Yesterday Apple unleashed iOS 7 Beta 3 – bringing with it a bolder Helvetica Neue font. Whilst still despised by many, it’s at least more readable than the previous iteration.
Someone suggested a change to a non print-orientated font such as ‘Myriad Pro’ which is exactly what I’ve mocked up…
The changes are subtle; this isn’t intended as an entirely new concept. In places you may have to squint to notice the differences, but in everyday use I believe the font would have a much greater readability – especially for those hard of sight.
My mock-ups are on the left, the original is on the right:
Siri
Mailbox
Control Center
Developer and writer, Marco Arment, wrote on his blog:
“With Ive’s new role leading UI design, I was afraid that we were in for a long series of such failures. And with iOS 7 being unveiled so publicly and confidently, I really didn’t think any decisions as significant as the system font would change before release.
Now, we know otherwise.
Apple’s stated design philosophy of iOS 7 was ‘clarity, deference, and depth’. They nailed deference and depth, but clarity has suffered in many big and small ways.”
Although personally I’m still not a fan of the entire concept, at least Apple is listening to complaints and is still willing to make big changes.
I’d still scrap the, over-simplified Fisher Price-like design, and go with something which looks more fitting to an expensive product like the iDevices.
Or, you know, Apple, offer a few options.
This isn’t me here to start a flame-war but to offer my opinion and those I’ve spoke to in the hope Apple will listen further; it was the voice of the people which made the change to a bolder font, and hopefully if enough people support my font change we’ll improve iOS 7 by Beta 4 for everyone.
What do you think about iOS 7’s design and UX? Moving in the right direction?
