UX Designer
Bubble Development, Graphic Design, Saas Product Design
by Dongwei Huo
Play with Icons | Beyond Graphic Design
Icons, in the first place, are signifiers that helps me build mental pictures. In the image below, icons are not only the signifier to help user understand a specific function without looking at the text; on contrary, by juxtaposing icon and the text at a prominent position inside the header, I am trying to plant a mental picture in the head of the user. The mental picture of how these “insert objects” look like. Once the mental picture is built, I can apply these icons else where without using any text. For instance, on the time line where user can view the different objects of one slide, I can use only a icon to signify an object. This way, a lot of space can be saved therefore more time line track can be viewed at the same time.
Icons are not separate objects; they are an integral part of one design. Upon the design of icon, I would first ask myself what occasion is this software for? Who is using the software. The answer to these two questions further decides what kind of style I will give my icon set. For this icon design, student and instructor are the target users. They are using our platform to create interactive content. So I decided to use radius on every corner so as to give everything a round shape. I want to convey the message that this is nothing arcane, everyone can join and have fun.
Lastly, I want to talk about how I learn to make these icons. Since what I care most is style and the meaning behind the icon, I would quite a lot icon design of the same keyword before I start making my own. For instance, when I need an icon signifying “video”, I would take some time to find out how other designers convey this meaning; will they use a triangle play button, a camera, or a film? How they give special styles to the button they choose, layers or the change of shapes? After research, I would set forth to design my own.
I also “dismantle” existing design documents to find out how others apply layers and shadows and transformation effects. Break one and make one of my own.
This is really fun.