As the world is getting busier, icons are becoming a fundamental part of our lives. They help us orientate, make decisions and find what we are looking for.
Let’s have a closer look at why icon design has become so important in the present, and how it will influence the future.
1. Internet Is A Jungle
Imagine yourself a lonely wanderer traveling through the mighty jungle so impenetrable, you barely find your way through. You are in desperate search of that one special plant. Like most of the other plants it’s green, it has big leaves and grows on the ground surrounded by thousands of other plants. It doesn’t stand out, but you really need that exact plant so bad as if your life depended on it.
I swear this is how I feel these days, when I try to find something on the internet. It is full of useless information, and you have to dig through a lot of garbage to find that one helpful fact. Every time I get to the product page that is words-only with no icons or any guidance, my head nearly explodes.
The thing is that people these days don’t actually read long texts. They skim through the information to find what they’re looking for. And here is where icons are a must! They guide your through making life a lot easier.
2. Globalization Effects
Nowadays, people are lucky to be able to travel the world. And they grab this opportunity and use it to its fullest. As we are becoming more open to new experiences, we create families in foreign countries, pack the bags and cross the ocean to take a new job, find friends of different cultures everyday.
For that reason, we need one international language that literally everyone will understand. One silent sign language that speaks louder than any words can. The language of icons.
Not only is it easy to understand, it is a universal language that keeps developing as people create and learn new meanings for each icon. A few years ago nobody knew what a burger icon meant, and know almost everybody gets that they will find menu hiding behind it.
3. Shorter Attention Spans
It’s official, our average attention span is now shorter than of a goldfish. Yeah, you heard me right.
According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, the average attention span of a human being has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2013. This is a second less than the attention span of a goldfish. Can you imagine that a goldfish has a one-second longer attention span than humans have? Me neither, and yet that’s what it is.
Icons are lifesavers in this world of noise and worthless information. You need only a quick look at the icon to get the complex message it carries. This way you can concentrate your other 7 seconds on the information you really need 🙂
4. The Value of Time
Time is the most valuable currency in the world. Fact.
We are always rushing, running somewhere, doing everything on-the-go, and we need it to be done right now. Icons let us do everything faster.
Whether you need to find the right app or a particular feature on the product page. When you are searching for metro in a foreign city or don’t know where to click to play your favourite song. Icons save you a lot of time, speeding up everything.
See, the best time to start doing icon design is now! Thousands of icons being created every day should not scare you away. This field is evolving and growing up by the second. As the world gets busier, the demand for icons increases – be the one to change the present and create a better future with your first icon set!
Stay awesome, space cadets!
