This is part of an assignment for DesignLab’s UX Academy course which involved observing and analyzing icons around us
Icons are Shared imagery with which we can communicate ideas & information.
They have been in existence for a very long time in human history. They are shared language. They can be used across communities all over the world to convey the message with little or no modification. They are universally understood & accepted. They are so widely used and common that they become very integral to our visual understanding. And a well designed icon doesn’t make us think, for the meaning is conveyed almost instantaneously.
Icons have multiple purposes and are small yet powerful. They truly conform to the saying — “A picture is worth a thousand words”.
Icons can be used instead of or in conjunction with text to represent complex ideas and help in retention of information for the user. They help in reducing the amount of text the user has to read and process thereby minimizing the chance of losing the user’s attention.
Icons take up very less real estate on a page or object. This helps convey the purpose with minimal distraction for the user. With the increasing usage of mobile devices, they are indispensable for responsive web design.
Icons are a form of art and can be presented by simple outlines, solid blocks of shapes, combination of both, different colors or in grayscale. They can be playful and overall improve the aesthetics of a page.
Overall when designed properly and used in the right places, icons help the viewer understand the intent of the product with ease and accomplish the task at hand.
I started looking around for icons around my house and listed 4 of them along with sketches. I did not have to go far looking for them for they were almost on every other appliance, electronic device etc. They have become so ingrained into my system that I do not acknowledge their existence!
The first icon is the universal power button. I found it on my mac and various appliances. Apparently, the half-circle is a zero, a references to the binary “on/off” states. The line intersects the circle to communicate that this button won’t cut power fully, but is a standby mode — a line inside a circle, or an empty circle, would turn on or shut down power completely. Interestingly, never thought of it this way before.
The 2nd icon I noticed was on my Vitamix blender. Now, Vitamix offers 3 automated settings — Smoothie, Frozen desserts & hot soups. These options are on the left hand side of the knob and the various speeds on the right hand side. The frozen dessert is represented by a snowflake, which by itself may not be convey the meaning but when combined with the label next to it, the relationship is clear. Here the icon is used for decoration and not primarily for information.
However, the hot soup icon is representative of something hot and one can understand this setting more easily.
Next, is the mute icon which I picked from Alexa. It is a microphone symbol with a cross across it implying no volume when it is activated.
Lastly, I took a picture of a power adapter with the icon representing its disposable method. As an electronic item, it should not be thrown in regular trash and end up in landfill but needs to be disposed separately along with e-waste. All this is conveyed by a simple icon showing a trash can with a cross across it.
Universally, a cross implies the opposite of that picture. So a positive message and a negative message can be represented by the absence or presence of 2 lines crossing each other. How much easier can it get than this!
Some of these icons are so second nature that they blend into the background over a period of time and we use them without any pause as to what they represent anywhere we see them. For eg, the “power” button. At the same time, they can be obvious in an unobtrusive way in places where required. For eg, the “frozen dessert” symbol mentioned above.
