macOS UI Design – The Best Free Resources & Inspiration

Mobile application design is currently very popular. However, well designed solutions will be always omni-channel. Personal computers will always play a big role for a professional and creative work. If you create this sort of products for macOS you may find following recourses useful.

Official Documentation

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Human Interface Guidelines for macOS should be always a starting point of your application design. Knowledge about principles is fundamental for successful macOS software. Products that run on Apple computers differs from the ones from Universal Windows Platform.

UI Kits

The application design for macOS seems to be the most standardized one. It has got long history and many different patterns. However, there are still new things to discover. For example macOS Sierra introduced tabs for all apps. This changes the way we work with our software.

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macOS UI Kit by Keir Ansell (Sketch)
Comprehensive ui template that really speed up an application design. Assets perfectly fits to the macOS Sierra User Interface.

 

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macOS Sierra UI Kit by Alexander Käßner (Sketch)
Another good UI resources template for the latest Apple computers.

App Icons

Application design icon for macOS is different from the one for iOS, you can read about it in the Official Documentation. Assets have different shapes and texture. If you seek for icon templates these ones will help you.

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OS X Icon Template (Sketch)
The previous version of Apple OS for computers has got the same principles as Sierra, you can successfully apply it to your app.

 

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OS X Icon Grid (Sketch)
macOS icons may have different shapes. This Icon template will help you choose the best one for your app.

Touch Bar

Touch Bar is the hottest thing in the Apple computers in last months. UI Designers should learn how to extend application capabilities with this new element of the MacBooks.

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MacBook Pro Touch Bar UI Kit (Sketch)
This User Interface template will help you discover the possibilities of this new hardware element.

Inspiration

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iOS Up – macOS
Large collection of UI and icon designs created for Apple devices contains also big set of inspiration for macOS software. It is always good to be inspired by the best designs before creating your own app.

Summary

The modern personal computer software will still play an important role in the Mobile First world. The best products with high quality design will always be in demand. All resources included in this article should help you to kick off your macOS application. If you design app for the other platform you might be interested also in other good graphic design resources.

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