Task 1 Icon Influence:
Our task was to analyze three icon’s. I wanted to choose icons that were all developed for the same company but used differently. I chose the icons for google apps, more specifically of “Maps”, “Home” and “Play Store”. What I absolutely love about these icons is the brand identity that flows through them all. It’s very clear to see that they are related. The use of the Google colours is a great way to show that these icons represent the Google family.
Google Maps: A great Icon that conveys what the app could be doing. It shows a Pinpoint which points towards this being a mapping app. The smooth curves and bright friendly colours make the app look attractive to potential users.
Google Home: Again strong usage of bright colours linking back to brand identity. Very clear to see that this is a home/house. Minimalism done very well. This is my favorite of the three icons, the way the colours flow into each other is very aesthetic to me.
Google Play Store: This is the play store app, I find the use of the shape brilliant. I am sure almost everyone would be able to recognize that the shape is that of a “Play” button. This shape can be seen everywhere and is often used to represent play or starting something.
I also really enjoyed how these Icons had no text yet are able to clearly show what there intended usage is. The simplistic approach leaves the icons uncluttered and also universal in that language does not hold them back.
Task 2 Designer Influence:
We were also asked to look into a Designer of our choice. To keep my theme running from above I chose Ruth Kedar.
Ruth was born in January 1955. She is an artist and designer, best known for designing the Google logo that was displayed from May 31, 1999 to September 1, 2015. Larry Page and Sergey Brin were looking at designers to design their logo and website and Kedar was asked to present them with some preliminary design ideas. They liked her approach and design style and she was hired to design both. The design was accepted due to its playful design, the customized Catull typeface and unique visual expression.
Here I have transcribed an interview with Ruth were she talks about how she feels about the logo she created. “It was playful and deceptively simple. The design subtle as to look almost non-designed, the reading effortless. The colors evoke memories of child play, but deftly stray from the color wheel strictures so as to hint to the inherent element of serendipity creeping into any search results page . The texture and shading of each letter is done in an unobtrusive way resulting in lifting it from the page while giving it both weight and lightness. It is solid but there is also an ethereal quality to it.” I find it really inspirational that something so iconic can come from something so simple by design. But has had so much thought put into it, until it is absolutely prefect.
Ruth’s deceptively simplistic and clear look is something that I myself want to include more in my designs. Sometimes I want to keep working and working on a design which can lead to over complication.