
What's Wrong with the iOS 7 Icons? - ianstormtaylor
http://ianstormtaylor.com/whats-wrong-with-the-ios-7-icons/
======
cloudwalking
After using iOS 7 for a few days I can say that the icons are the least of our
worries.

Using ONLY color to differentiate clickable things is a travesty for
colorblind people. I'm colorblind and iOS 7 is proving really frustrating.

The weather app, for example, is almost impossible for me to read.

~~~
namank
Do the accessibility options help?

~~~
sinnerswing
They do. People just wants to bitch and whine about iOS 7. :)

~~~
shock-value
Maybe this is just bitching and whining, but as far as I am concerned iOS 7 is
another "Apple Maps"-style upgrade disaster if they don't make a lot of UI
changes. I really think people are going to hate it. I know it's just a beta,
but I had the same hopes that Apple Maps would be improved during its beta
(and commented to people that Apple was going to have big problems if it
didn't) and look where that went.

It's a shame too because they added a lot of good things like the new
notifications layout, Siri improvements, control pane slide-out, etc.

~~~
vvhn
Apple Maps was a regression in functionality. The design of the home screen is
a subjective opinion. Whether good or bad, it seems to have created more self
proclaimed graphic designers and experts on the Internet than anything else in
recent memory.

~~~
shock-value
In my opinion this UI update is a regression in functionality in terms of the
icons being harder to discern and the text being harder to read (and
significantly so). And since this affects the entire OS (not just one app) I
think the blowback could be just as high even if it isn't as bad as maps was.
Hopefully they'll make changes though and I'll eat my words.

~~~
vvhn
Making things more difficult to read is a valid argument for regression. Even
if it is for some people (where previously it wasn't) that should be pointed
out and complained about (as you are rightly doing ).

The whole brouhaha in the armchair designer community over icons, colors &
design is simply nuts though. "Designers" are coming out of the woodwork in
droves to prove that they can do better in 1 hour what Johny Ives & Co took
many months to do.

------
devindotcom
I like that the "Music" icon has perfectly chosen colors... coincidentally,
those are nearly the exact same ones used in the Zune branding and app:
[http://i.imgur.com/Mzw6bta.png](http://i.imgur.com/Mzw6bta.png)

Really, though, I do not like almost any of the new icons. I love the flat
thing, and I reskinned my Android phone with the minimal MIUI icon set (quite
well done), but Apple just did it wrong.

~~~
Flying_Dwarf
Here we go again. Not to be cynical, but that's just unfair. Apple has plenty
of time improve their icons before iOS 7 releases to the public, assuming they
acknowledge it wasn't a brilliant idea to outsource design to the local
children's art school.

~~~
ionforce
It's absolutely not unfair. Even to the beta Apple has invested a ton of time
putting their UI designs front and center. If they didn't want them to be the
travesty they are now they would have made them differently.

It's hard to believe that there's any other reason the icons look this way
other than through intention. And then the question becomes about Apple's
taste level.

~~~
alexqgb
"It's hard to believe that there's any other reason the icons look this way
other than through intention."

Perhaps this will enlighten you.

[http://www.fastcodesign.com/1672819/who-designed-
ios-7-s-ico...](http://www.fastcodesign.com/1672819/who-designed-
ios-7-s-icons-apple-s-marketing-department)

~~~
vvhn
>Perhaps this will enlighten you

So, something on a blog on the internet is now "enlightenment" ?

