What is an Icon?

Icons, often confused with graphics, can be important to utilize in your design, if not necessarily required to get your message across. An icon is a visual representation of a product or idea. An example of this the “speech bubble” for commenting, or emoticons, for displaying emotions. Icons should not be confused with logos, graphics, or mascots.

It should be pointed out that there are some ideas that cannot be implied with an icon. Icons generally represent “big ideas”, and probably shouldn’t be used for something specific, unless they’re part of an overall brand image.

How Do Icons Help My Business?

Icons are simply like landmarks for visitors. If they’re looking for your rss feed, they’ll look for the orange rss button (and variations.) If they want to contact you, they’ll be searching for your envelope icon. Icons direct your users to the areas they’re looking for. Using icons in your promotional materials will help get your point across clearly and concisely.

How to Utilize Icons

To utilize icons, you should use them sparingly. Overwhelming your site with icons when they aren’t needed (for exapmle, if you have an extremely colorful design already) will make your design feel cluttered and tacky. The idea is simply to emphasize certain areas or concepts.

Where Do I Get Icons?

You can acquire icons very easily around the net. However, I suggest checking out the Function set if you’re interested in nice looking icons for your website.

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