In this week’s lesson we covered icons and their importance in Ux/Ui design.
Icons play a vital role in UX/UI design as they serve a function to the user. They’re not supposed to be overwhelming with a lot of detail, simply just clean lines to help the user navigate their way around the app. Icons are universal as they transcend language which I find fascinating. The idea of icons can be seen as far back as early mans cave paintings, when simplistic figures and shapes were used to convey information. Today, icons are everywhere and had years of development throughout various types of projects leading to the idea of an icon we are familiar with today.
Susan Kare is an American graphic designer who is known for her work on the icons for the Macintosh computer in 1984. Her icon designs for the Macintosh was revolutionary as she made technology approachable for everyday people as computers weren’t the norm at the time. Kare’s icons are extremely illustrative and detailed for the time, and is a great example of using skeuomorphic design to create an icon set.
Given the multitude of languages spoken by attendees at the Olympics, using representative icons for each game was critical to ensuring everyone could navigate the games effectively. The Munich 1972 Olympics icons are a great example of of how such simple lines can communicate what sport it’s representing.
The Mexico 1968 Olympics is my personal favourite as I love the bright colours that were used.