*edit. I found this link quoted in other places in this thread. Turns out all of them were you. What makes you believe that information there is fact ?

~~~
alexqgb
You said you couldn't see how the result could be unintended. I showed you how
it could be unintended. You replied with sarcasm. So now I'm assuming you're
not seriously interested in the answer to your second question. But I could be
wrong, so here you go:

1\. Experience: I've worked on design teams that did not suffer from
incoherent, committee driven management, and others that did. This attuned me
to the signature patterns that both approaches inevitably imprint on their
products.

2\. Direct Observation: Like everyone else, I can see the work for myself. If
you know what to look for, it's not hard to recognize the tell-tale signs of a
badly directed, poorly managed process.

3\. Judgement: Being familiar with the work and reputation of the publication,
I consider them a reasonably reliable source of sound reporting. The fact that
their account dovetails with my own experience lends credence to the story. I
can also see that that account they're providing could be easily falsified if
it were untrue (making this an unlikely place to stretch the truth).

4\. General Knowledge: I am aware that Ive is new to this kind of design, and
relatively inexperienced. I am also aware that having good taste isn't enough.
Only the combination of good taste and long practice will produce desirable
results. In his defense, he's having to develop expertise quickly, under a
spotlight. I sympathise with his struggles. At the same time, knowing that the
company is going through a major transition means that missteps like these
aren't unexpected. Indeed, it would be astonishing if they nailed it on the
first try.

------
omonra
As an Android user, I find the whole brouhaha over the new IOS look rather
ridiculous - because I have _no idea_ what Android stock icons even look like.

I've been using a shell for many years (doesn't matter which - can't even
recall name now) which comes with its own icons. So to me this sounds as
childish (ie Apple treating its customers as children who can't be trusted
with picking their own icons) - as if my laptop had a set of preconfigured
directory names and I could not rename them myself.

It's rather telling that all these people take the concept that icons on their
pocket computer are G-d given and immutable, like a law of nature and that the
most they can do is whine if they don't like them.

~~~
Sprint
I love the variety of icons on Android, especially how they use different
shapes. "Forcing" icons to always be rounded squares seems so silly to me.

Random examples:

[https://lh5.ggpht.com/mKx3_D9fhszXZ3A-03zI5qsKi4yiecWo8i1jm_...](https://lh5.ggpht.com/mKx3_D9fhszXZ3A-03zI5qsKi4yiecWo8i1jm_HE0SBXOhd-7DR6KWqSJNYdLNRpxYk=w124)

[https://lh5.ggpht.com/nENqr4mCerIwGYtbn6lAhaWSE7P1itMRp_A5yL...](https://lh5.ggpht.com/nENqr4mCerIwGYtbn6lAhaWSE7P1itMRp_A5yLqoTwqz6p3Jl56dOo1zfWVJ0D1WI
--V=w78-h78)

[https://lh6.ggpht.com/T7nxYYhpmGDzg5Ckwu3L7Jb4HTHyKdGoz0n2u1...](https://lh6.ggpht.com/T7nxYYhpmGDzg5Ckwu3L7Jb4HTHyKdGoz0n2u1RJmghUw7nrwNSXCTNKIDQvqtW3Uv8=w78-h78)

[https://lh6.ggpht.com/os72icmFlDtbxpYbZCP-v6kOereSLGDmlKsBl1...](https://lh6.ggpht.com/os72icmFlDtbxpYbZCP-v6kOereSLGDmlKsBl1ISTPdgbcpoc4rSIuXDuoDECvgcvoFJ=w78-h78)

[https://lh6.ggpht.com/H_b-56TTd9bE-
TOx13irsriNiqHCHijeaEcSaf...](https://lh6.ggpht.com/H_b-56TTd9bE-
TOx13irsriNiqHCHijeaEcSafuTDQV9kE5DdWDZVGmIGEl0FuuSbA=w78-h78)

~~~
czhiddy
Wow. I'm sure there are examples that might prove your point, but those are
some of ugliest icons I've ever seen. The second one looks like it's straight
from Windows 3.1.

~~~
omonra
What's important is that HE likes them. You don't have to agree :)

~~~
Alphasite_
Yes, but it runs counter to his own implication that more freedom -> higher
quality, which is what he was pointing out.

~~~
Sprint
I did not mean to imply that. But even if I did, quality is a subjective
measure.

------
doctorpangloss
They chose grey because the icons will be slightly semi-transparent in the
final build and will take on color from your background. In that sense, it's a
pretty brilliant design.

The change to the camera icon makes a lot of sense if you've ever watched a
first-time phone user looking for the Camera app.

