FOCUS: 5 Rules for Strong Iconography
FOCUS: 5 Rules for Strong Iconography
Creating good iconography is a skill. Choosing good iconography? Well, that’s a science.
Here’s a common scenario: a client chooses images for their website’s icons that, while visually appealing, don’t meet key standards. They can’t be made into a single, cohesive icon set. So what do you need to consider if you’re keen to make icons work for you?
- Do you really need an icon set? Make no mistake: creating a new set of icons is time-consuming work. So start by considering whether words (and clever font use) will suffice. After all, each of the 26 letters in the English language are icons that stand on their own two feet (except for poor old ‘q’, always leaning on ‘u’).
- Purchase an existing set. Before you create an icon or icon set from scratch, your first step should always be to check whether someone is already offering an available, translatable set that meets your needs.
- KISS (Keep Icons Simple, Stupid). It’s a well-worn analogy but it rings true for iconography. As complex as Prince’s mindset was before changing his name to , the symbol itself was still relatively simple, recognisable and specific.
- Balance consistency and difference. A set of icons requires similarities in colour, shape and size, but they must also stand out against one another. Make any two icons too similar and you risk users mistaking apples for oranges. Think back to Voltron: each cat was distinct, but they came together to create a interlocking set in which each had a purpose.
- Aim for universality. Ideally, your icon set will be understandable by the vast majority of your user base, making it more functional than words alone. Choose a set that’s too complicated and you’ll end up needing a Rosetta Stone to tell your ‘u’ from your ‘s’. (Which reminds me: Why don’t mummies use icons? …Because they keep everything under wraps.)
Wisely chosen icons are a huge asset to any website, moving users around quickly and easily. Above all, remember: a picture paints a thousand words, but an icon need only imply one.
Get in touch if you’d like to know more.