Icons are created to give visual effects for web applications to make every task easier to remember and for those with memory gap; they don’t have to memorize their next activity. Icons have multiple functions and they are specifically designed to give users guide on illustrations and graphics, making their corporate designs, company portfolios, blogs and posts more attractive and easier to handle. Icons come in various designs and images and they are free to all users. Just be reminded that you need to read the license agreement before you copy the icons for your personal and web applications.
Before the inception of web designs, graphics and illustrations, designing for magazines and reading materials were all made manually. But now, there are a lot of choices for designs and icons which you can opt for. When you are planning to create an icon design, you have to carefully analyze the guidelines and some factors that you need to consider prior to your icon designing.
One thing that you need to consider is to use holistic approach with regards to the following:
Size
Before you create an icon design, it should work harmoniously with your web applications or desktop applications. These icons should serve its aesthetic purpose to give an effective solution and functional. Before you dabble your pen you have to know the exact size that works perfectly well with your its surrounding designs so they don’t look awkward. This is where Photoshop comes in as it helps cleaning up the design and adjusting the exact size that fits in to its application.
Lighting
This is common mistakes that most icon designers have failed. They never bother to consider the effects of lighting to the overall website concept. Therefore it is advisable that you have to adjust the lighting of the icons to your web applications and whether they match perfectly with each other. Stick to the source of light and it should be coherent with the Web site design. Realism is the secret word in adding light to your design.
Style
The style is a very important component in icon designing and it is where your skills are measured at. Style would depend so much on your ability to come up with innovative style that is uncommon to most users. It should come out unique to other designs with the same subject of interest.
Audience
When designing icons, whether it is for your company portfolio or for a certain product, you have to feel and know your audience target. You have to give utmost considerations on the religious and cultural aspects of your audience as they differ in their beliefs and upbringing. If not, your icon will be misinterpreted for another meaning.
Perspective
Your design for icons should be consistent and works in the same direction with the rest of your icons. Stick to the perspective that you want to project your icons. If they are taken at an angle, they should look at the same perspective. You can achieve different perspective by making some changes in the camera position that captures the icons.
Simplicity
Less is more. This still applies to icon design. Although icons are symbols, graphics and illustrations, it has to be simple to be effective in serving its purpose. Icons conjure a visual image of real objects and to serve its purpose, it has to be simple and clear. Too complicated designs can distract the essence of your web applications or web designs. Simplicity adds beauty to icon design and it can bring realism to its actual purpose. If you add too many objects into your design, it does not make sense as its meaning is not clearly understood.
Color
Choose the right color for your icon design that blends with your website and web application. It should fit to the motif of the company portfolio or to your web application. Avoid using colors that can distract the general purpose of your web application. For a baby’s clothing site, khaki and brown color are unfit for the icon design and that goes the same for home for the aged website that uses baby pink color.
Motion
The icon should be full of life and energy. It is created to give meaning to the real intention of the web application. Although they are perhaps a stick drawing or a caricature, there has to be an emotion and movement to give it a distinct look to capture its intended audience.
Erica T. Weaver, Business Development Officer at Awicons. I play chess and model airplanes, as well as, sometimes I write about art. Currently, I have accomplished a survey for the innovations in business development.
