Why use icons in your web design?

Icons are everywhere and for good reason - they are a wonderful communication device. As they say, a picture is worth a 1000 words so a well-chosen icon can communicate an idea quickly, adding interest and personality to the message it’s supporting. 

From a design perspective, icons break up the page, adding more white space and making it easier for people to navigate and importantly scan the website content for interest.

Icons can also cross language barriers. But it’s also worth noting that some images may be infused with cultural meanings not immediately obvious. So if you have an international audience be sure that your icon means what you intend them to mean regardless of country or culture. 

A way to avoid misinterpretation is to think carefully about the text, especially the headline that you pair your icons with. The two should work together and complement each other.

When picking an icon a few things to consider.

• They should be clear to the viewer - if you have to explain what they mean there’s probably a problem. 

• They should work with the overall website design and reinforce your brand identity. 

• The icons themselves should also work well together and share a common visual language in terms of size, weight, style, colour, etc

If you decide to work with Ascender Creative we’ll help you source the perfect icons for your site. 

For Sarah Heaton Gardens we got out our paintbrushes and scissors and hand-crafted four icons to perfectly blend with the commissioned home page image. 

For TommyBars we sourced vector images from our favourite icon sites then took them into Adobe Illustrator and overlaid them on a TommyBar branded eye icon thereby making something generic, specific and relevant to the brand.