Chapter 2. Customizing our Icon, the Navigation Bar, and the Tab Bar

In this chapter, we will cover:

• Designing an application icon and preparing it for the user home screen

• Creating the rounded edges effect on our icon

• Removing the app icon's gloss effect

• Optimizing our newspaper or magazine app's icon for Newsstand in iOS 5

• Creating a custom Tab Bar for our iPhone application

Introduction

The application icon and essential interaction elements such as the Navigation Bar and Tab Bar are crucial for the success of our work. The user will be tapping the icon every time they go to use our app, and interact with our navigation elements throughout their entire experience in our application.

If we want success, we must focus on making these components attractive and functional. Attention to detail and the presentation of these pieces will be key, and we'll need to produce our best work if we want to stand out in a sea of apps.

In this chapter, we'll discuss the all-important application icon, along with...