Differences between music, video and photos again seems to emphasize their
very different bodies of users. They actually do very different things because
they service very different needs—people who buy music in iTunes or pirate it
(as opposed to using Pandora, etc.), people who buy movies in iTunes or pirate
them (as opposed to using HBO Go), and people who want to show their photos to
someone. None of these use cases require personality and it seems like putting
personality in a software icon meant to be universally understood is a bad
idea.

------
tambourine_man
I can't decide which one is worse, Safari or Settings.

Apple's always had quality control issues, but when the main theme of the
keynote is iOS 7's new look, and the first thing they show you are those
icons, it makes me think that they are having serious execution issues.

Even if they improve them later (one can hope), it's a lost chance to wow us,
which has always been Apple's thing and the whole reason for the keynote.

~~~
adventured
There's nobody at the top furiously rattling the cage until all the designs
are up to par. Jobs of course reviewed every aesthetic, and was more than
willing to live by that sword and die by that sword (if it wasn't good enough,
it shouldn't ship; he made a few mistakes on that front, but it was a core
theme non-the-less).

------
toyg
Personally, I've never liked the Camera and Safari icons -- somehow my brain
never associated "round thingie" with "taking a picture" and "compass" with
"reading web pages" (remember the old Netscape light-tower? I've always
thought that was _so weird_ ). In that sense, I kinda like the new Camera more
than the old one (although Ian's suggestion to make it dynamic is great).

I agree 100000% on the Videos icon. It's a relic: when every Mac user was a
pro video-maker using video-editing tools every day, I guess it made sense to
keep it consistent. I don't come from that background, so that icon never felt
natural; I agree that a "Play button" would be so much better.

The idea of making icons dynamic is great and would go some way towards
compensating for the lack of real-time home-screen apps. Newsstand proves that
it can be done, and Apple should probably use it a bit more, battery be
damned. There is a risk in opening such an API to third parties, that
developers will start _blinkifying_ their icons to jump at you, transforming
one's home screen in a giant flashy billboard; but it would certainly be a
nice touch for homegrown system icons.

~~~
alxndr
I completely disagree on the dynamic icons. When I want to play some music, I
know I'm looking for a two-eighth-note icon on a pink-orange background, and I
don't want that background to change to black cause I listened to Dark Side
last.

~~~
toyg
One of the aims of dynamic icons is to avoid having to actually tap on them,
if the required information is simple enough to be displayable in the icon
itself (e.g. weather, stock). Apps that want to encourage launch could modify
just half the icon, or a quarter, or none.

~~~
lessnonymous
After reading the article, the last thing I wanted was dynamic icons. But your
take on it makes sense.

I don't want 'photos' to show me the latest photo I took as that could have
been days ago and now finding the photos app is really difficult.

But if just part of the icon changed to indicate something, like your stock
folio position (without the red/green background idea) then it works both
ways. The icon always looks generally the same - it's a graph - but it changes
to indicate some data point that may save opening the app.

That said, how would the icons update if you don't open the app. Each app's
developer would either have to send out an icon update notification or would
have to provide some level of running the app on a regular basis to regenerate
the icon.

~~~
toyg
I guess apps would have to provide a static function that returns an updated
icon, which iOS would call every X minutes/hours. I don't think it'd be hard
for developers, it's Apple who would have to do most of the job.

------
chasing
Yeah, I pretty much agree with everything in here. And I also imagine that the
icons (and general new "flat" look) will get refined over the next
months/years.

Also, though many of the icons are a bit odd (and some, like the calculator
and camera, frankly suck), upon use, iOS 7 really does feel like a natural
improvement upon past version of iOS and not some attempt to make iOS more
like Windows Mobile or Android.

I'm excited that Apple's shaken things up a bit visually. It'll force app
makers (self included) to think in fresh ways about their interfaces. Which
will lead to more novelty, innovation, and (hopefully) better products.

~~~
bornhuetter
Some people are upset about the look of iOS, Android and WP converging, but
I'm quite happy about it. At the moment many apps get written to fit the iOS
style and when they are ported over to Android they look horrible.

I think now many cross platform apps are going to start looking a lot better.

~~~
ankitml
add nyan cat's rainbow style to wp/android app and you get a iOS 7 app

------
smnrchrds
"This new iteration of iOS was supposed to save us from the unnecessary
skeuomorphism that Jobs and Forstall loved."

I don't understand. What is wrong with skeuomorphism? I am not a designer or
anything, but I liked the old iOS 6 UI.

