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Nokia Lumia Windows phone (iPhone snap)

Jonathan Ive’s tenure at Apple has produced a long, successful sequence of great-looking product design revolutions – leading to the touchscreen interface. The touchscreen approach is arguably now so dominant that physical design is being usurped by graphic design as the driver of functionality. Apple’s record in graphic design is mostly strong (I always liked their (arguably redundant) instruction booklets), but recently they seem less sure-footed: iTunes is much harder work than it used to be (and its ‘new logo’ was widely disliked); the iCal leather / stitching effects are retro and retrograde. Even the ‘candy box’ iPhone / iPad apps presentation, once fresh and friendly now seems more irritating than helpful (the sheer volume of apps makes visual distinction difficult). The iPhone remains a beautiful piece of work, even if its most impressive features (like the beautifully machined, spookily high-tolerance sim card tray) are hid beneath the bumper required for practical everyday operation – but sentimental airbrush effects are starting to make some Apple products feel a little behind the curve.

This was thrown into sharp relief for me by my wife’s new Nokia Lumia 800 Windows phone (purchased against my sage advice of course. Wrong again, dammit.). The product design (above) is restrained and elegant and it has a crisp customsable ‘tile’-based interface with simple, elegant animations and well-structured, spare typography using Monotype’s Segoe WP typeface. I find myself envious of a non-Apple product for the first time in… ever. This is good news – competition raises the game for all and there is no reason why Apple must have a monopoly on good design. The Windows phone has let in some UI fresh air and is making Apple look just a bit folksy, for now…

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