Icon design is the process of designing graphic

symbols A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise different concep ...

to represent physical objects ( pictograms) and abstract concepts ( ideograms). In the context of

software application Application software is any computer program that is intended for end-user use not computer operator, operating, system administration, administering or computer programming, programming the computer. An application (app, application program, sof ...

s, an

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

often represents a program, an action, or data on a

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

Usage and process

Though the design of icons has existed as long as pictograms and ideograms have, modern icon design primarily exists in maps, public infrastructure like

wayfinding Wayfinding (or way-finding) encompasses all of the ways in which people (and animals) Orientation (mental), orient themselves in physical space and navigation, navigate from place to place. Wayfinding software is a self-service computer program th ...

, and user interfaces for video games, computers, and mobile devices. Physical venues and events make use of either existing symbols from governments (such as the DOT pictograms) or custom icon designs. Custom icons are most visible as application icons, favicons, and

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fro ...

toolbar icons on computers and mobile devices. Modern app icons have a maximum size of 1024×1024 pixels or greater, however icon design involves creating artwork at various sizes for legibility. At smaller sizes, designers often eliminate or reduce unnecessary details while exaggerating important details. Especially for lower-density displays, icons are hinted at various sizes similar to digital

type design Type design is the art and process of designing typefaces. This involves drawing each letterform using a consistent style. The basic concepts and design variables are described below. A typeface differs from other modes of graphic production su ...

by aligning shapes to pixel boundaries as to ensure visual clarity. Icons may also need to be altered for different display modes, such as dark mode. The design of icon sets includes consideration to a shared elements, such as a color palette, perspective, and style. The process of icon design includes defining a metaphor, drawing an illustration, creating any necessary alterations for various sizes, and occasionally assembling files into a folder, ICO file, or ICNS file. Vector icons in apps and websites are usually SVG files. Due to their high visibility and relation to

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

design and branding, new app icons are frequently criticized.

Notable icon designers

* Masaru Katsumi -

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

in Tokyo * Lance Wyman -

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

in Mexico City, National Zoo * Rajie Cook & Dan Shanosky - USDOT pictograms * Otto Aicher -

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

in Munich * Susan Kare -

Classic Mac OS Mac OS (originally System Software; retronym: Classic Mac OS) is the series of operating systems developed for the Mac (computer), Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and end ...

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

gifts * Jon Hicks -

Firefox Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements curr ...

Skype Skype () was a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for IP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also had instant messaging, file transfer, ...

emoticon An emoticon (, , rarely , ), short for emotion icon, is a pictorial representation of a facial expression using Character (symbol), characters—usually punctuation marks, numbers and Alphabet, letters—to express a person's feelings, mood ...

s, Icon Handbook * The Iconfactory -

Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct successor to Windows 2000 for high-end and business users a ...

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

emoji

References

External links

iOS Human Interface Guidelines — App Icon

Microsoft Design Language — Icons

Microsoft Icon guidelines for UWP apps

Microsoft guidelines on designing Windows Aero Icons

Microsoft guidelines on designing Windows XP icons

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Usage and process

Notable icon designers

See also

References

External links