Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
rowing of some graphic trends can help to embed your game into App Store universe
easily and will not make you look like a white crow. Although it is good to be pretty
trendy, is bad to be a copy. For example, if there are many applications with glossy
graphics and bright colors, you can use that approach, but if there are many icons
with the same composition or main element (for example, many match-three applic-
ations are using a large image of a crystal or color ball, racing games are using finish
flags or wheels, and so on), it is always better to introduce something unique. Other-
wise, your icon will sink into the ocean of identical images. So, the application icon
can be based on trendy methods (graphic style and colors), but you must pay more
attention to details. If everyone around is putting one image of a bubble or ball, you
have to put two, three, or add unique and bright special effects (fire, sparkles, and
so on). Are there many images of car wheels in racing arcades? You should put an
image of a front light of a car. Are all games about zombies using an image of zom-
bie head? Not a problem, use a leg with a caricature bone or an arm! You need to
have your own voice. Wherein, you do not to use too unusual tone in order to sound
overly original.
To choose the main element of the icon, you need to ask yourself: "what (or who)
is your game about?" The answer should be short and clear; otherwise the answer
is wrong. It is good to break your game into the logical fragments and try to reflect
some of them in icons, searching for good combinations. Use the main gameplay
element first, one of the bonuses after that. Does one of the bonuses look great in
the game? If the answer is yes, try to use that fragment of the artwork in the icon.
It's desirable to use a graphic style related to the artwork of your game in the icon. If
the game is using the cartoon style for images, the app icon is cartoonish too; more
realistic game graphics need a photo—a realistic icon.
There is an interesting trend in icon design for iOS: designers trying to compose the
image in the peculiar shape of the icon. Its rounded corners are used as a natural
contour of a drawn object, so the final result looks like a truly 3D image. Such icons
are amazing; they are real works of art. Most appreciated works on Dribbble are usu-
ally the icons in such graphic style. They have a giant potential to inspire you. The
onlyproblemisthefactthatmanyofthoseiconswerecreatedforportfoliosonly,they
look great, but they are not commercial examples serving real applications. Partly, it
can be explained by the fact that such icons usually are only object based; they illus-
trate a thing, for example, a treasure box or a piece of cake (there are tons of icons
portraying sweets), so they are very static. But application icons often need to dis-
play a simple scene, to illustrate some motion and interaction of elements or simply
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