Windows 8 apps need 28 logo varietals; enter Expression Design
One of the best parts of Expression Design transitioning to a free download is that it is now free. Design is awesome to create complex vector art and export it as XAML. Design can also create various sizes of the same design so your Store app can be successful.
Note: You can download Design here.
A Windows Store app needs a logo. As a matter of fact, a Windows Store app needs a logo, a wide logo, a small logo, and a store logo. That’s not so bad, right? Trust me when I say, creating your logo in Design or a tool like Design will save you a lot of heart ache.
Since I just did this for my Free Timer app, I’ll share my technique.
Windows 8 is resolution independent. This means two devices with different physical sizes renders the same sized text and touch points. A 2 inch box is always 2 inches. However, two devices with different pixel resolutions are served different image assets. This prevents needless memory use in lower resolution devices, and pixilation in higher resolution devices.
The is the Visual Studio interface to setup your App Manifest:
This can only work, however, if the developer supplies various sized versions of the same image. For this reason, the 4 images I mentioned above multiply into 19. The logo is mostly repeating over and over in different resolutions. If creating a logo is tedious, creating 19 different sizes of it is excruciatingly so. That’s why Design can be your best friend in this task.