I put a project out on crowdspring, as I am looking for a splashpage and logo/icon for a new iphone App. The App name is iCampus, and is pretty simple, and shows you how to get to buildings on campus, and is a feed aggregator for school related events/news/sports. Pretty much a tool for freshman to use (should be live on the app store by next weekend).


http://www.crowdspring.com/projects/graphic_design/logo/iphone_app_logo_splash_design_needed

I like a few of them, but I still think that the logo options that have been submitted are missing something unique and catchy ...

I like the following as my top 3 so far:







Thanks for any comments/tips you can give me to either relay to the designers ... or feel free to submit your own if interested in helping.

8/9/2009 9:12:48 AM

pretty cool idea. didnt you do a golf one too?? let us know when its live.

8/9/2009 9:14:15 AM

Will do ... its been in review for a week ... so could be any day now.

Yeah, we did a golf one ... vCaddy - http://www.vcaddygolf.com ... very very competitive plethora of apps for golf out there, though.

8/9/2009 9:49:31 AM

Full disclosure: I am a UX designer who does this for a living.

My thoughts on all 3:

1. Welcome to iCampus concept 1 - The pin doesn't signify anything to me. Do you tap it and get some sort of feedback? Is that where you choose the Campus? The result - if there is one - isn't apparent. The "Select your campus" tooltip background should be less opaque. I'm assuming that on click it will go from that low opacity to a higher one? If not, it's a thought, but the initial state should be more apparent. It shouldn't detract from the design at all.

2. Welcome to iCampus concept 2 - The tooltip that points up to the "Welcome to iCampus!" string is prominent enough that it suggests to me that this is where I'd select the campus. The problem here is one of informational and instructional order. "Select your campus" is the command given the user, and should appear before the interaction point. The hierarchy should be:
Welcome to..
Select your..
THEN University of ...

The same comments about the visual style apply here. I think the tooltip backgrounds would better serve you if they were less opaque. Also, the globe at the bottom doesn't really do it for me. If you want to be nitpicky (I am), then if your app isn't explicitly international, I think it's wrong to represent it as such with a globe. The color scheme doesn't excite me. It reminds me of a rainy boring day at state, where I might slip and bust my ass on the bricks... wait what? The icon there looks appropriate, the font choice is pretty strong, and the kerning looks good.

3. iCampus blue & green - This is not a strong concept to me at all. The color palette is pretty uninspired web2.0-ish schlock. The font choice isn't compelling, and it looks like the button was just "meh'd" on to the screen. It doesn't look like a strong interaction point, nor does it make me want to press it at all. In addition, nothing here has any real depth of field. I hate to sound so harsh, but it looks like a rush job. I assume the alternate palette is the Black, Red, & Grey one? If so, that's also a no-go. There's a longstanding trend for new designers - males in particular - to flock to this palette. It's seen as overtly masculine. The problem is, again, this concept is not compelling. I doubt that using that palette would change my opinion at all.

4. iCampus orange - this one is toooooooo busy. The Icon looks great. The splash page, not so much. The vectorized image of students sitting around in front of trees would probably become quickly dated - not because kids aren't going to sit in front of trees - but because the visual style applied to it is on the decline. Reflected apple-esque stuff is sort of what's hot in the streets right now, but in a few months it won't be. Add to that the fact that it's overdone here and you can sort of see the problem. More visual focus is given to the background than your interaction point, causing it to be lost. You don't want that at all. There's not enough contrast between the background and the button color-wise to give the user an absolute, clearly defined point of interaction, and as a result the button combined with the background ends up being just a bunch of visual noise.


Out of all the concepts there, I'd say the first set is the strongest, but it should only be a jumping off point. There's still some work that needs to be done.

8/9/2009 10:29:23 AM

Kiljadn ... thanks for the feedback ...

For the first one (also the best concept so far, in my opinion) shows the two screens as a flow, not as two different concepts. That pin you see in the screen is an animated image, replacing a simple spinning wheel "loading" animation. It is waiting on the gps system to tell it which university is closest to your current location, at which point, the animated icon goes away, and the button appears which you see in the second screen.

The "Select your Campus" button is always there, as a manual browsing button that takes you to a list of available universities.

The app *could be* used around the world, so, keeping it internationally focused with a globe there is fine with me, but I appreciate that feedback.

Rob

8/9/2009 12:40:15 PM

ahhhh, ok.


That makes a little more sense. Do you think that a animated map pin is a strong enough metaphor for what you're trying to convey?


Map pins, in my experience, are generally only animated when placed somewhere, and don't signify that a search is going on. Think of the standard iPhone pattern in the maps app - you search, a pin is placed for your location, and then pins fall into place around yours.


I'm not knocking it, don't get me wrong, I like the idea of it. I'm just saying that some users may not discern the meaning of it, especially given that there is an established design language, interaction pattern, and function for those pins. The map pin alone could result in confusion, but bumping it left and adding the text "Searching for closest campus.." (or truncated as needed if space doesn't allow) would go a long way to dampen any misunderstanding.

