Hey everyone, my partner and I are having quite a tough time figuring out which icon we shall choose for our game Droppin' Bombs, we're pretty deep in development and so far could always agree on artistic decisions but are now stuck on this one I won't state which one I or he prefers to not call for any fights Basically the game is about items droppin from the sky on an environment grid and the user taps the elements to destroy them reaching for highscores with combos and bonus items - pretty straightforward idea, if you ask me. We have 3 ideas for the icons so far and we would really appreciate if you could help us decide for which icon to go for our app. I included various size options because in the end it matters what looks best on the device and not fullblown. Also feel free to post and thoughts or suggestions you might have for making the best icon possible I'd be happy to get to know as many opinions as possible !
Switch the borders on 3 and 2 and probably I'd like both equally. Text in the icon is almost always a big no no. You'll never get a straight answer when you ask questions like this
I'm going to be awkward here I'm in the process of designing an icon for my game and quite frankly, people underestimate the challenge and time that goes into this In terms of absolute preference... Top in Option 1. Middle in Option 2. Bottom in Option 3. I hope that helps, but I know it won't The reason behind the decisions, is based on 1x1 being a nice, colourful, explains the game graphic. The 2x2 one still gives some of that impression, but is still clean. The 3x3 is the cleanest one out of them due to the size of the graphic
Number 3 right now. First is too busy when downsized. 2nd looks more like the bomb is wearing some sort of hula skirt
Interesting to see simplymuzik3 and injuwarrior immediately on the border switch Thanks for your input guys ! @P3Z: Quite awkward, that's true. In fact, so awkward that I think I don't really follow you. Am I assuming right, that you mean, take the top part of 1, middle part of 2 and bottom part of 3 ? Thank you for all your thoughts so far, I'd be very interested to get even more feedback! The more "votes" the better understanding we can gather of which way to go for haha, hula skirt Brilliant observation @JTown
My opinion: I prefer the option 2. It's more original than the third and more readable than the first.
I wondered what looked wrong about all of them and then I realised - why don't the bombs have their fuses lit? That's a big omission if you ask me given the style of bomb. So I think it would look much better if there was a bright sparkly glow emanating from the ends of the fuses - no need for that hula bit (which I agree looks wrong on 2). The bomb in 2 is more round and not polygonal like 3, and also the fisheye effect of the fence in the background looks better in 2. So I think go with #2, but without that hula effect and most importantly with a bright sparkly lit fuse end. Also I suggest a gradient blue for the sky (a bit darker towards the top), and with a full-surround silver border.
thanks @ Hercule ! @P3Z: I think I still don't understand what elements I shall combine. It sounds like you want me to make a picture within a picture within a picture ? @DemonJim: You're bringing up a good point there with the fuse. Didn't even think about that possbility. That's some great input right there ! Just a quick mockup of what it would look like with fuse. Your other ideas are very valid crits, too !
They're much better with just that change, now they look like they're about ready to blow! Nicely done Clearly they'll need at least a couple of frames of flicker animation for in-game but as you clearly know what you're doing art-wise I'm sure you're on top of all that. One question though, that hula effect, is that an impact effect for when they hit the ground? If so I would make that come from the ground where they hit in an upward cone not out from the centre of the bomb. Just a thought, you should probably ignore my babble, I should probably worry about my own game rather than butting into other people's
honestly? ditch all those icons and just make that thing look just like bob-omb Yeah I know, it's a bit low and you don't need to bother changing the in-game style, but this will guarantee that a lot more people will look at your app, I would wager. Also I honestly doubt you'll ever be in a position where it would get you into any kind of trouble except maybe a few smart-alecky remarks on a message board here and there. There's a million higher-profile "franchise ripoff" looking things on the app store and they all go through undetected. And if you think I am shitty for suggesting this, remember several of Konami's most famous video games in the 1980s did the exact same thing with their boxart (Contra, Metal Gear).
Thanks DemonJim ! Actually the hula effect gets called when a row of bombs gets tapped in the game, so that was kinda transported over to the icon. About the actual fuse ingame thing, I think I have to keep quiet - since it was plannedbutneverthoughtofagainandisnotingameatallathemomentandmaynevermakeit So, P3Z, you mean we shall use 3 different icons for various sizes ? If so, that is quite a change @headcaseGames the bob-omb character was the first that came to our mind when thinking about give the bombs more life but honestly it never looked right and we didn't wanna put some cutey face on the elements just to have a cutey faces on elements. I still like you and don't think you're shitty *hug*
On your revised versions, number 2 looks good apart from the explosion effect. Take that off and I think it will look much better, plus it doesn't make much sense that it is exploding when the fuse is still burning.
Does Apple allow different sizes to look significantly different? Reading their guidelines, I got the impression the differences between the different sizes should be relatively small (more about readability than content) -- that it's important customers instantly recognize the icon at any size.
If they are very different then Apple may reject the app based on that guideline, but if there are clear similarities (like in this case) then I'm sure it'd be OK if you wanted it like that. I would say though ideally you want them all to be identical. Not just for continuity, but because when you view apps in the store (both in iTunes and on an actual device) it shows the 512x512 image - and even shows this large image scaled down while installing. Only when installed will the icon on the device change to show the developer's own smaller versions. If you have ever seen an icon change when installing an app this is the reason (and also why an app's seemingly hi-res icon can sometimes suddenly go non-retina).
Yeh, for sure, we won't have any different icons throughout different resolutions, that's set in stone ! Thank you so much for your input, guys. Much much appreciated. Can't really say for which one we go in the end I'll let you know, what turns we take on that issue soon
Easily #3 imo. You can easily tell its a bomb. Its simple, clean and gets the job done. Also overall looks the best at all sizes.
Option 3 or 2. I think writing game's name in icon is not a good idea. (except if your game is very famous like Sims.)