~~~
kunai
It's inconsistent with the entire OS. Having 7 or 8 apps look completely
different is inconsistent and jarring when you shift from app to app. And the
linen was just plain fugly.

We live in an age where flatter, more consistent UI designs are a necessity.
Not flat to the point where you can't tell what the hell is going on, like
Metro, but minimalist with visual cues to let you know what is happening,
which is similar to Google's interface for Android and their web services.

We don't need to be reminded that games used to be played in casinos. We don't
need to be reminded of how a ledger notepad with leather binding looks. We
don't need to be reminded of how a bookshelf looks.

Why?

 _Because we don 't use bookshelfs, game tables, or ledger pads on our
phones._

We use digital representations of games, text, and input devices. The need to
have an analog analogue is gone. And apart from the horrid icons in iOS 7,
it's a step forward in every way. Except, of course, for the icons.

Did I mention the icons were awful?

~~~
dragonwriter
> We live in an age where flatter, more consistent UI designs are a necessity.

There's probably some specific scope of "necessity" which would make this
something other than fairly extreme hyperbole, but its certainly not one which
it is obvious is the intended scope of this posting.

Now, I would agree that I _like_ fairly flat design, and I actively _dislike_
skeuomorphism for the sake of skeuomorphism, since it tends to add visual
clutter that doesn't contribute to (and often impairs) usability.

But that's a preference (there are people that like baroque UIs, and that's
not objectively wrong), not a _necessity_.

------
abruzzi
oddly, I am in almost complete disagreement with this article. The only point
of agreement is I hate the camera icon (the full camera looks clunky. they
should just use a diaphram shutter.) The other icon I hate is the new music
icon. The music notes look wrong. The note heads aren't the correct oval
shape, but more of a blobish rectangle. iOS6 wasn't great either because the
beam was too thick, and the noteheads were too horizontal (the left of the
notehead should be a bit lower than the right), but for some reason it just
wasn't that noticeable.

~~~
Terretta
Had to scroll down a long way to find this comment, but I agree with you that
these suggested alternatives are not necessarily improvements.

The "poor color choice" Calculator, for example, his alternative is worse than
iOS 7 which is worse than iOS 6. Dark keys with a colored totals key are
recognizable as a calculator at a glance. No idea what his suggested
alternative is smoking.

My main takeaway from this article, like the many other "here's what they
should have done" write-ups is: "This is harder than it looks."

------
Steko
A whole article on iOS 7 (beta) icons without mentioning the much maligned
Safari one?

------
kevinbluer
Agreed. I can't shake the feeling that, while a UI / UX refresh was absolutely
necessary, this lack of polish and consistency would have never made the light
of day with Jobs at the helm.

And the gloss on the Game Center icon is just downright bizarre!

------
adventured
"Even designing just one simple, clean, good-looking icon is not an easy task.
Multiply that by 25 and there was a ton of work to do in the 8 months since
Forstall was booted, which led to certain things being overlooked"

Well that's dramatizing more than just a little bit. Apple has $143 billion in
the bank, a nearly unlimited budget, a design obsession, and they had over
half a year. Clearly the time it takes to create a nice icon was not the
problem (regardless of if it was 25 icons or 250 icons).

------
joejohnson
"Drawing from the fashion world, there was a period of time where you’d find
hipsters around town wearing neon clothing, but they’ve long since passed neon
onto the bros. Never take fashion advice from the bros."

Man, this guy sounds like a real expert.

~~~
devindotcom
Even if he were literally a baby, the only thing that would matter is whether
the points he makes are sound.

------
38leinad
someone saw the "ios in the car" icon? [http://cdn.iflowreader.com/wp-
content/uploads/2013/06/apples...](http://cdn.iflowreader.com/wp-
content/uploads/2013/06/apples-ios-in-the-car-app_100430079_l.jpg) To me, this
is the most ugly icon I have ever seen. ever!

