Design a Better Icon

Every now and then when I some time to kill I'll play around with changing my desktop icons or trying on new desktop themes that include their own sets of icons. Most of the time I end up going back to my familiar icons. They may not necessarily be better but they're what I know.

In 10 Mistakes in Icon Design Denis Kortunov nicely describes the most common problems with desktop and application icons. If you aren't a user interface designer you might think the article is nothing more than an interesting read. However, many of the practices that Denis describes can be applied directly to other types of icons and symbols.

Uniformity, readability, simplicity, and appropriateness are all necessary in logo design as well as in the selection or creation of symbols such as end signs, bullets, and icons used to visually mark tips, warnings, or supplementary information.

Some of the advice on unity of style, overly original metaphors, and cultural perspectives is also appropriate for any set of graphic images whether it's in a greeting card, a newsletter, or the graphic navigational elements of a Web page.