Everything you need to know about ICONS

  Everything you need to know about ICONS


Rutu from Fairy here with everything you need to know about icons in less than three minutes. Start the clock! Okay so what is an icon? An icon is a graphic representation of a thing, essentially it's a small descriptive picture. Here are a couple of examples of icons. As you can see icons come in many different shapes, forms, and sizes. Some can be very simple whereas others can be more detailed. History lesson!

The word icon comes from the Greek for the word for image and it originally has its roots in religious symbolism, but more commonly today is used in communication design. This chart tracks these the word icon over the years. As we can see it wasn't used very much until the late 1970s with the invention of the home computer. If we think all the way back to the ancient Egyptians their language is called Hieroglyphics - glyph meaning symbol. It was essentially a lot of small pictures that they placed in specific orders to mean different things. That's what an icon is, it's a way to show rather than to tell.

A good icon should be instantly recognizable with its meaning easy to understand. Got it? Good. For example, instead of writing washroom on a door you can just use an image to symbolise that this is a washroom instead. Okay so when might you use an icon, aside from if you're labeling a washroom? So icons are particularly useful if there's a language barrier. If there's not a shared spoken or written language you can use a small picture to describe what you mean instead. Icons are also really good if you've got limited space in your design.

We all know that this icon means save. The floppy disk is the universally recognized symbol for saving a document and we can still recognize and understand its purpose even when it's really really small in a toolbar. Remember that chart from earlier? Take a look at when Microsoft Word was invented! Another time you can use icons is if you want to draw attention to a particular topic or area of your design. For example if you were writing a resume you can use an icon to illustrate your particular set of skills.

This helps draw the recruiters attention towards that list of skills and it helps the resume look more visually appealing. Okay so we all know icons are pictures that mean things, but how do we use them effectively? Remember you're using icons to make things more clear not more confusing! Use strong contrasting colors make sure the icons stand out from the background and make sure they are big enough to be recognizable.

A good way to discover icons is to do an image search and the word phrase beginning or idea that you're trying to convey. Okay we're almost out of time so let's recap: an icon is a picture that means things and most commonly used in communication design. Icons are particularly effective if there's a language barrier or if you don't have much space in your document. Icons can be used to draw attention to a specific area or topic, icons should stand out from the background and be recognized all even when they're small. So if you liked this article don't forget to Like and subscribe drop us a comment below a