~~~
ianstormtaylor
Hahaha pretty much agreed, it was right next to the Multitasking and Siri
icons on their promotion page. That's what happens when you combine the
"straight from the tube" green with pure black and tack on a purely resized
Siri icon.

------
leoc
Can some kind graphic designer or art historian pinpoint what the art style
(including the colour scheme) of the new app icons is based on? (Most
obviously Photos, Camera, Clock, Game Center and Newsstand, but you can add
Music and iTunes and more subtly Maps too.) I know that it's a (probably) mid-
late '60s colour-printing, cartoon-art or children's-book style (based on cut-
outs or stencils?) but I can't identify it any more precisely than that.

(I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone say anything about this yet. I thought
designers were attuned to and familiar with things like this? It's weird to
see professionals not considering any influences on the iPhone's new style
apart from other smartphone OSes and skins from the past 5 years.)

Regarding the OP, Camera is fairly consistent with the other icons as it's
based on the same flavour of retro. The same is true of Game Center. You can
see how the colours imitate the dodgy colour values from colour printing about
the '60s.

------
alexqgb
Some people may think "Wow, this travesty looks like design by committee".
Others may say "No, no, this looks like design by multiple, competing
committees with no clear direction or coordination."

As it turns out, the latter camp is correct.

[http://www.fastcodesign.com/1672819/who-designed-
ios-7-s-ico...](http://www.fastcodesign.com/1672819/who-designed-
ios-7-s-icons-apple-s-marketing-department)

~~~
threeseed
Did you even read the article you linked to ?

Allegedly, the branding/marketing teams first designed the icons and the other
teams coordinated their designs based on those icons.

I don't know if you've actually used iOS7 but there is quite clearly a
direction. It's a little unfocused in places but it's clear.

~~~
alexqgb
Of course I read it. And the key passage (to my mind) was this one:

"We’ve also been hearing that there wasn’t a whole lot of communication
between the various teams behind say, Mail and Safari. And that there were
multiple teams inside each group that were competing with various designs,
leading to what some see as inconsistencies in icon design."

------
crazygringo
For anyone who isn't aware, you should read Vic Gundotra's story about Jobs
insane level of perfectionism regarding the original iPhone icons:

[https://plus.google.com/+VicGundotra/posts/gcSStkKxXTw](https://plus.google.com/+VicGundotra/posts/gcSStkKxXTw)

To me, at least, the original post is all about how that level of
perfectionism is no longer being enforced at Apple.

------
cosmicm
I've spent a bit of time with the icons and I like them. iOS is just so
different now that it takes a bit to settle in. I think many people judge too
quickly sometimes without using it.

------
andrewgleave
If this is really an issue, the large, talented group of designers at Apple
will fix it before GM.

They are employed by probably the most design-sensitive company around
precisely because they're at the top of their game – they won't be oblivious
to blundering inconsistencies.

If it's not, it will be forgotten about within days of the OS's release by
nearly all users.

~~~
aroman
This five thousand times. This is _precisely_ my sentiment on the matter.

I'm not such a fanboy as to believe Apple's infallible, but I do firmly
believe they'll know when they've screwed up. You can bet there are plenty of
people running around Apple gauging the public reaction to iOS7. If they think
it's really a major pain point for the public, they'll do something about it.
Otherwise, it won't really matter.

Remember when the iPad came out and thought it was a rushed joke with an awful
name?

~~~
CamperBob2
Counterpoint: one thing that history's greatest designers have most certainly
_not_ done is pay a lot of attention to the public's immediate reaction.

It will make them look worse, in a way, if we see them making a lot of
concessions to popular outrage. The core look and feel of the UI was something
they really should have taken the time to get right the first time, before
going public. It's hard to save face in this business.

------
ameen
Ian has nailed down what's exactly wrong with iOS 7's icons. But misses a very
important point - The redesign has largely been pointless.

Windows Phone chose "Flat design" and ran with it, the "Live Tile" was
invented - More interactive, informative minimal icons. Also it brought over
some beautiful uniformity, a design language that actually worked. iOS 7 does
nothing of that sort, and IMO is a redesign for the sake of a redesign.

