应用程序图标

by Nabeena Mali

通过Nabeena Mali

如何制作完美的应用程序图标 (How to Make the Perfect App Icon)

With just 24 app icon slots on the first page of an iPhone home screen, or 28 if you have a fancy iPhone 7, creating the perfect app icon is a vital step in user adoption.

iPhone主屏幕首页上只有24个应用程序图标插槽，如果您喜欢精美的iPhone 7，则只有28个应用程序图标插槽，因此，创建完美的应用程序图标对于用户采用至关重要。

I once met someone who had an app icon containing every letter of the alphabet on his homescreen, but that zany aesthetic is hardly for everyone — for the average downloader, app icons represent the first encounter users have with a new app. So it needs to be a good one!

我曾经遇到一个人，他的主屏幕上有一个应用程序图标，其中包含每个字母，但是这种奇特的美感并不适合所有人-对于普通下载者来说，应用程序图标代表用户首次使用新应用程序。所以它必须是一个好人！

If your app icon is ugly, users will either delete the app or hide it away in a folder somewhere that they might forget about it. Unfortunately, this is one area in which looks really do matter. So what can you do to make sure that your app’s icon is the homecoming queen and not the shy girl next door?

如果您的应用程序图标丑陋，用户将删除该应用程序或将其隐藏在一个可能会忘记的位置的文件夹中。不幸的是，这是一个看起来确实很重要的领域。那么，您如何确保应用程序的图标是回家的女王，而不是隔壁的害羞女孩？

坚持流行色彩 (Stick to Popular Colours)

There are various articles out there dedicated to the science behind choosing a colour(s) for your app icon. One helpful soul has even created the follow diagram of the most popular colours for app icons:

有各种各样的文章专门讨论为应用程序图标选择颜色的背后的科学。一位乐于助人的灵魂甚至为应用程序图标创建了最受欢迎的颜色如下图：

The implications of this are twofold: using primarily red, blue or maybe green for your app icon is a fairly safe way to go. On the flip side, you could choose a pink, purple, or yellow hue to stand out from the crowd a little more.

这有两方面的含义：为应用程序图标主要使用红色，蓝色或绿色，是一种相当安全的方法。另一方面，您可以选择一种粉红色，紫色或黄色的色调从人群中脱颖而出。

Obviously, there are advantages and disadvantages to each of these routes. What’s safe and familiar also risks being forgettable, while breaking the mould carries the risk of looking too different and not blending well with other apps.

显然，每条路线都各有利弊。安全和熟悉的事物也有可能被遗忘的风险，而打破常规可能会带来看起来过于不同且无法与其他应用完美融合的风险。

使用字母(或不...) (Use a Letter (or Don’t…))

From Facebook’s ‘F’ and Hotels.com’s ‘H’ to Dailymotion’s ‘D’ and Skype’s ‘S’, there’s no shortage of apps out there that use the first letter of the company’s name in their app icon.

从Facebook的“ F”和Hotels.com的“ H”到Dailymotion的“ D”和Skype的“ S”，不乏应用程序在其应用程序图标中使用该公司名称的首字母。

While that’s undoubtedly a smart and straightforward move, it’s not without its risks if the name of your app starts with a very popular letter.

虽然这无疑是一个明智而直接的举动，但是如果您的应用程序名称以一个非常受欢迎的字母开头，则并非没有风险。

Think about the apps already out there, particularly if you’ll be competing directly with them, and go a different route if you’re concerned about being confusing or overly similar.

考虑一下已经存在的应用程序，特别是如果您将直接与它们竞争时，如果您担心混淆或过于相似，则可以改用其他方法。

Maybe, given Skype’s longstanding associated with the letter ‘S’ in a cloud, that’s what prompted Skyscanner to come up with this neat little abstract symbol for their app icon.

也许，鉴于Skype长期以来与云中的字母“ S”相关联，这就是促使Skyscanner为他们的应用程序图标提出这个简洁的小抽象符号的原因。

Using a letter is a very safe choice, especially if your app logo has a distinctive font associated with it.

使用字母是一个非常安全的选择，尤其是在您的应用徽标具有与之相关的独特字体的情况下。

Take that distinctive Facebook ‘f’, for example, which is instantly recognisable thanks to the company logo’s ongoing association with a modified version of the Klavika Bold font.

以那个与众不同的Facebook'f'为例，由于该公司徽标与Klavika Bold字体的修改版本的持续关联，因此立即可以识别它。

But as a company, it seems even Facebook can’t decide whether letters or symbols are best for app icons. Why else would they have channelled their inner Harry Potter when coming up with a icon for Messenger instead of using an ‘m’ in a speech bubble?

