What is Iconography?

In an image-based world dominated by various logo designs of businesses from different industries, icons can help market your brand. 

Icon logos are an essential part of brand advertising. They are easy to understand, really tiny, and help the audience understand the message you are trying to relay.

Only some have seen the beauty of icons and how to use them effectively to market your brand. Join us as we take a trip to the world of iconography!

What are Icons?

Icons are small graphic elements that you can use to provide information to your audience at a glance. You may not realize it, but you see them every day, from the apps on your phone to the emojis you use when you text!

Tip: You may use a phone icon in your phone logos or a smiling emoji in your emoji logos to let your audience feel a light and happy mood. 

But if you’re looking for the perfect example, imagine this: 

You’re walking around the airport after your long flight and only want to claim your baggage and head home. In the crowded and busy setting surrounding you, the best way to reach the baggage area is to turn your head up and look for that particular sign – a suitcase logo and an arrow logo.

Now, imagine if airport logos and other busy locations were without icons. You would have to explore the whole area, bumping into people and scratching your head before finally arriving at your destination. 

The suitcase and arrow sign helped you understand it is the place you’re looking for, but how? Through iconography!

Icons are a small, styled graphic image that represents an object or action. They are made to provide information and help your audience understand your content. It’s incredible how the human brain quickly understands icons without thinking twice about them! 

Of course, airports aren’t the only place to find these little icons – they’re everywhere! From a massive mall logo to a restaurant menu, icons are there to help people through visual language. 

Why Should Brands Use Icons?

Regarding branding, icons are highly versatile and can be used on any project, from logo design to infographics. In terms of visual communication, nothing beats an icon. However, some brands need to see its significance. So, to engage your audience with your content, you must approach them visually. 

Developing and designing your personalized icon can be beneficial to your brand, especially when it comes to marketing. You can place them on your website and print them on any collateral or on your social media.

Tip: When printing logos or icons on your flyer or posters, know the appropriate logo sizes to retain their quality. 

1. Strengthen brand recognition

Brand Recognition is a powerful element for any creative business – it adds to your sales, boosts customer engagement, and increases brand loyalty. One of the best ways to improvise brand awareness is through personalized brand graphics. 

2. Ease communication

As a business owner, you should be aware that your brand should constantly communicate with your loyal and potential customers. Inform your target audience about your services, mission, and brand message, and showcase your skills and communication. Icons can simplify communication and efficiently educate customers about your products and services. 

3. Endless possibilities

Once you’ve decided to use personalized icons, the possibilities are endless! With the thousands of icons available, you can quickly turn your ideas into a well-functioning and aesthetic design!

You can easily use icons in various formats, such as social media icons for your media logos, buttons, infographics, packaging, newsletters, and many more!

Basic Icon Elements 

It’s essential to know the elements that comprise icons to utilize them to their full potential. Check out the crucial aspects of an icon and think of how you can use these to your advantage.

Size

All your icons should be the same size when you create them. Consistency is vital in marketing, and icons are no exception. Choose a standard size to build all your icons, and be creative in knowing where they fit well and when to use the same icon at different sizes.

Color

The color of your icon also plays a significant role in the satisfaction of your customers. For product icons, we recommend using one color: black, while for marketing icons, you can use your brand colors. Since they are small, using too many colors can become too complex to look at. 

Form

The form refers to your icon’s basic shape or the action you use icons for. They can be separated into shapes like squares, triangles, circles, and many more. 

• Circles communicate wholeness, health, community, and a cycling movement.
• Triangles depict stability, peak, power, or momentum.
• Squares and rectangles portray strength, stability, safety, and solidity.

Concept

It’s essential to think of the most recognizable way to portray the concept you want to show your audience. Use necessary word associations to brainstorm ideas for your desired services or actions. Remember that the purpose of icons is to help your audience, so they should be recognizable and not some puzzle that your audience would solve.

How To Design Icons Effectively?

Now that you know about icons, you probably have ideas floating around for your following advertising designs. But before you do that, you should know how to design your icons effectively to entertain your audience and receive positive feedback. 

1. To use text or not

While icons should be a visual representation, some businesses include text to ensure clear communication. So when designing your icons, decide whether you would like your icons to have text – make sure to apply the same rule to all your icons.

If you prefer using text, using 1-2 words for each icon is a good idea. Imagine looking at an icon and reading a sentence below it; it doesn’t look good, right? 

2. Create a color palette

Next, you should create a custom color palette for your icons to ensure they are similar and appealing.

You may use two to three of your brand colors for your icons. But to create more visually dynamic icons, take each color and play with shades to create a broader palette. 

3. Uniform design standards

There are many ways to diversify your icons, and before creating one, you should create a few rules on how your icons should look. 

Do you want it to be outlined or filled? Should the icons have a colored background or just white? There are a lot of choices to make, so take the time to look at the different icon design styles.

Create A Simple & Effective Icon Now!

We’re back in the world of business and marketing! We hope you enjoyed our trip to the world of iconography. You probably can’t wait to create your icon and apply what you’ve learned, so what are you waiting for? Create your icon today! If you ever need a refresher about icons, you can bookmark this blog and read it as many times as you want!

Whether you prefer to start from scratch or with a customizable template, BrandCrowd is here to help! Visit our website and enjoy thousands of icons and logo designs we’ve curated just for you. 

Boost your advertising game with fun and valuable icons!

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Written by DesignCrowd on Thursday, March 2, 2023

DesignCrowd is an online marketplace providing logo, website, print and graphic design services by providing access to freelance graphic designers and design studios around the world.