Ask HN: How important is the app icon?
Hey folks,
I'm releasing an app in a couple of weeks if all goes to plan. My question is, how important is the icon/logo? Should one hire a professional designer for this? Do you sketch out your idea first and then take it to a pro?
It's interesting to look back; it appears most startups make do with anything (e.e Sergey Brin's Google logo with GIMP) but it seems more and more are very polished.
You can see my effort at theoctopusapp.com.
Comments
I would say the app icon is very much important. People are visual in nature; this is why we have designers and not just programmers. An icon should ideally represent what the app does; should possibly share the apps / companies color scheme; should be easy to tell apart from the next app in it's category and should be recognizable in a sea of other apps.
Nothing sucks more then wanting to use an app you haven't used in a few weeks, but not being able to find it swiping past numerous other apps on your phone.
I'm a programmer, but I always like to sketch out what I want first. Setup some ground rules - color, major design points, etc... then give it to a designer and let them take over.
Ask for 2 or 3 versions - possibly even ask multiple designers for a version and see what you like best.
Thanks for the advice.
I was working on a developer tool which had a lot of users (~500k) where we were using a stock icon. Not until a much later release we changed the icon that was designed by a professional designer. Few of our users did complain that it didn't look great in their Mac / Linux docks! Story on mobile might be a bit different but from my perspective, unless I don't pin the icon to my dock (in which case I use the app A LOT) I generally don't seem to care about the icon as long as its decent.
EDIT: I guess this is on the cards, but you should first redesign the landing page on octopusapp.com. All the best!
Thanks for the advice. I know what you're saying regarding the landing page, it's spartan at best. (what can I say, I'm a minimalist)