I keep getting the same old question over and over again: Should I have my own icon style? And how to develop one then?

Finding your own unique aesthetics is always a big struggle and a huge task that requires a lot of time and effort. But first things first, let’s start from the question – Do you even need to have your own style?

Absolutely every project calls for a different style, and it depends on plenty of things like where the icons are going to be used, what the logo and brand style guidelines are, and many more. The trick here is that you need to know the basics of every style, but you can’t be equally as good at all of them. In fact, what you can be is equally mediocre at all.

You can be average at a lot of things or great at few. It took me quite some time to understand this. Being a young maximalist I tried to be good at everything. It was ok, I was ok. However, it hadn’t been up until the day I niched down and started working in one particular style when the things moved on for me. Not only did I find so many details about it – my works improved drastically, and I got a lot more great clients to work with.

My aesthetics is outline icons. I specialize in outline icons, I seem to know every little secret about creating perfect outline icons, but do I have my own signature style? Hard to say. I believe there is something people recognize me for, however, I make a lot of outline icons with lots of style variations.

Good designers must have their own style, but they should also be flexible and able to work within constraints and guidelines. I said it before, and I say it once again: never force your style upon the project if it doesn’t fit in. Every new project requires differently styled icons. If a project asks for glyph icons to go with the company’s corporate style, don’t even try to create outline icons just because they are your favourite.

 

So how can I find my unique style?

My advice is – don’t overthink it. Don’t try to find your own style by forcing it. Sitting in front of a blank page squeezing the style out of you is not how it works.  

Everybody wants to be unique and have their own style. The problem is that lots of designers want to develop it way too early, before even learning the basics of their field. As a result, there are a lot of ordinary works out there.

At first, try out as many styles as you like. And do it for as long as you need. Master all the fundamentals behind the icon design while exploring various styles. Since each style has it’s own specifics, it is the best way to learn every little detail about icon design. After some time you’ll start noticing that you prefer some styles to the others. Maybe some techniques are closer to your heart, or maybe it’s the process of working on some exact style that you enjoy the most. Once you understand which style is your favourite, work on it as much as you need to perfect it. If you want to be the absolutely best, I suggest you lay the other styles aside and focus on that one thing.

And don’t worry – whichever style you choose, there will always be clients who will love it. Demand is constantly shifting from one style to another, but in general no matter which style you’ll settle on – you’ll find your audience.

Do I have to stick to my style for the rest of my life?

Ok, this might be scary! If I’ve chosen the outline icon style as my aesthetics, should I stick to it for my entire life? There’s only one answer to it, and this answer is – no. 

You can always experiment, try out different methods, and transform your style the way you feel it. In the end, changes help us grow, both professionally and personally. When you know something really well, you can go with the flow and try out new things. Let your style evolve and progress everyday. Mix different styles to create something entirely unique. There is only one rule – never stop learning and exploring. 

To summarize this whole article, I can say that every icon designer should have that one style they are known for, but they should also be resilient and look at things from different angles, and be able to work within different conditions.

So if you ask me, my suggestion would be – don’t rush to find that one style, explore different techniques while learning the basics of icon design. At the point when you feel confident about your icon design knowledge, you will naturally notice which style is the closest to you. Stick to it, work incredibly hard, and you’ll become the best at what you do. Don’t try to be the jack-of-all-trades, become the master of one!