但是作为一家公司，似乎Facebook也无法决定字母或符号最适合应用程序图标。为什么在想出Messenger图标时，而不是在对话气泡中使用“ m”，他们为什么还要引导自己内心的Harry Potter？

使用一致的配色方案 (Use a Coherent Colour Scheme)

If there’s one thing worse than an ugly app icon, it’s a beautiful app icon that opens up to reveal an unappealing or dated looking app. First impressions are important but, if you can’t live up to the high standards set by them, you’ll fail anyway.

如果有比丑陋的应用程序图标更糟糕的事情，那么它是一个漂亮的应用程序图标，它可以打开来显示没有吸引力或过时的应用程序。第一印象很重要，但是，如果您不能辜负他们设定的高标准，那么您还是会失败。

Hat tip to Dan Counsell, who gave the following examples of how Ember and Clear keep their experience consistent all the way from opening the app to actually using it:

给Dan Counsell的提示，他举例说明了Ember和Clear从打开应用程序到实际使用过程中如何始终保持一致的体验：

But that’s not to say that everything has to be exactly the same, though.

但这并不是说一切都必须完全相同。

Take Words With Friends, for example, which added a heart and shamrock to their app icon for Valentine’s Day and St Patrick’s Day respectively. A nice way to stay relevant, for sure… as long as users update their apps regularly enough to see it in time.

以Words With Friends为例，它分别在情人节和圣帕特里克节的应用程序图标中添加了一颗心和三叶草。当然，保持联系的好方法是……只要用户定期更新其应用程序足以及时查看它。

And then there’s their educational offering:

然后是他们的教育产品：

反映您应用的目的 (Reflect Your App’s Purpose)

Do you remember when Instagram changed their icon? I do, not least because it’s something I was asked to write about for Crazy Egg. But a lot of people don’t know that Instagram had another app icon before they changed it to the brown rainbow one that everyone knew and loved:

您还记得Instagram更改图标的时间吗？我这样做，尤其是因为有人问我要为《疯狂的鸡蛋》写些什么。但是很多人不知道Instagram还有另一个应用程序图标，然后才将其更改为每个人都知道并喜欢的棕色彩虹：

The founder gave the following reason for the first logo change: “The old icon had nothing to do with Instagram.” With that sentiment in mind, it’s actually pretty easy to understand why Instagram decided to change their suite of logos to this:

创始人提出首次徽标更改的原因如下：“旧图标与Instagram无关。” 考虑到这种情绪，实际上很容易理解为什么Instagram决定将其徽标套件更改为：

The vintage brown camera icon had everything to do with nostalgia, like that evoked by the flapping of a Polaroid picture, and nothing to do with the future of photography. And, with 80 million photos shared every day on Instagram, that’s exactly — whether you like it or not — what Instagram is.

老式的棕色相机图标与怀旧息息相关，就像拍立得照片拍动时所引起的，与摄影的未来无关。而且，Instagram上每天共享8000万张照片，这就是Instagram意义(无论您是否喜欢)。

结论 (Conclusion)

Disappointingly, but predictably, there’s no straightforward route to creating the perfect app icon. Hence there being such a wide array of different looking icons out there!

令人失望的是，但是可以预见，创建完美的应用程序图标没有直接的方法。因此，那里有各种各样看起来不同的图标！

The above tips are useful, but they’re not something you can set your watch by — an app aimed at children or teenagers will, for example, look very different to one that’s used mostly by, say, businessmen or retirees.

上面的技巧很有用，但不是您可以用来设置手表的物品-例如，针对儿童或青少年的应用看上去与大多数商人或退休人员使用的应用完全不同。

There’s another good place to start when you’re trying to find inspiration for app icons, and it’s probably either in your pocket or lying on your desk. Or maybe you’re reading this article on it. I’m talking about your smartphone!

当您尝试寻找应用程序图标的灵感时，还有一个不错的起点，它可能在您的口袋里或躺在桌子上。或者，您可能正在阅读本文。我说的是您的智能手机！

Most founders, app creators etc. build products or apps to address a problem that they’ve identified in their own lives. In other words, you are probably a pretty good representation of your target market. Think about app icons you find attractive, or at least are willing to make room for on your home screen, and you’ll be on your way to app icon success.

大多数创始人，应用程序创建者等都在构建产品或应用程序，以解决他们在生活中发现的问题。换句话说，您可能很好地代表了目标市场。考虑一下您认为有吸引力的应用程序图标，或者至少愿意在主屏幕上腾出空间，这样您就可以成功获得应用程序图标。

And hey, even if you do end up creating a really ugly app icon, it could always end up generating notoriety on Reddit.

而且，即使您最终确实创建了一个非常丑陋的应用程序图标，它也可能最终在Reddit上产生恶名。

You can read more of my writing on appinstitute.com.

您可以在appinstitute.com上阅读我的更多作品。