--- title: Core utility apps visual exploration description: Hi everyone, following our process post last week I’m excited to share the first round of visual exploration for three of our core utility apps; clock, weather and calendar (calculator and an updated notepad soon too I promise!). It is important to note that this is still an early stage in the design process. Our […] url: https://canonical.com/blog/core-utility-apps-visual-exploration?format=md --- 1. [Blog](https://canonical.com/blog) 2. Article --- [Canonical](https://canonical.com/blog/author/canonical "More about Canonical") 12 April 2013 # Core utility apps visual exploration [app design](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/app-design) [Design](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/design) --- Share the article Hi everyone, following our process post last week I’m excited to share the first round of visual exploration for three of our core utility apps; [clock](http://design.canonical.com/2013/03/app-patterns-applied-clock-key-journeys/ "Clock"), [weather](http://design.canonical.com/2013/03/app-patterns-applied-weather-key-journeys/ "Weather") and [calendar](http://design.canonical.com/2013/02/app-patterns-applied-calendar-key-journeys/ "Calendar") ([calculator](http://design.canonical.com/2013/03/app-patterns-applied-calculator-key-journeys/ "Calculator") and an updated [notepad](http://design.canonical.com/2013/01/behind-the-scenes-notes/ "Notepad") soon too I promise!). **It is important to note that this is still an early stage in the design process.** Our aim was to extend the look and feel we have already established in the phone demo to the family of apps. The style we call Suru. What we’ve concentrated on (while the functionality is being prototyped from our wireframes) is how to develop the look and feel of the apps. The accuracy of the information on the screens is yet to be developed. We’ll work on the layout of the information once we’ve started to focus on a single app. These last few weeks we have looked at developing a mood board and colour scheme for the utility apps. For example, we’ve used a combination of gradients and photo-manipulation to showcase different temperatures from locations in the weather app. We have started now to think how this gradient could influence the look of the other apps; maintaining individual styles but feeling still within a family of apps defined “[rituals](http://design.canonical.com/2013/02/app-patterns-applied-core-utilities-as-rituals/ "Rituals")”  metaphor. Following our [design vision](http://design.ubuntu.com/apps/get-started/design-vision "Design vision"), we aim to focus on the essential information in each view, with a minimal, sophisticated feel. You’ll notice from these images that we’ve tried to be as clean as possible. In the next couple of weeks we are going to concentrate on refining each concept. Even though we have a direction for layering, materials and textures they all still need a bit of love. Enjoy 😉 [Get in touch Interested in running Ubuntu in your organization?](https://ubuntu.com/about/contact-us/form) ## Sign up for our newsletter Get the latest Canonical news and updates in your inbox. Work email: \*I agree to receive information about Canonical's products and services. By submitting this form, I confirm that I have read and agree to [Canonical's Privacy Policy](https://canonical.com/legal/dataprivacy). Sign up ## Share on --- ## Related posts [### Challenges designers face in open source (and how to fix them)](https://canonical.com/blog/challenges-designers-face-in-open-source-and-how-to-fix-them) Open source powers up to 90% of modern software, yet many projects lack usability. Canonical’s Design team surveyed 115 cross-functional professionals to uncover the 4 core... [Kola Ojoodide](https://canonical.com/blog/author/kola-ojoodide) 26 June 2026 [### Why web engineering is great](https://canonical.com/blog/why-web-engineering-is-great) Hi, I’m Johann! I’m an engineering manager in Canonical’s web team. For the larger part of my 15 years of work experience as engineer, I’ve been working in web development.... [Johann Wolf](https://canonical.com/blog/author/johannwolf) 27 April 2026 [### Canonical’s recipe for High Performance Computing](https://canonical.com/blog/canonicals-recipe-for-high-performance-computing) In essence, High Performance Computing (HPC) is quite simple. Speed and scale. In practice, the concept is quite complex and hard to achieve. It is not dissimilar to what... [Igor Ljubuncic](https://canonical.com/blog/author/igorljubuncic) 24 January 2024 [### Web team – hack week 2023](https://canonical.com/blog/web-team-hack-week-2023) Today, around 96% of software projects utilize open source in some way. The web team here at Canonical is passionate about Open source. We lead with an open-by-default approach... [Anthony Dillon](https://canonical.com/blog/author/ya-bo-ng) 25 October 2023