I have created a new icon for Str8ts. Hopefully this discussion might help others while creating their icon. Here are the two icons. Feedback would be appreciated.
You really need to look at them like they would appear on the app store (53x53 - 75x75, I think)... which is an issue with small text and detail.
The second one by far. When watching it on the phone the text will barely be legible. Personally I think even the second design could use some work. It feels like you might be trying too hard to reveal the whole functionality of the app. Perhaps you could simplyfy/abstract the "crossword" element and strengthen the visual flair made possible with the number 8. The one question you really have to ask yourself is: would YOU click that icon on the app store?
Another approach would be to rotate the crossword grid 45' and use the grid to form the '8' .. possibly with a version of the large 8 sweeping through, sketched over. Just ideas.. For the phone and AppStore on the device it'll use a 57x57 icon, with iTunes relying on a 512x512 image and scaling it to suit.
Thanks for the advice. I am on the same page with you guys regarding your suggestions. It would be really great if more devs would share their before and after icons. The progression is what will really show off the learning curve (improvement). This discussion could really help everyone here. PS: Still trying to clear the fog off my icons. Jeff
I'd take the first logo, remove the "lite" and add a red "lite" lower left corner to match the arrow (kinda like a mix between the two.) I really don't like the 2nd icon for some reason. Makes me think I'm playing Crazy 8's or some number game...
Not a dev, but on a consumers standpoint the second looks a lot cleaner. There is no need to have the name when it is already on the bottom of your app
Like others have said, the second one (with the big 8) looks much better when viewed in its small size. Having mentioned that, even the second one still looks a bit cluttered. Maybe try simplify the background a bit more (as those number details can't be seen anyway at such a small size) and then have the more detailed style for your 512x512 icon to display on iTunes? Not quite sure what you mean by fog, but do you mean the shiny effect that gets automatically applied to your icon when you build the app onto your iphone/itouch? That's a setting named UIPrerenderedIcon that you need to set to "true" in your info.plist file
I agree with the consensus here, the 2nd one looks cleaner. We struggled a bit with our icon for our second app as well. First icon was too simplistic and too similar to existing icons. Our second attempt ended up being too cluttered and like someone here said, we tried too hard to cram all the functionality of what our app does in a 57x57 icon (doesn't work!). Our 3rd and latest attempt is much cleaner and while it doesn't really evoke what our app does, it symbolizes it's core functionality (a photo app) while still being clean, eye catching and attractive. At least we think so. I don't want to hijack your thread, but if you'd like, I can show you the three icons we iterated through. Good luck!
