Android Design Principles

Designing for multiple screen resolutions and sizes

The source of 90% of Android design woes come from the multiple resolution and screen sizes. If assets are not created properly, they can create a heartbreaking adventure in iterations. With that ill-fated port that I mentioned earlier, while the assets looked fine on most devices, on a few they appeared dithered and blurry. What made it so confounding was the lack of a clear indication as to what I did wrong, so my only solution was to try and try again. The fact that you are designing for multiple resolutions should be in the front of your mind through the entire design.

This should weigh into the consideration of

• what your buttons look like
• what sort of gradients you use
• how complex your icons are
• what sort of backgrounds you make.

If you make one at all, as a lot of this can be handled better by a developer.

Generalized Screen Sizes and Resolutions.

Due to the widely varying array of devices, it is next to impossible to pinpoint the specific resolution that you should be designing for, with this in mind Android has charted four generalized resolutions and four generalized densities. It breaks down like this.