1. Having a clear purpose for designing icons

There must be a clear purpose for designing an icon. You might think what kind of icons you need for your website or app. However, before this, you must be clear on why you need them. You wouldn’t need them just because you think they’re visually appealing. 

Even the prettiest of icons get lost in this crowded digital world. The best way to begin is by considering navigation. Some of the social media websites and apps have simple, yet practical icons. This can be great for easy navigation. Additionally, including text along with the icons can be of immense help for users. 

2. Understand your audience well

There are a few things you must consider before designing the icons. First is to never assume things. Next, be clear on who your users are. You might also want to consider why, how, where, and when they’ll be using your product or service. Taking the cultural norms into consideration is also important, especially if the design is targeting a specific country.

3. Do some careful planning

It requires a lot of attention to detail and careful planning to create and integrate icons. You’ll need to see where they would be used on the website or app. Next, you may have to understand how often will the icons be used. You might also want to see whether text needs to be used along with the icons.

4. Decide on the size of the icons

Another key rule for designing icons is to think about scalability and size. Most of the icons are created in the form of PNG files. Although they allow for pixel perfection, they don’t scale. Larger icons need deeper and richer designing while the smaller ones require less detail. There are two approaches when it comes to handling the size of the icon. 

One is the top-down approach. It involves designing for the largest screen size in the most detail. Then it can be refined for the smaller sizes. Second approach is the mobile-first approach. In this approach, the smallest icon is designed first and then the details are added as you scale up.

5. Have an understanding of different formats

Being familiar with different formats and having the ability to assess their merits can be helpful when designing icons. Earlier the common image format was GIF, which would certainly have quality issues today. The PNG format can help in achieving higher quality, but they aren’t scalable. The ideal file format that’s universal and scalable is the SVG format.

6. Never manipulate icons of other brands

In this crowded digital world, it’s a common practice among designers to manipulate icons and logos of other brands. They mostly do it to meet their tight deadlines and ease their burden. This can lead to a lot of issues later on and must therefore be avoided.

7. Keep a good balance between form and function

When designing an icon, it is essential that the form and function be balanced. This is something that has been a topic of debate for years. Some prefer form over function while others have a liking for function. In reality, both are important from the perspective of designing icons for websites and apps.

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Icons are among the elements widely used in this digital age. However, their roots go back to the ancient times. The importance of iconography can be understood from the fact that they were used in different human civilizations. Icons provide information visually without any distractions and this is their fundamental purpose.

They describe functions

Words can be used to explain the functions of a particular section of an app or a website. This is the most direct approach, but can easily put off many users. They may lose focus with too much text and skip the message entirely. 

Adding icons, therefore, would be a truly effective approach for describing the functions. They bring a fun element to the section and also visually explain the message to users. The people going through the section can easily relate to the icon and understand the explanation without much efforts.

They explain processes

A website or an app can have several functionalities that require the users to take certain actions. Most of the times, such actions need to be taken in a step-by-step manner. Each of these steps can be represented visually in a brilliant way with the use of icons. 

This also eliminates the need to use lengthy texts to explain the process. Many websites and apps use a combination of audio and icons to facilitate better understanding of a process. 

They help users in filling web forms

One of the best ways to establish a great relationship with your customer is by using web forms. The time spent on attracting users to the website or app must be complemented with efforts to retain them. One of the effective ways to create a great user experience is including web forms. 

Such forms must not contain any random questions, as they can make the user leave immediately. The questions must be relevant and accompanied by icons at the right places. The idea behind this is to get the web form completed instantly and with ease. 

They facilitate easy navigation

As they are highly effective in explaining concepts visually, icons can also be used to make website navigation easier. They’re often used as distinctive elements that are easier to locate on a website or an app. Once the user is able to locate the icon, he or she can be easily given the desired information. 

For example, let’s take a business that offers four different services. It can have the four services listed on its website’s homepage with each having a specific icon. When you click on one of the icons, you’ll be able to understand what the service is all about.

They enhance the look of websites or apps

Icons can add some style to the websites or apps. Many different styles of icons are available today. Among them are the ones that use shadows, reliefs, and planes. Some are linear while there are others that have 3D effects. When a specific icon is used on a website or app, it adds personality to the overall design. When using icons, it is important to see that they fit the website’s or app’s aesthetics perfectly.

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There was a time when websites used to have lengthy content to describe the products and services of the business. Now, they are using iconography to present their products and services in a better way. When using iconography in website design, there are certain mistakes that must be avoided to create an excellent user experience. Here are some of them: 

1. Using icons to just fill in the space

It is extremely important that the users understand the icons while browsing the website. Often, many businesses make the mistake of using icons just to fill in the gaps. As a result, the icons fail to serve a purpose and just appear like some random, unwanted stock photos. 

This would obviously confuse the user. Today, icons must be treated more like a great ad copy on the websites. To make this happen, the focus must be on communicating the most important thing as quickly as possible. The information also needs to be presented with the help of icons in a way that’s easily digestible.

2. Excessive use of icons

Iconography must undoubtedly be a part of the website’s design and branding strategy. This is especially true in case of responsive sites. However, the icons only support the design and copy. They are never the entire brand and design of the website in themselves. 

