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Tips to Design the Perfect Mobile App Icon

Your mobile app icon is all you require to make that first impression. It is the first thing users confront while looking through search results in the app store. An interactive and catchy icon is all you require to make users get involved. Here are some fool proof tips to get that perfect icon for your app.

By
Siddharth Arora
July 8, 2016

Your mobile app icon is all you require to make that first impression. It is the first thing users confront while looking through search results in the app store. An interactive and catchy icon is all you require to make users get involved. Here are some fool proof tips to get that perfect icon for your app.

1. Go Unique

Use a symbol that's different from the existing symbols and is recognizable enough. A logo that conveys what the app is about, in the very first look. Something that becomes a defining feature for your apps in the crowd of billions of apps.

2. Keep it simple

Instead of trying to pack everything up into a single icon and tinting it with every single color available on the pallet, it's always a nice option to keep it simple and straightforward. Flat icons are a better choice though a little shadowing can work as well.

3. Right Use of Words

If you have planned to include words in the app icon of yours, go ahead but keep in mind the size of the icon. Using long words and phrases in the icon makes it incomprehensible. If put simply, there's actually not enough space in the icon to contain the words while keeping it readable enough. Try not to make the text a part of the logo. Instead of putting text in the icon itself, you can always put a line of descriptor text under the actual icon block.

4. Make It in Monochrom

A simple trick to check the effectiveness of your icon is to check it out on monochrome. If it conveys the similar meaning even in monochrome, Hurray, it works! If the icon still has space for color, man, it needs revisions! If only a simple paper sketch of the icon seems like working enough you have got a mastery in it, for sure.

5. Choose Vibrant Colors

Giving your app icon a vibrant color does make it visible, whatever the background may be. Even if the background is dark or light the icon is going to make itself visible with its vibrancy. Go bold with the color and grab the attention of your users.

6. Remember Scale

Icons are not always those tiny things on our phone screens, they are a face to your app, your business. And sometimes these icons double up to be seen as representing your brand on some banner, a hoarding, a wall or some print ad. Different platforms and devices may render icons of different sizes. Get your app icon designed in a way that makes it usable regardless of size. Better build it large and then scale down.

An icon needs to be created using a vector-based design. When it comes to scale and size, the format is also an important consideration. Having a vector image will give you the freedom to make changes and save the icon for a variety of devices, sizes, and viewports without creating a lot of individual images. Because the reality is you will need multiple versions of an icon sized for a variety of projects.

7. A/B Testing

Before you go out publishing your app out on the app store, it's better to go for the A/B testing beforehand. Before submitting your app for approval, design several potential icons and submit them those with the original. Once you have got your statistics, its time to finalize stuff!

To keep it simple, the foremost tip is to keep your icon, simply, Iconic!

To get the best in design, get your app developed with us. Applify, a prominent mobile app development agency, is distinguished in Design, be it App Icons or App Screens!

Let's build what's next
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Resources
Blog
Mobile Apps

Tips to Design the Perfect Mobile App Icon

Your mobile app icon is all you require to make that first impression. It is the first thing users confront while looking through search results in the app store. An interactive and catchy icon is all you require to make users get involved. Here are some fool proof tips to get that perfect icon for your app.

By
Siddharth Arora
July 8, 2016
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Your mobile app icon is all you require to make that first impression. It is the first thing users confront while looking through search results in the app store. An interactive and catchy icon is all you require to make users get involved. Here are some fool proof tips to get that perfect icon for your app.

1. Go Unique

Use a symbol that's different from the existing symbols and is recognizable enough. A logo that conveys what the app is about, in the very first look. Something that becomes a defining feature for your apps in the crowd of billions of apps.

2. Keep it simple

Instead of trying to pack everything up into a single icon and tinting it with every single color available on the pallet, it's always a nice option to keep it simple and straightforward. Flat icons are a better choice though a little shadowing can work as well.

3. Right Use of Words

If you have planned to include words in the app icon of yours, go ahead but keep in mind the size of the icon. Using long words and phrases in the icon makes it incomprehensible. If put simply, there's actually not enough space in the icon to contain the words while keeping it readable enough. Try not to make the text a part of the logo. Instead of putting text in the icon itself, you can always put a line of descriptor text under the actual icon block.

4. Make It in Monochrom

A simple trick to check the effectiveness of your icon is to check it out on monochrome. If it conveys the similar meaning even in monochrome, Hurray, it works! If the icon still has space for color, man, it needs revisions! If only a simple paper sketch of the icon seems like working enough you have got a mastery in it, for sure.

5. Choose Vibrant Colors

Giving your app icon a vibrant color does make it visible, whatever the background may be. Even if the background is dark or light the icon is going to make itself visible with its vibrancy. Go bold with the color and grab the attention of your users.

6. Remember Scale

Icons are not always those tiny things on our phone screens, they are a face to your app, your business. And sometimes these icons double up to be seen as representing your brand on some banner, a hoarding, a wall or some print ad. Different platforms and devices may render icons of different sizes. Get your app icon designed in a way that makes it usable regardless of size. Better build it large and then scale down.

An icon needs to be created using a vector-based design. When it comes to scale and size, the format is also an important consideration. Having a vector image will give you the freedom to make changes and save the icon for a variety of devices, sizes, and viewports without creating a lot of individual images. Because the reality is you will need multiple versions of an icon sized for a variety of projects.

7. A/B Testing

Before you go out publishing your app out on the app store, it's better to go for the A/B testing beforehand. Before submitting your app for approval, design several potential icons and submit them those with the original. Once you have got your statistics, its time to finalize stuff!

To keep it simple, the foremost tip is to keep your icon, simply, Iconic!

To get the best in design, get your app developed with us. Applify, a prominent mobile app development agency, is distinguished in Design, be it App Icons or App Screens!

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