Latest news with #designlanguage
The Verge
4 days ago
- The Verge
Liquid Glass is fine, I guess
If you want to give Liquid Glass — Apple's new design language in iOS 26 — an uncharitable nickname, well, it's right there for the taking. The new look has its fair share of haters, and I fully expected to be one of them when I downloaded the beta. But while there are aspects of the design that bother me, my biggest surprise about Liquid Glass has been the way I've just… gotten used to it. Which is a good thing, because Apple seems committed to hurtling us into this mixed-reality-ready aesthetic whether we wanted it or not. I'd like to reiterate something: being fine with Liquid Glass does not mean that I think it's great. After using it for a few weeks, I feel neutral toward it, which is better than I anticipated. Liquid Glass started with the Vision Pro's interface, where windows appear to float on top of background elements as if they were on transparent glass. Makes sense for a VR headset. But then someone at Apple watched Minority Report and decided that every OS the company makes should adopt the look. Sure enough, the first beta was a little too glassy and sci-fi. Apple spent the next three beta versions messing with transparency and contrast sliders, turning the glass effect down and back up again. The company made some extremely necessary concessions for usability — Control Center was a nightmare in the first beta — but ultimately stayed true to the original vision. Is it a good vision? I don't know. I mostly ignore it as I go about my day tapping through apps and clearing one million notifications. I'm sure as hell not enabling the feature that turns all your homescreen icons into colorless blobs. But in its default state, the new design has mostly faded into the background for me. Liquid Glass hasn't so much won me over as it has worn me down. Not everyone agrees with me. My colleague Victoria Song despises it and says that the transparency makes it difficult to read notifications and messages. You can minimize the effect by turning on some accessibility settings, which she has, but then… what was the point of Liquid Glass? Fair question. I still get distracted by some elements of the design myself — the liquid 'droplet' look has a way of magnifying things behind it, so once in a while I'll scroll past something in Safari that suddenly jumps off the page as it slides behind the search bar. But for the most part, I quit noticing it. I like Long Clock on the lock screen, which makes it easier to read the time when my phone is across the room. The spatial effect you can add to lock screen photos is surprisingly convincing. But everything else is mostly forgettable. Liquid Glass hasn't so much won me over as it has worn me down For better or worse, this is just what Apple does. I thought AirPods looked awful and I swore I'd never use them. Now I wear them (or a more Android-friendly version, depending on the phone I'm testing) basically every day. The home-button-less iPhone X had its haters too, but now it's the only option. This company will stick with a design vision, even when the complaints against it are loud and justified. These things tend to go one of two ways: either it's an unmitigated disaster and Apple quietly shifts course in a few years, pretending it never happened, or we all just get used to it until the next redesign. I have a feeling that Liquid Glass will be the latter. In a war of attrition, Apple wins every time. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Allison Johnson Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Apple Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All iOS Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Mobile Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Tech
Auto Blog
01-07-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Blog
Bentley unveils redesigned logo
New Emblem Previews Future Design Language Bentley on Tuesday unveiled a revised version of its 'Winged B' emblem. Only the fifth such redesign since Bentley's founding, the new logo will make its first appearance on a concept car the automaker plans to unveil on July 8. That car will also preview a new design language for Bentley's future vehicles. The final design was chosen through an internal competition. The winner, submitted by Young Nam, part of Bentley's interior design team, features sharper, more-angled wings and a cleaner look. The letter 'B' is still prominently centered between the wings, but was restyled in order to be able to stand alone without them, according to a Bentley press release, and with details like a bevelled glass edge and chamfered metal surround inspired by watchmaking. A Bentley Tradition Source: Bentley The original 'Winged B' was designed in 1919 by F. Gordon Crosby, an artist known for motorsports illustrations, and a friend of company founder W.O. Bentley. Crosby chose wings to represent motion, and gave each wing a different number of feathers to guard against forgeries. When Bentley was purchased by Rolls-Royce in 1931, the emblem underwent its first significant change. Apparently not concerned about fraud, the powers that be at Rolls specified symmetrical wings, with 10 straightened feathers on each side. This become the longest-lasting version, only being replaced in 1996 with a more ornate version that was also more in line with Crosby's original design. Bentley was purchased by the Volkswagen Group in 1998, and launched the Continental GT, its first model wholly developed under VW Group ownership, in 2002. This new era brought another new emblem design, further nodding to the original version with a different number of feathers (10 for one, 11 for the other) on each wing. Flying Into The Future It's a fitting time for another redesign, as Bentley is about to undergo its biggest changes since the start of the VW Group era. The upcoming concept car will point toward a new design direction for the brand, and Bentley is slowly shifting toward electric vehicles. Every current model now offers a plug-in hybrid powertrain, setting the stage for Bentley's first EV (an SUV smaller than the Bentayga) due in 2026, and an all-electric lineup by 2035. About the Author Stephen Edelstein View Profile
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Yahoo
What is Liquid Glass? Apple debuts a beautiful new interface for iOS and iPadOS
Apple's WWDC is underway and one of Cupertino's first big announcements is Liquid Glass, which is what Apple is calling its new design language. Yes, it's the one that has been rumored for months and is now official. Apple describes Liquid Glass as a material that sits above the user interface (UI) on your phone. The material moves based on how you interact with it. For example, if you grab a Liquid Glass window and pull, it'll jiggle and move with your finger. Liquid Glass UI elements also refract light like real glass and is heavily influenced by whatever is underneath it on the screen. Featured Video For You Apple unveils Liquid Glass, a new design language Liquid Glass is not a massive departure from what was already there, but that's not the big news. This new design language will be what Apple uses moving forward on all of its major operating systems, including macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and more. It was inspired by visionOS, and it'll be what you see on everything made by Apple starting later this year. On top of looking pretty, Apple says that it's also functional. Liquid Glass UI elements will be able to expand and contract with nice-looking animations to adapt to what the app needs it to do. It also works with light and dark modes along with Apple's new clear mode, which makes all of your icons look like glass. Apple's Liquid Glass is coming to all its major operating systems. Credit: Apple With Liquid Glass, Apple aims to make all of its operating systems look more lively. During the WWDC presentation, Apple showed off how responsive the new UI would be to everything from user touch to the background on the screen. As part of the redesign, Apple tweaked some other things as well: the lock screen, Notifications, and Control Center. UI elements are also edited to align with the screen's curve to make things look more symmetrical. App icons also got a redesign with 'multiple layers of Liquid Glass,' per Apple. Liquid Glass is the first major overhaul to iOS's visual design language since its skeuomorphic design was introduced with iOS 7 in 2013. Liquid Glass: Get jiggly with it. Credit: Apple
