On the podcast: Matthew Skiles shares how a self-taught teenager in New Zealand went from building his dad's tennis coaching website to becoming one of the most recognizable names in app icon design — including Launched's own icon. He talks about how getting tapped by Christian Selig to design icon alternates for Apollo turned him from unknown to in-demand almost overnight, why he calls chasing app icon work "not a smart business decision" he'd still make again, why Apple's Tahoe squircle rules and Icon Composer's forced glass effects frustrate him more than they excite him, and how AI-generated reference images are quietly reshaping his client conversations.
Top Takeaways:
🎨 You don't need a portfolio, you need people who trust your work
The first paid gigs in a new niche usually come from existing clients who already know you deliver, not from a polished portfolio you don't have yet.
📉 Constraints make you a better designer
When a platform strips away textures and details, you can't hide behind coolness anymore; you're forced to learn what actually matters — a great shape.
🧲 Don't be literal with your app icon
The best icons aren't diagrams of what the app does; they're objects so fun to look at that people download the app just to keep them on their home screen.
📐 The #1 app icon mistake: your symbol is too big
Shrink it down a few pixels past where you think it should stop; breathing room almost always looks better than filling the frame.
🤖 Infinite AI options are a trap
Generating 50 more variations feels like progress, but at some point you have to commit to a direction — endless options create choice paralysis, not clarity.
🎯 "Fun" can be a business strategy
Choosing the work you love over the work that's economically sensible isn't smart on paper, but passion compounds: do the thing you love publicly and consistently, and the market finds you.
About Matthew Skiles:
🎨 New Zealand-based icon and visual designer for 15+ years, creating hand-crafted artistic expressions for developers big and small.
👋 LinkedIn
🌐 Learn more about Matthew Skiles
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Episode Highlights:
[00:00] Designing Launched's Icon and Meeting Matthew Skiles
[03:13] A Self-Taught Designer in New Zealand
[04:57] Learning Through Websites and Early Dribbble
[05:40] Building Rockin' Rockets With His Brother
[09:46] How Existing Clients Opened the Icon Door
[10:46] Discovering Classic Mac App Icons
[11:53] Skeuomorphism, Texture, and the Adobe Workflow
[15:58] How iOS 7 Changed the Craft
[18:59] Learning to Start With Shape
[20:24] Big Sur, Tahoe, and Squircle Constraints
[22:52] Icon Composer and System-Generated Glass
[25:03] Becoming Known for One Kind of Work
[25:54] How Apollo Expanded His Audience
[27:59] Building a Business on Short Engagements
[30:10] Apple's Role in Elevating Icon Design
[34:55] Dribbble's Decline and a Fragmented Community
[38:05] Finding Inspiration and Today's Icon Trends
[41:18] Why Great Icons Needn't Be Literal
[42:56] Sketching Concepts Before Adding Color
[44:20] Designing for Scale, Competition, and Color
[47:44] Refinement and Giving Icons Breathing Room
[50:14] AI, Infinite Options, and Choice Paralysis
[57:04] Waiting for New Tools to Prove Themselves
[59:40] Jasper Hauser and the Icons That Inspired Him