Infact, it goes ahead and destroys everything that was great about its
previous iterations - Accessible, Simple, Functional, etc.

To say the least, Apple Design[1] has failed colossally, they could and should
learn a lot from Microsoft and Google designers.

[1] - Not the same as Apple Designers, since I'm damn well sure that no
Interface designer worth his salt would ever allow iOS 7 to happen. I'm sure
past design leads on iOS and even Forstall are having a chuckle over this
mess.

~~~
andorekandore
I get the strong feeling that, as you say, its a redesign for the sake of
redesign..... but I think, more to it than that, is Ive’s distaste for
anything Forestall, and this is his crusade to remove any last vestige of
“him” from iOS...

Thats just my subjective opinion, but it comes across strongly from everything
I’ve read and heard..... I don’t really care one way or the other, but I hope
for their sake they can improve what they’ve shown and pull off something
insanely great (though I’m not holding my breath).

~~~
ameen
Once you start getting vengeful there's no going back. And if I must say so
myself, Apple has failed at Flat icon design - Heck, even the DesignModo guys
had better icons than the ones Apple put out.

Apple seems to be losing its edge. I'd be looking keenly at how the next
version of Android shapes up, and if HTC continues its awesome hardware
design, there's no reason not to get their next phone.

------
protitap
I think what's wrong with the icons can be summed up by the following:

• Inconsistency

• Unnecessary complexity

I don't have much of a problem with the colours. The icons are only half the
problem though. Both the text and icons do not stand out enough against the
background, and the text and icons seem too close together. The homescreen
just looks half finished.

~~~
czhiddy
> The homescreen just looks half finished.

Shocking, right? Things looks half finished in a pre-release beta. What were
they thinking?

~~~
lurkinggrue
By the looks of the icons: I like candy.

------
uptown
The thing I realized after installing iOS7 was how few of the stock icons
still resided on my home screen. Sure, some of the required ones need work -
but when mixed with a well-chosen background, and mixed in with the other app
icons from my collection - the overall aesthetic isn't as jarring.

------
phil
I agree with this:

 _I freaked out in the beginning because I thought the crummy icons were
representative of Apple screwing up the entire new design direction for iOS.
But now that I’ve seen the rest of iOS, I’m not that worried._

After a couple days with the beta, it's pretty obvious that Apple didn't,
like, FIRE their UI designers or anything. There are a few strange choices,
but most of the new OS feels like an improvement when you use it.

------
websitescenes
Why is that I disagree with every article from Ian Storm Taylor? Media Queries
are not hacks and the new IOS7 looks slick to me.

Real world characteristics were used for a long time as a crutch. It helped
the non tech savvy connect to technology, because they were utilizing things
they recognized from the real world.

Fast forward and now people don't need this crutch. Flat design and minimalism
are proof of that. Don't be scared of change.

~~~
ianstormtaylor
Not sure, although it seems like you didn't read the article. Also you don't
disagree with _every_ article of mine because I argued exactly what you are
arguing in this comment a couple years back:
[http://ianstormtaylor.com/skeumorphism-on-the-
ipad/](http://ianstormtaylor.com/skeumorphism-on-the-ipad/)

~~~
websitescenes
hahaha, I'm probably am still upset about the media queries.

~~~
websitescenes
ok, so I read the article and I see what you are saying now. Knee jerk
reaction on my part. I guess they should have removed more of the real world
references than they did.

~~~
ianstormtaylor
:p no worries. It's true though that some of the real world icons are still
necessary for the quick mental connection with the apps purpose.

------
jammi
People are already criticizing alpha-quality software icons. These are the
current ones, and many of them are still going to change:
[http://9to5mac.com/2013/06/14/apple-website-mistake-
reveals-...](http://9to5mac.com/2013/06/14/apple-website-mistake-reveals-
alternate-ios-7-icons-with-tweaks-to-weather-passbook-and-more/)

------
_progger_
It seems they can't go full non-skeuomorphic without looking like a WP rip-
off? Finding new symbols for abstract concepts is even harder though, some
will stay until we have brain-computer interfaces that will give us new
senses.

~~~
sp332
Microsoft didn't invent the flat rectangle. What about the new iOS looks
specifically like Windows Phone 8?

