LogoLounge 5

Project

Client

Design Firm

Identity icons for iPhone users

New York Times

Felix Sockwell

20

LogoLounge 5

For all its bells and whistles and oohs and aahs, the iPhone has the same

screen as most other phones—smallish, with limited resolution—only 163

ppi. With that in mind, it’s easy to understand the challenge a designer would

face in designing a set of 30 icons that would somehow communicate the

contents of the New York Times to iPhone users through the tiny screen.

Such GUI projects are more and more common these days: Each presents

special challenges. Designer Felix Sockwell is a master of the reduction

necessary to cull art to its most basic form while blessing it with the person-

ality of the project and client at hand. His collection of thirty, 29 x 29-pixel

icons deliver just the facts, yet behave in the elegant yet lively manner of

the “Old Gray Lady,” the Times.

It was an interesting project, said Sockwell. Working with the Times’ Web

wizard Khoi Vinh and design director Caryn Tutine, he produced many trials

for each section, trying to make each communication as simple and direct

as possible. It was very unlike a traditional logo project where a design is

usually replete with meaning and/or symbolism.

“I had to think about each icon for a long time,” he says, “trying to fi nd the

most obvious solution. It’s hard to pick just one object to represent some-

thing like sports, so some designs took a while. Also, keeping the language

consistent was a challenge. In the end, some are 2-D and some are 3-D.”

Each icon is a curious puzzle for a designer: The fi nished drawing must

be readable in a fraction of a second, but not be a cliché. It must convey

information forcefully, but not be so strong (in humor, style, history, or what-

ever) that it becomes a distraction. And, of course, what might seem like

the perfect icon in the designer’s mind may not hold as much resonance

for the client: Like all design, judgment is subjective. So back-and-forthing

can be a bit more likely.

Designs for GUI projects have some similarities. A fi nished set must have a

familial feel—that is, simply look like they go together. That means that as

the entire group is developed, certain designs—previously okay—will have

to be reworked or even discarded to maintain the aesthetic.

I had to think about each icon for a long time

trying to find the most obvious solution.

The NYT’s icon set lives well in the existing iPhone environment.

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