Today’s I.T. Rockstar Interview is with the one and only Irina Blok. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, it should. She helped design one of the most viral and recognizable images worldwide.
This image sits on over half a billion mobile devices and has went so viral it has taken on a life of its own. “It’s funny. You do the best job you can … then next thing you know something so small can end up big” says Irina.
Irina Blok is the creator of the Android logo :
She had a task like no other. How do you make an “open source logo” that is fully customizable, creates a human connection to the brand, captures the technology/exploration and deals with robots?
Why a Robot?
When Andrew Rubin was a small child he played with toy robots and was fascinated with them. It was many years later he started Android project and eventually sold it to Google.
There have been half a billion android activations to date, with over 1.3m added every day.
— Andy Rubin (@Arubin) September 11, 2012
The Color?
The green font, you see on black backgrounds in past times or hacker movies. This is the best color for symbolizing open source. (Think Matrix)
What is your device? Android or iOS?
“Both. It’s a hard decision to pick one. I had one of the very early versions before it came out, but the UX was inferior. It really involved over the ages.“
Toughest Part of Designing It?
“Making Android Human. We wanted it robot based since that is what Android creator wanted, but we didn’t want take over the world robots.“
So anyone can use the Android logo and modify it?
Yes, there are countless versions. It’s an open source logo, or a blueprint.
Very similar to a person, you can change their clothes but it’s still that same person.
When did its popularity shock you the most?
2 times.
First, I saw a person dressed head to toe as Android skiing down a mountain.
Secondly, was this new KitKat release. It was very unexpected to see a major candy company promoting Android.
(Though, she ironically mentioned she isn’t a big candy fan, so no official answer if she likes KitKat candy bars or not)
I would highly recommend following I.T. Rockstar Irina Blok on twitter and checking out her site IrinaBlok.com for the latest mobile designs.
-Daniel DiMassa