~~~
dragonwriter
> Microsoft didn't invent the flat rectangle.

They did, however, create a set of design principles for user interfaces for
computer applications (inspired in large part by particular pre-computing
graphic design styles, but also including particular principles for providing
affordances and feedback for interactive applications within that graphic
style.)

~~~
sp332
Yeah, and iOS isn't following most of them. [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
US/library/windowsphone/design/...](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
US/library/windowsphone/design/hh202915%28v=vs.105%29.aspx) I didn't look at
every single one, but having used Windows Phone 7&8 for over a year, and
scrutinized the released slides from iOS 7, I don't see any place where they
are especially similar.

~~~
dragonwriter
> Yeah, and iOS isn't following most of them.

I didn't mean to suggest that it was, I was trying to suggest a better focus
for discussions of whether iOS design was following Microsoft in any
substantial way than either "flat rectangles", or even "what bits seem
generally similar to Win 8".

------
gfodor
I think the bikeshed should be blue, and have less of a gradient along the
roof.

------
serginho
I will just add a stolen high ranked comment from one of the collective blogs.

iOS 7 Jelly Bean

------
ankitml
iOS 7 is geo bootstrap for mobile [http://divshot.github.io/geo-
bootstrap/](http://divshot.github.io/geo-bootstrap/)

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RivieraKid
I quite like the icons.

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miguelrochefort
For some reasons, the icons look much better individually than together on the
Home Screen. I guess this proves the "Design by committee" theory.

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alexqgb
Design by multiple, inexperienced, poorly coordinated committees, to be
precise.

[http://www.fastcodesign.com/1672819/who-designed-
ios-7-s-ico...](http://www.fastcodesign.com/1672819/who-designed-
ios-7-s-icons-apple-s-marketing-department)

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corresation
This is presented as a an objective take, yet it is entirely subjective
subject matter. While I do take issue with the inconsistency of the new iOS
icon design (gradients going each direction, residual depths and multi-
generational design philosophies mixed together), in this case the proposed
"better" icons simply aren't better...in my opinion....because it's
subjective.

And then there's this-

 _Just like you don’t want to use pure black, you also never want to use
“straight from the tube” colors. They come off as tacky and cheap._

(followed by some thing about bros and neon)

All colors are "straight from the tube" in this medium. There is no additional
complexity or uniqueness with any variation of reds, greens and blues.
Applying what can only be considered colour hipsterism diminishes the message
enormously.

Maybe the colors simply aren't right among their peers, or for the purpose,
but the notion that they're simply too easy or "bro-ish" is silly.

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dsego
I think you're misunderstanding the part about pure colors. I am not a
designer, but I think it's that you won't really find pure colors around in
the real world. Greys will always have some tint, blueish or yellowish
perhaps. People will consider one colder and the other warm. If you use pure
grey, the design will look dull, the same is true with other colours. The same
thing in music, if you only use simple non-embelished chords, your music will
sound amateurish, dull and un-inspired.

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corresation
Their example replaced gray with pure white, and I'd guess that the former is
far more prevalent in the world than the latter. They also complain about
colors being too saturated (even though the colors they talk about range from
60 - 80% saturated, and are in no way "pure", ignoring that such a notion is
an artificial one to begin with).

But I'm not sure why prevalence in the real world is relevant at all. We're
not talking about some Samsung claim of being inspired by nature, and
skeudomorphs are not the goal. I don't think natural prevalence is relevant at
all.

So white is "better" than gray. Less saturated is "better" than more
saturated. At least in the author's opinion. Narrative beyond that (such as
the notion that some colors are too easy) is just trying to build some
structural justification for those notions.

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dsego
Yes, replaced with white because it enhances contrast, to liven it up a bit
(also the white portion is somewhat an inversion of the orange buttons). The
overly saturated colors look too bright and intensive, they overpower
everything else. It's just not pleasant to the eye.

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drivebyacct2
Did anyone notice where he (effectively) asked for Android widgets? Good luck.

