Points to consider while designing your app icon

Your app’s icon is the first point of contact that your user has with the app. When you want to launch an app, you would click on the icon; when you want to download the new app, you would look at the app icon. It needs to stand out, and create a mark in the user’s mind.

Apart from being excellently designed, it should connect with the user immediately. Among the different photo apps, Instagram icon stands out not just because of the way it has been created but also the colour choices that went into defining it. Similarly, a Pinterest icon stands out due to the minimalization and excellent use of typography. There are several other examples of app icon that have been designed well.

There are certain points that you ought to consider when designing an app icon to make it stand out, and define your app through it. Two things that are most important before you start your journey- aesthetics and instant mapping. If there is no connect, and there is aesthetics, the app does not get downloaded easily.

Create the unique shape

When you see a Flipboard icon, are you enticed by the shape of the icon? It is different, unique, and definitely interesting. That’s how unique your app’s icon shape should be. It should instantly connect with the app you are talking about. Vimeo is another app that connects because of the aesthetics and the shape.

When designing an app icon, make sure you decide on something that fits the large as well as small screens with ease, as your end user will access it on a multitude of screens. It is important to make sure at the shaping stage itself that the icons can easily contract according to the screen size.

Choosing the colour palette

You can choose from the default iOS colour palette or, move beyond to choose from something unique but one that communicates your app’s theme and maps your app’s idea well. It is important to have either a monochrome theme or, choose two to three colours that fall adjacent to each other in the colour wheel.

Text won’t work

The icon for Facebook, Twitter, and even Pinterest is either a single letter or, something that represents the app. There isn’t a lot of text in the app icon. This will not just crowd the icon, but also fail to give it the desired appearance. You need to cultivate what Facebook or Pinterest have done so that the app icon looks good across the various screens on which users are planning to use it.

Make the elements stand out

If you are using a hologram to design your app icon, make sure the element stands out amidst the other portions of the icon. Observe the icon for sip app. You will notice that the glass, the “S” and even the colours stand out in the icon. Give importance to all the elements involved.

We at SODIO while consulting and creating products for Tech Entrepreneurs always give out the message that although it is important to go creative with your icon, you should ideally test it across backgrounds to see how it looks. The end user will be creative with the app background, and so should you.

With these tips incorporated, you are ready to go live with your app icon and get more users to the base.