The Omni Group Forums - New OmniGraffle web page

Real and welcome progress to see a move toward a coherent Omni approach to graphic and pragmatic design – expressed by the beginning of some convergence between the design of application screens and that of company web pages.

See, for example,

[url]http://www.omnigroup.com/omnigraffle/[/url]

which expresses a strong identification with some elements of the new graphic approach which Apple has adopted in iOS7, and which Omni has responded to well (Tokyo metro fruitloops apart, perhaps, but it's early days) in apps like OF2 for iPhone.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and the impression of a coherent and well-reasoned approach to design is not quite there yet.

The foundations of the iOS7 approach are expressed by Apple as clarity and deference – optimising cognitive productivity, minimising distraction and noise.

The current draft of the new Omnigraffle web page gives a slight impression that this account of iOS7 graphics has been reduced to "white backgrounds and saturated foregrounds".

I'm not sure, in other words. that its hierarchy of visual contrasts is yet very well aligned with the hierarchy of semantics and pragmatics.

In particular, its graphic and cognitive apex is not, as you might imagine, an expression of its central marketing message, but rather some duplications of St Petroc's flag (a white cross against a green background) ...

Scope I think for moving beyond a decorative conception of what you're aiming for ("white backgrounds + bright colors and thin fonts") to one which is a bit more consistent with the theme of being "passionate about productivity".

I think Apple's formulations work well in this way – but perhaps they take some time to fully digest and integrate in practice. (Not helped by the fact that Apple's own designs are arguably confused by a unresolved tension between 'deference' and over-dazzling saturated fills :-)