We have decided on this icon for Tappy Lander! I'd love to hear your thoughts. Here is the trailer for context: Tappy Lander Trailer
tilt the ship? Hi guys ... watched the video, and never was the space ship tilted like in the icon ... the icon gives a sensation of flying, the game is basically a control/landing app. we also had (actually, still have ...) icon design dilemmas ... thats the way it is, got to squeeze it out ... good luck
There is an idea out there that having a character that is looking directly at you increases the number of downloads an app gets. I haven't seen an real reports on this. But if you look at most of the big companies they do follow this logic with their icons. And psychologically it is true that our eyes are drawn to faces that are looking at us, so it does make sense. And as an example, use that screen shot of all the icons you took, my eyes quickly noticed the "blot", "Alien Jump", "Monkey Math" and "Pangolin" first. This may also be connected to the color contrast in those icons, but the character gives it more life, and makes me think I can relate to it in a subconscious way.
I agree in that I picked alien jump, blot, and pangolin (in that order) caught my eye first. I also agree the logo to me looks more like blasting off than landing.
I did worry about this a little. The rocket was rotated so it could fill the icon more and be in focus. I will consider going back to the upright rocket in a future update.
Yes, all our kids apps have a character making eye contact. I personally have found that what some people consider "cluttered" (having a lot of little details in the icon) seems to get more downloads. Our last app had a character engaging in eye contact with a little detail in the background-it seems to work well but I have no research to prove it.
Here is a Tappy Lander gameplay video with developer commentary. This will give you an idea of what's in the game. Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel