What is that?

That is some of the clearest, most beautiful labeling I’ve ever seen.

As libraries ‘mobilize’ their web resources for cellphones and tablet computers, creating quality, meaningful icons is becoming an increasingly important piece of usable interface design.  I’ve been doing a lot of research and a lot of sketching as I craft some icons for the San Jose Public Library mobile site.  One of the funny things with icon design is that it doesn’t really pay to get all that unique and tricky with it.  Simplicity and clarity define any good usable interface, but it is an absolute necessity with icons.  The images are miniscule: pixels dimensions as small as 16×16 or maybe as big as 128×128.  Also, as is frequently the case with good design, the more you borrow from the existing body of work that users are exposed to on a daily basis, the better.  After all, we want users to think as little as possible; they should intuit their way around our mobile sites.

The SJPL icons are a work in progress and I hope to share them on the blog when we launch the site.  Because icons become more useful the more we share them and standardize their appearance, posting them  helps everyone’s cause.

Here’s a better look at those jars. Click through for a great article on the blog of the Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives.