the opportunity to go back to the end of the thorough design, also calculate a dream. As a result, the number of participants in the competition was also at a peak, with nearly 2000 entries in the competition. I have no bottom in my heart. But then maybe it was my trend-back approach that came to the fore. Do not have much texture design this time. Finally achieved a good result of the third prize.

　　The last words of 2015

Why don't you write it in the last few years? It's too close. No memories! This is the story I had with the theme design for 10 years.

So many years of design career, there is joy, there is melancholy, but I will stick to the design of this road to go down.

I summed up my many years of doing theme design of some sentiment.

　　1, design trends have a certain degree of samsara

A new trend of the design style appears, essentially nothing but the aesthetic fatigue. The materialization is a kind of design style, like any kind of artistic style, it may return to the popular, but it will not disappear, although the flat design style seems to be more powerful, but the materialization also does not have to be flattened to replace this saying. I have always liked the millet V5 version of the icon, both recognition, and a slight texture, in the flat and realistic to achieve a very good balance.

　　2. Interest is very important

You have the interest to do a good job of the necessary conditions, I remember a classmate said to do unconventional icon one day, in others to see, this is how hard a thing. But when you really put your heart and soul into it, you don't feel tired all day. is interested in me to learn Photoshop, is interested in let me understand the UI design, of course, can engage in the work of interest, but also very happy.

　　3, uninterrupted learning, finishing

From the theme design of this small branch of design, design trends are constantly changing, you must keep learning, pay attention to the changes in the industry in order to ensure your competitiveness. Maybe it's a never-ending process. But that's true of every industry. You must be diligent and diligent.

　　4, pay more attention to things outside the design

Excellent theme designs emerge every year, where are the ideas coming from? Can only come from life, maybe you saw a movie, a comic. Or read a book, think of what, this may be your source of inspiration.

Author of Phoenix, the public account: liaosheji2010.