Every time we create one of these files we notice just how much has changed. I’m not talking about the obvious stuff like iCloud, Siri or Notifications. I’m talking about the small stuff. It’s an eye-opening experience looking this closely at what makes up an interface.
You don’t notice this level of detail on a micro level, but you’re aware of it on a macro one. When you pick up your phone to send a tweet or check an email you’re seeing hundreds of these details a second. Those details add up to make the experience what it is. It gets me thinking about the endless hours of debate and decisions that must have occurred around a seemingly meaningless change to the weight of a stroke, or the depth of a shadow. For the most part, I think these changes aren’t meaningless – they’re purposeful and intentional. Some of these changes make things more consistent, others make things more useable. There are however, a few that might leave you scratching your head.
One thing to be sure of here is that this OS is tighter from a design standpoint than its ever been before. Apple’s passion and attention to detail is something that every designer and developer needs to have. Without it, you’re simply not putting your best foot forward. Now, go make epic shit.
Download the iOS 5 GUI PSD here
Examples of changes between iOS 5 and 4:
iOS5 introduces a white drop shadow to an inset table view cell (iOS5 on left, iOS4 right)
The stem of the shift symbol on the keyboard is shorter in iOS 5 (iOS5 on left, iOS4 right)
The carrier name now has a deep inset shadow in iOS5 (iOS5 on left, iOS4 right)
You can follow Geoff and Teehan+Lax on Twitter.
written by Geoff Teehan
Great work, thanks guys! :-)
Wow. You guys are observant! Impressive catches. Thanks for this.
It’s impressive that Apple doesn’t only ship all those features, but also work on the design.
Wow, that was fast! Thanks so much for making these; I hope the UIKit Artwork came in handy.
I love watching the evolution of Apple’s designs. Over the last decade there’s been a masterfully graduated shift from the super-glossy origins of OSX to something much more refined and clean. Gradients, dropshadows, and rounded corners have all taken gradual steps towards a very friendly & subtle form of minimalism (friendly subtleism?). It’s very apparent that every minute change was hotly debated within the mothership, and that attention to detail is what separates Apple from nearly every other company in the world.
I love my iPhone, but frankly the iOS UI has started to look dated now. Ditto for OS X. The real beautiful UI innovation is the work Microsoft has done with Windows Phone. The Metro UI on phones is a work of art, and the Metro design paradigm is many times more efficient at presenting more information with less taps on a smartphone screen.
How many iOS apps were conceived using T+L PSDs? 10k? 100k? More?
Thank you Geoff. Again.
Ravi – I agree. The UI innovation coming out of those you mentioned is amazing. The problem is that they’re fighting for 3rd place.
David – You’re quite welcome. Hopefully lots of good stuff gets produced from them. I’ve heard Apple actually uses this file for certain purposes. I also know that many big name apps, like Flipboard, used the iPad PSD to mock things up in the early days.
Thanks so much for this. Very helpful.
It’s amazing to see these seemingly insignificant changes that very few companies would bother spending resources to change.
Thank you 420 folks!
@Ravi: Having spent a significant amount of time using and developing an app for the Windows Phone Metro interface, I’d have to disagree with you. While it’s nice to see that MS is trying new things, the Metro interface is proof that too much minimalism is actually a bad thing – content gets cut off all over the place, and the over-reliance on icons is frequently confusing. Not to mention that Windows Phone has the same problem with mysteriously-behaving hardware buttons as Droid & BB. The Metro interface is no more efficient at presenting information or reducing taps – if anything, its large tiles and big typeface result in the opposite effect.
There’s very little real innovation in Metro – just a different way of laying out information. If you want to talk about innovation, look at Siri.
You guys rock. Seriously.
This is an unreal labour of love and people the world over appreciate the effort that’s gone into this.
For those who haven’t used these files before, we’re not talking about bitmapped screengrabs from iOS – this is a full, many (many!) layered document where all the effects are live layer styles and vector artwork – gradients, drop-shadows, rounded corners, the whole nine yards.
So dope. Much appreciated.
Great stuff, thanks for all your hard work.
Also thanks for highlighting something I noticed when I first played with iOS5 – the white drop shadow to an inset table view cell.
In the first instance I thought it was a mistake, the whole thing looks like it’s a couple of pixels-out. I am getting used to it now, but I (subjectively) think this is a strange and unneeded design choice. I also not too keen on the ‘shine’ on the new switches. Designers eh, never happy :)
I don’t understand what all the fuss is about, so they’ve changed a few strokes and drop shadows – big woop!
Great work, thank you.
Thanks a lot .. or in my language ( شكراً جزيلاً ) :)
Apple needs to get Mike Matas back. The interface has gone downhill since he left.
Thanks. Brilliant…
Thanks for sharing
You guys are really awesome, thanks for creating files with amazing quality.
Thanks Guys! These psds rock. I have used your psd templates as a foundation for the design of several native apps and mobile websites. Cheers!
Thanks man! Always useful!
The true genius of Steve Jobs was his unceasing demand that technology be pushed to the background in all of his products—the end user is unaware of just how hard it is to make things simple.
You guys rock!
Thanks a bunch…
These PSDs are just so awesome I get blinded by pure awesomeness!
I wonder if you have any tricks for determining the pixel-length of drop shadows and inset shadows?
When will we see a windows phone psd kit from yourselves. I see you have created a web os psd kit but no Windows Phone PSD kit. Is there a specific reason?
This help us a lot. Thanks for you great work. It is awesome.
You’re right. We slave. It’s never good enough it feels sometimes.
“perfection is a lot of little things done well.” – Marco Pierre White
You guys always do great work!
-J
Just love it! Great work guys!
Knowing I can rely on you guys to make an easy-to-use, pixel-perfect template from which I can pull almost any element I need, elevates the creative I provide to my clients. Much appreciated.
Wow, i just downloaded the previous version…and i discovered this one. Wow wow thanks…:)
Good, I like it