It’s not necessary to have an icon for every single product or service that is being offered. Using an icon for each of the product or service offered by the business results in information overload. A few good icons for describing the major offerings of the business is what’s required.

3. Not accompanying icons with a good copy

Icons may not communicate all the required information by themselves. Often, they need a good copy to convey the intended message to the users. They must be treated more like signposts to catch the attention of users. Icons generally tell the website’s visitors what the accompanying copy is all about before they even read it. 

No potential customer buys the product or service just by seeing the icons. A well-written copy is always required to describe the products and services to the users. So, it is quite obvious that a website needs to have a good combination of icons and copy.

5. Trying to complicate rather than simplifying

Designers need to be clever and the people giving them instructions must be clever as well. Problems arise when they try to be too clever and complicate things. Unfortunately, this happens quite often while incorporating iconography in the website designs. 

The designers and the individuals supervising them often try to force users to understand the brand, product, or service. This is a serious mistake and must be avoided at all costs. Iconography is something that must be crystal clear all the time. Only then it serves the purpose for which it is being used.

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A simple and effective way of drawing users to the content of your website is the use of icons. Icons serve a psychological purpose quite similar to a headline. A headline is mostly a preview of what the accompanying content would be all about. Similarly, content that’s combined with icons makes a web page visually appealing.

Using icons with great copy 

The main goal of using icons must be to help the visitor grasp the information provided on the website. Usually, this is done by using plenty of white space and including icons that don’t distract from the content. The use of icons gives even minimal content more substance and enriches it to a great extent. 

As a result, effective communication takes place without wordiness. It must also be kept in mind that icons must not replace copy. Their purpose is to draw attention to the copy and not replace it. If the services or products are listed, the use of icons will make the list more engaging.

Placement of the icons

Your website appears inviting, friendly, and professional with the use of icons. The visitors get the impression that you care about even the smallest details. You can get the icons placed creatively on the site’s header, sidebar, title, or feature lists. 

It must cover the point that you’re trying to get across in the paragraph. This will create an interest in readers to go through the text. However, the icons must be easily recognizable and closely related to the content. The placement and size of icons can be changed to make the content more interesting and dynamic.

Choosing the style of icons

When it comes to choosing the style of icons, you must look for ways to be more effective. Original icons would be great if the intention of the design is to be unique. The style of icons must match the overall theme of your website. It must be kept in mind that icons are used for enhancing the design and content. Simply purchasing a good-looking icon pack from a leading stock photo website won’t help. 

You must take into account the overall style of your website. Another crucial aspect to be considered while choosing icons is consistency. It is necessary that the icons match while grouping them on the website. Grouping mismatched icons would be a major design mistake and will make the site look unprofessional.

Keep it simple

Using simple icons along with a well-written copy makes the overall content look attractive and practical. This also makes it easier for the site’s visitors to understand the message being conveyed. Only then can it influence the website’s visitors to buy the product or service being offered.

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If used effectively, they can provide users with a clear direction with regards to navigating the website. They may look small and insignificant; but, they can be extremely powerful in creating a great user experience. For making this happen, the icons must be used on a website with thoughtfulness and attention to detail. Here are some tips on making a website visually appealing with icons:

1. Be absolutely clear about the approach

Planning the approach of your website to iconography is essential before using the icons. You must consider a few questions and try to answer them to get a better idea. Basically, icons are just one of the design tools that simplify communication with the site’s visitors. 

Think about the information you want to convey by using the icons. This must be done before creating the style of the icons or choosing an icon pack. Next, define how they’ll be used on your website along with other design elements. You may also need to decide whether the text must be used with them on the website or not.

2. Consider sticking to a certain style

When integrating icons into the design of your website, it’s absolutely necessary to maintain consistency and cohesiveness. Keeping the uniformity intact will avoid any unnecessary confusion in the minds of users when they visit your site. Whether you decide to design the icons or buy an icon pack, make sure that the style is consistent. 

The style of the icons must also conform to the visual identity of your brand. When incorporating the icons into the site design, follow the established guidelines on the brand’s color palette. This keeps the design cohesive and the site’s visitors delighted.

3. Simplify the website’s product pages with icons

Designers can avoid unnecessary clutter on the product pages with an effective use of iconography. The product pages are important for conversion. This is why the design must convey only the necessary information, which would influence a user’s purchasing decision. 

A long copy can be a big turn-off for some users. Instead, the icons can be combined with a brief, well-written copy. Here, this magical combination comes into play once again. The use of this highly effective combination gives the copy a more digestible format. It also clears up the clutter on the product pages.

4. Combine them with a well-written copy

Icons can undoubtedly be powerful when it comes to communicating with the website’s users. However, they rarely match the effectiveness of a well-written and highly creative copy. It is, therefore, essential that you try pairing your website’s icons with a relevant and high-quality copy. 

By using this combination of attractive icons and well-written copy, you’ll be able to create a wonderful user experience. This can also transcend any cultural and language barriers successfully. In this way, the content of the website would be useful for all visitors, regardless of their background.

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