Mobile app design for beginners
August 25, 2015 12:52 AM Subscribe
Are there any basic online tips for how to approach mobile app design (for print designers who have a formal training)? Resources for how to design for different screen sizes (there are so many of them), latest trends in UI/UX, and most helpful critique/help forums for beginners would be a great help.
Ethan Marcotte has a follow-up book on the horizon, Responsive Design: Patterns and Principles (mentioned in this podcast with transcript) and Karen McGrane's book, Going Responsive, also mentioned in that podcast should be useful (but do read his first book too).
I'd also recommend two more excellent books: Luke Wroblewski's Mobile First and Scott Jehl's Responsible Responsive Design.
posted by humph at 3:25 AM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'd also recommend two more excellent books: Luke Wroblewski's Mobile First and Scott Jehl's Responsible Responsive Design.
posted by humph at 3:25 AM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh I forgot to mention this free course, Responsive Web Design by Jeremy Osborn at Aquent Gymnasium.
You'll need to take a short quiz to check that your existing knowledge of html and css is sufficient (if it's not, you can study up a little and go back) but it's an outstanding course, full of humour and great teaching. And it's closed captioned (swoon!) with transcripts provided so that you can review what you've learned by video. I'm a little bit in love with Aquent courses :-)
Actually, one of the earlier homework assignments is to read Ethan Marcotte's original 2010 article at A List Apart. I'd highly recommend this class alongside any of the book(s) mentioned and you'll be well prepared to go mobile.
posted by humph at 3:37 AM on August 25, 2015
You'll need to take a short quiz to check that your existing knowledge of html and css is sufficient (if it's not, you can study up a little and go back) but it's an outstanding course, full of humour and great teaching. And it's closed captioned (swoon!) with transcripts provided so that you can review what you've learned by video. I'm a little bit in love with Aquent courses :-)
Actually, one of the earlier homework assignments is to read Ethan Marcotte's original 2010 article at A List Apart. I'd highly recommend this class alongside any of the book(s) mentioned and you'll be well prepared to go mobile.
posted by humph at 3:37 AM on August 25, 2015
Sorry, I misread design as development. Please delete me!
posted by LtRegBarclay at 4:21 AM on August 25, 2015
posted by LtRegBarclay at 4:21 AM on August 25, 2015
Putting aside the "should designers be able to code?" conundrum, I too went full pelt with developer resources but I strongly believe that the books mentioned would be hugely useful to you even if you decide not to code.
For more general mobile/ux/patterns articles you should have a delve in the Smashing Magazine archives and follow up on any authors who write articles that you enjoy/find useful.
posted by humph at 4:58 AM on August 25, 2015
For more general mobile/ux/patterns articles you should have a delve in the Smashing Magazine archives and follow up on any authors who write articles that you enjoy/find useful.
posted by humph at 4:58 AM on August 25, 2015
I'm not a designer by trade, but for directions the field is going, I recommend looking in to the design languages that the major tech companies have been pushing lately. Google's Material Design standard is a good place to start, as is Microsoft's Metro design language.
posted by Itaxpica at 6:50 AM on August 25, 2015
posted by Itaxpica at 6:50 AM on August 25, 2015
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posted by loosemouth at 1:50 AM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]