Icon Utopia Blog
Teaching how to make a steady income and build a career as an icon designer
Best Icons of the Week (3)
Once again I’ll present you collection of 15 great icon sets I’ve collected through the week.
It’s nice to see so many different styles and interesting approaches on icon design. I’m sure you will discover some great icon designers and awesome icon sets.
The proper way of creating outline icons
Outline icons are the easiest to learn compared to all other icon styles. So they are great if you are just starting practicing icon design. But don’t get misled – outline icons may be easy to learn, but they are really hard to master. However, once you’ve made it, you can fit these icons into various projects, because outline icons are very adaptable. By implying different style variations you can make your outline icons look really “fluffy” and cheerful, or, quite the opposite, serious and corporate. This is a really powerful icon style.
Now let’s get to the “meat” – how to properly make your outline icon set?
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Best Icons of the Week (2)
Hey, everybody! Another week – another batch of best icons of the week!
I’ve got a ton of positive reviews about the first batch so I think I’ll continue making these weekly collections. Some of the icons are available as a freebies so don’t hesitate to download them and say thanks to the author!
Creating first icon set
Creating your very first icon set could be really challenging. There are usually lots of questions popping in your head, like “What should my icon set be about?”, “How many icons is enough?” or a classic “How do I know if it is good?”. Sounds familiar? Concerns like these prevent you from even starting an icon set. This has to stop.
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Do you have what it takes to be an icon designer?
So…you want to be an icon designer. You want to put sophisticated ideas into simple icons. Help lonely wanderers find their way through the jungles of the internet. Be able to talk to every person, regardless of the language they speak. And, of course, help foreigners find a toilet when they need it the most!
But you still question yourselves “Do I have what it takes?” Am I right? .
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How to find your own icon style?
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?
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Best Icons of the Week
Happy Friday, everyone!
I’ve decided to try something different today. Last week I started sort of collecting the best icons I stumble upon all over the internet, and now I’m dying to share some of them with you! I’m sure you will discover some great icon designers you had no idea about. That is an amazing way to get some inspiration too.
Without further ado, let’s dive into the best icons I came across in the past two weeks
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Learn Icon Design by copying work of others!
Yes, you’ve read that right. Be shameless – go find the icon set you really like and copy it, right after finishing this article.Copy till you can’t tell the difference between the two sets. “Why?”, you might ask. The answer’s easy – to learn. Copying the work of others is the best way to gain new skills, and one must have no shame to admit it. If you don’t publish it taking all the credits for yourself, of course.
Copying to learn is the most natural trait of human behaviour.
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Choosing best colours for your next icon set
Howdy, guys! Here’s a little icebreaker before you read any further: Okay, as cheesy as this was, it showed that colours are the power. They can make the icon or break it in the blink of an eye. That is why choosing the right colours for your icons is so important – using proper palettes, you can transfer the message on a subconscious level. As everything in the icon design, choosing the perfect colours for each set has its own secrets. And I’m about to reveal some of them for you right now: Know The Context It all comes down to where your icons are going to be used. There are two main things to consider before you start: Where the icons will be used; Who are they aimed for. Here’s how it works: you’re creating icons for a mountain biking website. If it’s not the internet rookies who entered the website by mistake, all the content will be viewed by mountain bikers. Obviously. Google is a treasury of the images on mountain biking. Take a look at some of them, and you’ll start noticing certain colouring patterns. Use them for your own colour palette. Use The Brand Colours Do I even need to go into why you should stick to the existing brand/logo colour palette if your client has one? Just a reminder: icons play an enormous role in the brand identity and messages they deliver. If you feel that the brand colours are too pale and weak to speak as loud as you need your icons to, I would suggest you go for different shades of the already... read more
How to Master Pixel Perfect Icons
Icons are all about clarity and communication. Blurry icons can’t communicate as good as sharp ones. Simple as that. Imagine if road signs were blurry, what a mess they would make! Every Icon Designer should know how to create pixel perfect icons. At some time in the future these skills might become less important as the resolutions on our devices are becoming higher. However, for now it is an absolute must, or a super power for every icon designer out there!
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