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Case Study:
Development of an icon requires working through many iterations of the same ideas, remixing and combine elements until the design sings. This is incredibly important and part of the process of design. This step needs a lot of faith and trust in the process, because eventually you will land on a piece of design that solidifies everything needed.
Step 1: Listening and Ideation
Step 1: Listening and Ideation
The first step I always take in development is simple: Listening. Usually at this point I will be armed with a sketch book and pencil, listening to you describe everything you want your icon to be, represent and evoke. These small ideation sketches are messy, sloppy, unfinished and raw.
Once we have landed on a general idea, iteration begins. This might include elements mentioned or sketched upon during ideation, throwing things that work from one idea into another. As you can see on the left the primary focus and idea was a circle, but beyond that I started to incorporate a compass like design, and played with typography and stoke sizes.
It is very important that this part of the process be done using as little color as possible. Upon thinking of all of the brands you encounter and interact with regularly, you will notice they are represented as much by shape as they are by color. Relying on color at this point of the process will dilute the final design by making the final design dependent on color instead of being enhanced by it. Once a client selects a final design we move into Full Development
Step 2: Full Development
Step 2: Full Development
Now we start playing with variables such as colors and fonts, finding something that complements and enhances the monochromatic icon. This can be as simple as making things bigger and bolder, to tying in other elements with a pop of color. This particular example was built with the consideration of an already established style guide, so our colors were already picked, it was just a matter of incorporating them into the icon.
A general rule of thumb in design is that you do not want more than three colors in an icon. Following this rule allows the icon to make an impact while remaining simple.
Variants on the final icon are also developed at this point, usually in a lighter and darker contrast to accommodate other uses. Most people will be seeing this icon through different mediums and by having these alternates available, we can call to the same icon in different settings such as a dark mode enabled computer.
Step 3: Finalization
Step 3: Finalization
We are finally ready to bring the design to life by adding any finishing touches such as text. Any big title or acronym should be done in a serif font, with any sub header or specification done with a sans-serif font. This is all done for legibility, because while the icon should stand on it's own, it serves to ultimately be a representation of your idea. Sometimes you do need to spell it out, and that should also be complimentary to the icon.
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