style - Seeking advice to improve the design of my minimalist calculator

A while ago, I built a count down timer app based on a designer's free giveaway. It turns out users like it and it is even mentioned on beautifulpixels.

This time I'm building a calculator named Minimalist Calculator, on my own, without any help from a designer. Apple link: Minimalist Calculator, I'll share the screen shots here:

　

　

Comments from my friends so far are kind of negative. Something like it looks bare-bone rather than minimalist.

As an app developer, I am looking forward to advice on how I can improve the look and feel of my app, which mainly uses font, color, layout (but specifically little/no images)

Fonts are selectable by user, i.e.:

　

Any reference work I can learn from? A designer for hire who is reputable in minimalism design you could recommend? Thanks!

UPDATE: About options ...

@OghmaOsiris, I did include an option to disable grid lines:

　

　

UPATE 2: Colors

Last night, I added the option to change the colors of:

• keypad button face


• button text, and


• button border

Graphite:

　

Orange:

　

It's now on AppStore. Download link: Minimalist Calculator

Please feel free to send me comments.

Answer

You're delving into a matter of taste here. There are many ways to be minimal. You have done it successfully, in my opinion. I suspect it is the extreme reduction in styling that is bothering your friends.

All critiques are not equal

The first question you should ask is, are your friends representative of your target audience? If not, find some people who are and see how they respond.

Styling minimalism

Just because something is minimal doesn't mean it has to be completely unstyled. Various techniques are still available to you that might add some humanity to your design. A few things to consider:

• Visual hierarchy. You are currently addressing two levels of information: the keypad and formula, and the answer. Are there shades of grey in between that might be worth delineating? Numerals vs operators vs functions (like clear, store, recall) might be valuable categories.



• Color. Black and white is an obvious choice for this aesthetic but so are shades of grey, neutral, or even palettes like jewel and earth tones.


• Texture. Don't limit yourself to flat color in the name of minimalism. Look at Apple's app design, lots of textures there. Subtlety is the key. Take a look at the aptly named SubtlePatterns.com.


• Depth. Texture adds a little realism but the impression of depth will take it up a notch. Drop shadows on the type. Gradients on the buttons to imply surface curvature. The result area could be "recessed" or "elevated".


• User configuration. Allowing the user to change fonts is an excellent idea. What about some additional skins? Maybe a dark, light, and medium. The texture idea could come into play here too. Preselected font options might work well.