Simple, clean app icon needed for a small app with a big future.

Alex Pepper

The product is an iOS 7 app focused on learning world flags and geography. There's no particular target audience. The app will initially be released as a flags-learning app, but will eventually include geography learning features. Currently users can practice memorizing flags by filling out the blanks on a randomized set of all world flags, but eventually there will also be a flash card style quiz implemented. Once geography learning features are added, users will zoom and pinch over a map to select answers or fill in country names. The idea is a serious and definitive maps and flags learning app that is very interactive and fun to play.

I need an app icon that reflects that this app is about getting educated about the world in general. The app still doesn't have an official name, and the user interface is far from completely fleshed out; however it will have a clean, professional look, and the icon should reflect that. In fact, more than reflecting, this icon could influence the future design of this app.

The original icon design needs to be in a 1024x1024 format, but should also look great on at the smaller resolutions it will be displayed in on devices. Since the app is targeted for iOS 7, only the retina icon sizes need be considered.

The icon doesn't need too many colors, a palette of at most 3 will suffice. As mentioned previously, I'm looking for something clean that scales well. Please avoid including flags or words in the icon.  A globe with or without a grid may be a good place to start (see attached images), but I am open to other ideas as well. 

I'm not stuck on the dark grey background in the screenshots of the app, so that aspect doesn't need to influence your design. Please contact me if you have any questions. Thank you for your time.