Interface Design and UX Thread - How our App Looks

[EricB]

I am not an artist or graphics person, but I have a suggestion regarding the logo image... try creating it with a transparent background.

That way, no matter what the background color of the form, the graphic will "blend" (maybe the wrong word) with the application rather than appearing to be stuck on to it.

I like Rik's icons, but if they were part of a logo image, how would they appear on a red gradient background (or blue or gray, etc.)? Or, if we took the logo from Steve's UI and stuck it on a form without a black/dark grey UI, how would it blend with the form? The same thing goes if the space in the "a" or "r" in XaRT is white, how will it look on a form with a background that is not white?

This hit me the other day when I saw an app that had a really nice logo and a good UI, but they did not "blend" together, and it appeared like the logo was stuck onto the UI at the last minute. It actually made me think of a printed mockup where someone taped a printed version of the logo where there was a placeholder for it.

Eric

[Gare]

@Eric—

If Grace and Steve decide to keep the icon file out in the open (as it were, not coded into the exe as a resource), then a transparent background could be one of several sizes and variations of the approved con design.

In Windows, an *.ico file can have different images, as GIF files can. All it takes is an editor, and icon editors are a dime a dozen.

Another thing to consider is how easily an icon with a transparent background can get lost of a Desktop of an artist who chooses color wallpaper. It's something to contend with: you can't predict who is going to use this utility and where on their system. I have a utility or two that are a PITA to find because the graphic is really small set against a clear background.

Best of all worlds might be to let the user decide what to display and this can be done with multiple icons inside one file.

My Best,

Gary

[EricB]

Gary,
I agree with you on this for the icon, but I was talking about the logo that would be displayed on the form. If you look at the sample Steve submitted you'll see the logo in the upper left-hand corner (the one with the brush that needs to not have a brush) of the form blends in with the rest of the form, but if the form were blue, then it would not blend in.

The application icon is generally set within the executable when the application is compiled (that is how Windows (and other apps) can determine the icon by just examining the executable) rather than including it as a separate file. One of the reasons for this is "branding". You want users to know what the application is by seeing the icon. If you have multiple icons for your application, you lose the ability for someone walking up to a computer to know that "program x" is there just by seeing the icon on the desktop or taskbar.

The user can always change the icon that is displayed in Windows just by editing the properties of the "shortcut" that is created for executable.

Several sizes of the application icon can be included in the executable, but I am unsure of the exact steps to do this as I have never had this need, but I don't believe it is that difficult.

Eric

[gracehjs]

I agree. If we want to allow a user to change colour, then the logo needs to match that scheme. I think we lock in the shape, but not the colour.

I am not an artist or graphics person, but I have a suggestion regarding the logo image... try creating it with a transparent background.

That way, no matter what the background color of the form, the graphic will "blend" (maybe the wrong word) with the application rather than appearing to be stuck on to it.

I like Rik's icons, but if they were part of a logo image, how would they appear on a red gradient background (or blue or gray, etc.)? Or, if we took the logo from Steve's UI and stuck it on a form without a black/dark grey UI, how would it blend with the form? The same thing goes if the space in the "a" or "r" in XaRT is white, how will it look on a form with a background that is not white?

This hit me the other day when I saw an app that had a really nice logo and a good UI, but they did not "blend" together, and it appeared like the logo was stuck onto the UI at the last minute. It actually made me think of a printed mockup where someone taped a printed version of the logo where there was a placeholder for it.

Eric

[pauland]

If we want to allow a user to change colour

Is this a requirement that a user would have in a utility they will use once in a blue moon?

[gracehjs]

Not really, but its fun to do . I think we want to showcase the fact the "we "are designers.

If we want to allow a user to change colour

Is this a requirement that a user would have in a utility they will use once in a blue moon?

[amoore]

In addition, some of us will use the utility a little more often than in a blue moon, and we may need to make it comfortable for our eyes.