So you've got an awesome app - it functions like nobody's business. It fulfills all of the requirements so well. It... isn't fun to use yet...
Have no fear! There are a few things you can do immediately to spruce it up! But first, a philosophy lesson on good design.
* as it relates to graphic design
Everything is relative. *~ Einstein (maybe)*
Whether or not he was thinking about Dada art at the same time as the mass-energy equivalence is debatable, but this statement still holds water when it comes to achieving (relatively) beautiful design.
Principle 1
Every object in the composition is assessed
visually in relation to every other object,
and to the composition as a whole.
Principle 2
Elements of like matter tend to group together,
and similarly, groups of like matter cluster.
Principle 3
As each new typeface is added, the composition
becomes exponentially more unstable.
Principle 4
A boundary is sometimes not a boundary.
Implications
Note that because each composition can be viewed as a singular object, and that multiple compositions can represent a system - it follows through Principle 1 that works of graphic art are assessed visually against all other works of graphic art. Everything is relative. This also implies that these rules, well, really aren't rules.
Crap.
Easy. Examine your app compared to other top-notch apps from the App Store. Play with them and take notes. What do you like? What do you hate? What is working? What's not? Now, try to answer why. This is the crucial part. You should see most of the basic principles above in almost all apps.
Below are some resources to help you find and choose: colors, fonts, animations, and to get good inspiration for graphical aspirations.
Color
Fonts
Animations
Fluidity
Making Your Development Life Easier (So you can get back to graphic design!)
Inspiration
Development Tools
Make sure you have the Xcode Command Line Tools installed before going down this route. If you do each of these bullet points in order, you will have Cocoapods without any problems. Happy coding!