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Judging an App by its Cover - Techniques for Creating & Testing a Pro App Icon

ricardobeat 14y ago
The shadow under the black panel is unnecessary and breaks the perception of depth.
fufulabs 14y ago
I use this > http://testico.net/ http://testico.net/ then i test it on my device (iphone 4S) where i relocate it in a couple of pages. I also put it inside a folder too to check if the icon is 'readable' there. Then i ask a few people if it stands out. Then sometimes, i sleep then check it first thing in the morning where i am groggy. If it passes all those then its a good icon. I may have to add a check when I am in a bad mood or hungry for my method to be ultra comprehensive. If you have budget to spare, A/B test a few different variants on the Facebook ad platform.
- jayfuerstenberg 14y ago
  This is very useful! Thank you for sharing!
- Bill_Dimm 14y ago
  Would it kill the people at testico.net to display a one-sentence description of what their site does? I had to view HTML source and read the meta description: "You can to put the icon you've created on your iPhone or iPad home screen, and generate automatic previews of standard icon sizes on the standard iPhone and iPad screens"
  - droidist 14y ago
    But that wouldn't be all cool and minimal :)
  - qwr 14y ago
    Testico is beta now. I will add description in next version. :) Thank you for your feed back!
ja27 14y ago
The link to creative samples and the topic of icons was discussed here a couple of weeks ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4031157 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4031157
smashing 14y ago
This is the most insightful post on HN about icons that has ever been submitted. A lot the people here would do well to take notice and learn something about art design.
gbog 14y ago
I am always skeptical about color psychology: in China red is the color of joy and wealth.
est 14y ago
> http://testico.net http://testico.net > Your browser is out of date! > PLEACE, UPDATE IT, OR DOWNLOAD ONE OF RECENT BROWSERS: yeah, like my Chrome V21 is very out of date!
AznHisoka 14y ago
I think having good app icon design is a luxury. There are many things to worry about before your app icon.
- cdeonier 14y ago
  One of the takeaways of the article is that the app icon is a form of a sales pitch to a potential user. You can have a great product, but a poor icon will hinder the visibility of said product. That being said, if I had to choose between a great app icon or a great product, I'd choose the latter. But I'm not convinced you are forced to choose only one.
colinplamondon 14y ago
That really doesn't stand out in the App Store listings- the detail work is all to emphasize the 512x512 version that doesn't matter. The only color is in the middle keyhole, which isn't particularly visible at the smaller resolution. The old glowing keyhole was dramatically better- OP might want to take a look at merging the two, with the new box design and the old glow, to help this stand out more.
- lnanek2 14y ago
  Yeah, the old icon with the bright glow really stuck out to me as well. Wish we could have seen A/B tests, even ones off web ads like someone recommended would have been better than nothing.
jsh4ft 14y ago
Doesn't anyone else think it's ironic that the name is in all caps which people seem to associate with spam?

The shadow under the black panel is unnecessary and breaks the perception of depth.

I use this > http://testico.net/ http://testico.net/ then i test it on my device (iphone 4S) where i relocate it in a couple of pages. I also put it inside a folder too to check if the icon is 'readable' there. Then i ask a few people if it stands out. Then sometimes, i sleep then check it first thing in the morning where i am groggy. If it passes all those then its a good icon. I may have to add a check when I am in a bad mood or hungry for my method to be ultra comprehensive. If you have budget to spare, A/B test a few different variants on the Facebook ad platform.

jayfuerstenberg 14y ago
This is very useful! Thank you for sharing!
Bill_Dimm 14y ago
Would it kill the people at testico.net to display a one-sentence description of what their site does? I had to view HTML source and read the meta description: "You can to put the icon you've created on your iPhone or iPad home screen, and generate automatic previews of standard icon sizes on the standard iPhone and iPad screens"
- droidist 14y ago
  But that wouldn't be all cool and minimal :)
- qwr 14y ago
  Testico is beta now. I will add description in next version. :) Thank you for your feed back!

ja27 14y ago

The link to creative samples and the topic of icons was discussed here a couple of weeks ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4031157 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4031157

smashing 14y ago

This is the most insightful post on HN about icons that has ever been submitted. A lot the people here would do well to take notice and learn something about art design.

gbog 14y ago

I am always skeptical about color psychology: in China red is the color of joy and wealth.

est 14y ago

> http://testico.net http://testico.net > Your browser is out of date! > PLEACE, UPDATE IT, OR DOWNLOAD ONE OF RECENT BROWSERS: yeah, like my Chrome V21 is very out of date!

AznHisoka 14y ago

I think having good app icon design is a luxury. There are many things to worry about before your app icon.

cdeonier 14y ago
One of the takeaways of the article is that the app icon is a form of a sales pitch to a potential user. You can have a great product, but a poor icon will hinder the visibility of said product. That being said, if I had to choose between a great app icon or a great product, I'd choose the latter. But I'm not convinced you are forced to choose only one.

colinplamondon 14y ago

That really doesn't stand out in the App Store listings- the detail work is all to emphasize the 512x512 version that doesn't matter. The only color is in the middle keyhole, which isn't particularly visible at the smaller resolution. The old glowing keyhole was dramatically better- OP might want to take a look at merging the two, with the new box design and the old glow, to help this stand out more.

lnanek2 14y ago
Yeah, the old icon with the bright glow really stuck out to me as well. Wish we could have seen A/B tests, even ones off web ads like someone recommended would have been better than nothing.

jsh4ft 14y ago

Doesn't anyone else think it's ironic that the name is in all caps which people seem to associate with spam?