Learn Modern App Design with Figma!
This book guides you through designing modern mobile apps using fundamental design principles.
This book is for intermediate iOS and Android developers who already know the basics of mobile app development but want to also learn how to design apps with attractive and effective UI and UX.
Topics Covered in App Design Apprentice
- Figma: Learn the basics of this modern design tool.
- App Teardowns: Analyze and pick out the best parts of other well-designed apps.
- Wireframes: Explore what makes good app user flows.
- Reusable Components: Learn to create and use reusable components such as buttons and toolbars.
- Typography: Basics for communicating hierarchy, order and emphasis.
- Color: Leverage visual styles and palettes.
- Transitions and Animations: Create different transitions between screens to communicate relationships.
- Design Systems: Implement best practices for creating good app experiences in each ecosystem.
This book will leave you with the knowledge needed to design modern mobile apps that are functional and attractive.
Note: This book is available for Pre-Order. You’ll be notified when the book is complete and ready for download. Estimated final release date: Winter 2020.
Before You Begin
This section tells you a few things you need to know before you get started, such as what you’ll need for hardware and software, where to find the project files for this book, and more.
What You Need
FreeSection I: App Design Apprentice
Start your journey through designing modern mobile-app UI and UX using fundamental design principles!
In this chapter, you will explore the book structure with an outline for each chapter. Set up the design workspace in Figma, including how to access the project files, in order to get started right away.
1Get an introduction of key tools such the shapes, frames, sizing, alignment, colors, and layers. Trace over provided screenshots to study layout and to identify other visual elements.
2Create wireframes of a few screens and the components that make up the screens. Create a scaffold of the app flow by defining the navigation between different screens.
3Learn to create and use reusable components for things like buttons and toolbars. Incorporate sample text and image data for more realism.
4Learn typography basics for communicating hierarchy, order, and emphasis. Gain an overview of color basics with common practices and creating palettes. Create visual styles for consistency throughout the app.
5Explore the prototyping tools to create a full app walkthrough. Create different transitions between screens to communicate orientation and the relationship among elements.
6Explore the collaboration tools to test designs and solicit feedback considering the app goals and overall user experience. Test across multiple devices.
7Overview the design systems and visual language, including highlights from Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines, and Google’s Material design. Learn best practices for creating good “native” app experience in each ecosystem. Cover creating your own design system for larger projects or distributed teams.
8Hone the fit and finish by iterating and exploring advanced techniques. Export assets, and code and prep for implementation.
9Review the lessons learned and how to apply them when starting from scratch. Sources for inspiration and useful resources. Suggestions for continued learning and mastering design skills.
10Meet the team
Who is this book for
This book is for intermediate iOS and Android developers who already know the basics of mobile app development but want to also learn how to design apps with attractive and effective UI and UX.
Concepts covered in this book
Version history
First Edition · Figma
First Edition - Early Access 1 · Figma
First Edition Pre-Order · Figma
App Design Apprentice
The best book to guide you through designing modern mobile-app UI and UX using fundamental design principles. Note: This book is available for Pre-Order. You'll be notified when the book is complete and ready for download. Estimated final release date: Winter 2020.