Aesthetics, utility and emotion--some ideas about icon and logo design

What do you think is the best of iwork 3 icon? Pages, Keynote or Numbers?

Although the pages and keynote have very sophisticated styling and the effect of the real, but in terms of icon design, numbers to exceed them. Numbers are derived from objects in reality but not completely simulated, and the image is more concise and powerful.

From the ideographic point of view, Numbers the concept of the chart tool to extract and abstract the success, I believe that anyone to see this icon the first time you can recognize what it is a tool, but the ink bottle (Pages) of the symbolism is too vague, A lecture platform (Keynote) is something that people are unfamiliar with and have no obvious characteristics. It is more difficult for people to identify tool use through icon image.

From the identification, perspective and perspective of the selection formed a strong sense of three-dimensional, color is very clear. This increases your chances of identifying it from the dock bar. Its small size also behaves better than the other two.

The success of an icon depends more on whether it is effective (functional, use, or very distinct personality traits) and is highly distinguishable, easy to identify and correlate. It is not whether it is more beautiful or more real.

Some devices have an icon on the UI that allows transparent channels, which allows the icon to be of various shapes. This clearly gives designers more leeway to create more beautiful works.

But the iphone desktop is a very high frequency of access, limited space, the icon placed a very high density of the environment. The spacing between the icon can not be very large, if not unified above dozens of icon shape, will lead to a very messy interface, the icon will interfere with each other. (Although Launchpad is also the way to list the icon, but with large space and spacing, the situation will be better.) So structured and unified shape can bring good rhythm and coordination of the senses, but also with the overall shape of the device to echo.

In addition, setting the "Rules of the game" also averages the style and standard of the icon. At present, app Stone has been on the shelves of 10W applications, there are 10W icon, the design level is uneven. But the unified shape and the style that the iOS official icon design guides, so that the worst designers will not make a rotten over the bottom line, affecting the entire device UI icon to come. Even if you don't, choose a background color, put a letter on it, can also become your icon, and the effect is not too bad. So on iOS devices you don't see a bunch of fancy things that suddenly come out of a special soil with thick jagged edges and bad shadows.

From the location of iOS development, Apple has always chosen an average but most guaranteed overall effect of the program. Let an engineer, using only the default controls, can make available apps that can be seen.

One of the differences between design and art is that "design is dancing in chains."

The rules of the game are designed to protect the entire gameplay and the interests of all players, and I think the restrictions on the shape of all the icon (including hig restrictions on many controls and how to interact) are part of the overall platform design strategy.

CS2 was released in 04 and CS3 in 07. Over the past 3 years Adobe has made a number of important strategic adjustments, one of which is the acquisition of Marcomedia and the greater emphasis on compatibility between tools and the provision of some platform tools. Adobe needs to launch more packages and include more apps inside. From the provision tool into the provision Toolbox.

CS3 just came out, the icon design made a major change, of course, received a lot of bad comments, the reason is an ugly. On a single icon, CS3 ps icon than CS2 several levels, Adobe is not find a good designer, why do so.

After reading this picture, I understand. Adobe's design tools are more difficult to extract a representational concept based on functionality, and have to be represented by "spiritual" objects such as feathers, flowers, and leaves. When the suit gets bigger, the designer will need to drop more of the Adobe App icon on the desktop, and his mouse will move between the icon. Of course, in time, Reflex will be built, but also through the placement of memory, but for new users, this is undoubtedly a tragedy.

This image is not intended to illustrate the distribution of Adobe's new icon on the Hue ring, but to show the sheer size of their tools.

CS3 Series after the new icon, although it is not easy to see, but undoubtedly very intuitive, no need to establish the object and the relationship between the symbols, it is not a statement but directly to you shout out, "I am Ps." Words bring the quickest reaction.

The style is strong and you can easily identify them as belonging to an adobe.

In addition, it maximizes the size limit of the icon in the system, an entire large color block. So you will find that they are eye-catching both on the dock bar and on the Windows desktop.

How to make decisions in the process of design, what is the standard of the United States, I borrow the "data visualization" in the View of the book: Novel (Innovation), informative (here can be understood as the implementation of the design function, communicate the need to convey the message), efficient (Whether you can effectively achieve the design appeal), aesthetic (if the visual charm). Audiences, goals and situations are the questions that must be answered before the design starts, and a design that does not guarantee availability (effectively achieving goals, satisfying needs, and adapting to use situations) is also a failure to look good and innovate. Adobe's choice is based on that.

