Most people know exactly what their app does. Far fewer know what its icon should show. So they type what they know, "a video streaming app", and get back a muddle: a screen, a play button, a film reel and a cloud, all fighting for sixty pixels.
From today, the first step of Create starts with the part you know.
Why product descriptions make weak prompts
An image model draws what you name. "A video streaming app" names a category, not a picture, so the model has to guess, and it usually guesses by stacking every symbol it links to the words. A good icon prompt names one object, its shape, two or three colours and a plain background. That is a design decision, and it's the step most people skip because they don't know it exists.
How icon ideas work
- Describe your app. What it does, who it's for, maybe a mood. "A streaming app for indie films with a cosy, late-night feel" is plenty.
- Get three ideas, free. We turn that into three concrete icon concepts, each written as what will actually be drawn.
- Pick one, or draw all three. Choose an idea and edit its wording if you like. Or keep the default, One of each idea, and your three options are the three ideas drawn, so you decide when you can see them.
- Carry on as usual. Refine with plain words, check it at real sizes, and download every size for Xcode, Android Studio and the web.
Only the idea you pick is sent to the image model, never your product description on its own. If you already know what the icon should show, choose Use my own words and we draw exactly what you wrote.
Three kinds of idea
Each round of ideas covers three directions, so they don't all look alike:
- A literal symbol of the core action or object, such as a film frame for a streaming app.
- A metaphor or a character that carries the feeling of the product, such as a friendly mascot.
- An abstract mark built from the product's main idea, such as a few overlapping shapes.
Every idea follows the same rules: one main symbol, a bold silhouette, no words unless you ask for them, and no phones, screens or busy scenes. Those are the things that make an icon unreadable at home-screen size.
Standard or Premium
The guided flow now starts on Premium. It follows a described idea more closely and gets small details right. A round of three options is 6 credits with Premium or 3 with Standard, and you can switch on the first step. Icon ideas themselves never cost a credit. See pricing.
Tips
- Say who it's for. "Budgeting for couples" leads to different ideas than "budgeting".
- Name anything you must keep. Brand colours, an animal, an initial. The ideas respect it.
- Ask again. Suggest different ideas is free, so try a few rounds before you spend credits.
- For writing prompts by hand, see how to write AI prompts for app icons.