8/9/2009 1:09:42 PM

Sure, I understand what you are saying .. I like the idea of moving it to the left of a more clear message about the "loading..." process that is taking place. I do still like it better than the old standard boring spinning circle thingy.

8/9/2009 5:51:08 PM

Couldn't find it on appulo

8/10/2009 4:49:38 AM

not out yet ... in review process at apple.

8/10/2009 7:42:42 AM

Some updated changes:



Do you think the logo is appropriate, boring, unique enough? ... on a scale of 1-10, how would you guys rate the logo in this image?

8/10/2009 10:24:02 AM

The logo looks OK to me, not sure how much I like the mortar board. It's hard to get over the iBlah name and judge the logo.

8/10/2009 10:39:39 AM

i think the actual button icon is boring, but like the rest

8/10/2009 12:20:44 PM

Is the "i" part of "iCampus" going to be the app icon?

Won't the cap disappear in front of the black background?

8/10/2009 1:43:14 PM

The design guy is still working on that ... I personally dont like that "i" part of the logo, mostly because it just looks like a button, and the cap was added sorta in retrospect...

Just a simple "i" on a blue background wont really suffice for an app icon ... so I am trying to get him to rethink the logo a bit ... maybe include a marker into the logo (maybe replacing the "i") ... who knows...

8/10/2009 2:07:47 PM

i like the orange menu icon, but it really has nothing to do with what the app is

8/10/2009 2:12:16 PM

Quote :

"iCampus blue & green - This is not a strong concept to me at all. The color palette is pretty uninspired web2.0-ish schlock."

while i agree..."schlock" appeals to a lot of people and if people associate schlock with "new" and "different" and "modern", then it does its job

*shrug*

8/10/2009 2:17:01 PM

^ I don't think they do. I mean, anyone can cop to a current design trend.

What you'll find, especially now, is that users expect that sort of look and feel. Big and bubbly, glossy buttons, high contrast color scheme. Most users have been seeing that design style long enough now that they're also not impressed by it. Couple that with the fact that the concept looked sloppy and rushed, and most users will probably think that the app is sloppy and rushed, too, even if it isn't.

People make tons of snap judgments based on design, often expressed through "gut feelings" and the like.


rob, to answer your follow up questions - I like this version much better, but I still think that blue striped to blue solid background isn't very *exciting*

It's serviceable, but not exciting. I'd try a different color, but that's my take on it.

8/10/2009 8:49:26 PM

fwiw, my suggestion on the last mockup would be that the "i" not be glossy, since the rest is fairly flat. i'm nit-picky for consistency though.

8/10/2009 8:58:49 PM

touching on a point that the other Nick made on the globe portion, I'd suggest changing the map so its recognizable as a US map if at this point its only available for US based schools. Once you get international schools included then maybe change the globe. Hell right now you can't even tell if its actually the earth, it looks like the top of scandanavia maybe with the north pole melted.

8/11/2009 10:16:07 AM

A late submission ... sorta like that the logo is more creative and unique ... but looks a bit childish too ..



And here is another icon submission on the leading contender:

8/13/2009 5:06:19 PM

^ Yes. That icon is apt.

The new concept? No. God, no.

You obviously have a dialog going with the designer of the leading concept. I wouldn't sacrifice that, because you are getting some good things out of him/her.

8/13/2009 10:58:32 PM

Any suggestions on the proposed change in color scheme for the leading design? Not sure what would really be more interesting or exciting, as the blue just looks "solid" ... although I agree not exciting.

8/13/2009 11:13:58 PM

Quote :

"The new concept? No. God, no."

the only thing that i can think of is incorporating the 'i' and the 'C' together with the 'i' being the tassel and the mortar board cap being on the 'C' but that might not come out right or look too busy.

you could put the cap on the p with the tassle integrated into the down part, but again it wouldn't really help you much with regards to the icon.... it seems like just about every icon has 'i' something or 'e' something....


just my thoughts

the 'i' icon looks a lot like a button... doesn't flow as well as i think it could somehow....

colors.... hmmm well i don't think you could incorperate this very easily but a dynamically changing background color based on time is interesting.... (ala ps3) but probably isn't practical for many other reasons....

how does reversing the colors look?

[Edited on August 13, 2009 at 11:32 PM. Reason : i need to go to bed]

8/13/2009 11:25:45 PM

^kind of agree on that one idea, keep the "Campus" font you had in the original post, make the "i" the same font as that, and put the mortarboard at a tilt on top of the big C.

Personally i like the original layout as far as the background and title goes.

8/14/2009 12:41:40 AM

8/14/2009 10:10:10 AM

perhaps have the background change to the selected schools colors?

the red, the blue, and the darker blue look the best to me, the purple and yellow/orange will probably appeal to some as well though.

8/14/2009 1:20:43 PM

The new blue is the way to go.

8/14/2009 9:14:43 PM

Yeah, I thought of having a school color, tied to a school you may select ...

It would be cool if, once the gps detected the school you are at, the color automatically changed to match that school.

Could be done if I could simply convert ever instance of that background "dark blue" to "color x", once recieved from the server. The buttons and stripes are all overlaid opaque structures, so I think I would just have to change the properties of the background color itself.

8/15/2009 8:48:16 AM