Automator. This is a tool for creating workflows (batches) between different applications by clicking and dragging these operations. This is the most appropriate use of a high-tech robot with a pipe (connection). Precision, cold, full of charm of the texture, is directly the embodiment of Apple's temperament.

It touched me because it was a personified icon and the only anthropomorphic design in the official OS X icon. Use a High-tech robot to express a programming tool. Automator represents the highest achievement of the Apple script, which is meaningful to the programming language, equivalent to the GUI to the desktop system. What High-tech robots bring to us is the use of high levels of technology and industrial design to provide productivity, reduce the threshold and cost of use. Does this image also make you an ordinary person also interested in trying to write programs. than terminal's icon gives you a much less psychological pressure.

The design is based on usability and aesthetic standards, embodying emotional transmission. It builds not only utility but love. Most of the time, perceptual knowledge is more crucial to people's decision than rational knowledge.

The new icon replaces the texture, simplifies the material details, deepens the contrast and the overall color, strengthens the contour. I feel like a changing process that is more concise and abstract and-> with the environment. The new version is also better at smaller sizes.

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Many people know that it was Jobs who asked Paul Rand to design the 10W knife.

First of all, I don't think it looks good. But good-looking is definitely not the only criterion for the success of a logo design.

First try to trace the reason why Paul designed the next logo

This is the NeXT cube, NeXT computer's chassis, its biggest feature is founder (it is said that Jobs spent a great price on the 8 corners of the sharp, as the ruler of the tool on the paper to draw the clean and accurate), minimalist (with color pure, no extra lines and decorations). The job is no less than 30 years later.

This is Nextstep/openstep 1.0 (released in 1989). The GUI's icon is large, 48x48 pixels, contains more colors, starting from 1.0 to support color, you can already see the shadow of the modern GUI.

Compare the other GUI standards of the same age.

Windows 2.0x (released in 1987)

Powering 1.20 (released in 1989)

GUI development of Desktop computer operating system http://blog.csdn.net/greenhand_/article/details/7787861

N e X T This 4-letter color, design students should be able to easily associate to CMYK, now can not find the original design, can not get the exact color value, but I guess are full value. Red m100%y100%, Green c100%y100%, yellow y100%, magenta m100%.
One of my friends who worked at Apple had seen the next logo in those days, and his impression was that the color was gorgeous, which is what Paul wanted to convey to consumers about the product. Paul's choice of color was bold and successful at the time of the printing average.

Paul pulls apart the most essential features from Next's classic product. cubes, minimalist, pure black background, and rich color, attractive GUI.

Abstract process is a simplified process, but also a process close to the nature of things. After the essence, everything else is subordinate, can be omitted according to the appropriate conditions.

Did jobs see the plan and ask Paul, is there any other alternative? Paul said: "No, I've solved your problem." Pay the bill. Want an option? Find someone else. ”

My understanding is that design is to solve the problem to achieve the demand, so the most suitable solution is only one. Paul is confident that the design he proposes is the most appropriate solution because it solves the core issue of brand communication.

Paul is the successor of the Bauhaus design idea, at the same time for the use of commercial services, art master, he likes collage style, collage can break the limit of space, with a strong color, simple modelling, the pursuit of accurate communication rather than blind innovation. The same is true of Jobs's assessment that Paul is a combination of artist and business problem-solving, and that Paul's design is emotional (perceptual) and intellectual (sensible).

So what I'm trying to say about this question is, the standard of beauty is changing, based on the Times and cultural background, when viewing a historical design or artwork, only after understanding its background, starting point and appeal, can touch its essence and learn its success. At the same time, for a design for business services, "effective" is the core, not "good-looking" or anything else. Of course, there are many ways to achieve effective means, such as innovation, emotion, visual expression of course also in it.

After answering the last question, I don't think I can answer the question.

I put quotes on ugly because aesthetics is always a relative standard, changing with personal preference, time position and cultural background.

The world's top 500 companies often have a long history. Their logo through the rapid development of several civilizations, rapid changes in the concept of the era, the spread of the carrier and conditions are constantly updated. Whether they are still in line with the present aesthetic, they have achieved the goal of brand communication in the context of the time, and have established a distinct recognition and become part of the corporate culture.

Source: http://blog.xiqiao.info/2012/09/13/1254