Web Icons – Cute, Useful…and Free?!?!
It used to be that finding a nice set of professional looking icons was difficult to do unless you were either a web designer or someone who was willing to fork out some cash for them. No longer; in fact, it’s not uncommon to find beautiful, interesting web icons that you can use personally and professionally at absolutely no cost. Why is that, you ask? Well, icons are pretty cool to make…if you have the time and patience — and the ability — to make them, that is. Most people don’t, but there are graphic artists out there who create icons regularly and put the sets out there for public use as a way of being recognized and having their work out there. Almost like putting out a resume, but with really cute drawings.
Icons are more than just cute drawings, though. They’re extremely important in web design, so much so that many times it is the quality of your icons that can make the difference between dull and interesting. Here, I’ve listed a couple of my favorite free icon sets and some places where you can find many more.
These are just two of the many styles included in the RSS Icons Campaign designed by Design Freak. Their RSS feed icons are ideal for those of you who are looking for a cool-looking, very different take on the boring little feed box that sits on the corners of the websites that we are used to visiting. These little guys can make your design look fresh and modern, with a hint of wit and tons of charm. I am in love with these icons!
This sharp, dynamic YouTube icon is part of an incredibly stylish and sleek group of icons created by Lucas (pho3nix) in Poland. As part of this impressive collection, you will find gorgeous, clean versions of icons for some of your favorite online sites such as Wikipedia and Facebook, making this the perfect set for yourweb page. This set is especially useful if you have pretty good traffic going to some of these sites through your own page. It’s the perfect set for the social media hounds, as well as those who want crisp design and simplicity but don’t want to compromise style. Definitely one of my favorites.
Now, here’s a pretty cool one. Courtesy of the folks at Icon Lab, the “Build Your Own Box” icon set allows you to place whatever items you want inside the boxes, essentially creating your icons in whichever ways you’d like. What I love about this is that it’s gives you, the designer, the creative flexibility to decide what to include in your own icon set. You should be warned, however, that this particular set, however cool it is, is not for the novice user. It requires graphic imaging software so that you can make your icons. When you click on the Icon Lab link above, you’ll be able to download everything you need to enjoy this versatile set, including a how-to video and some friendly instructions.
You can find links and reviews of many other awesome –and free– icon sets here and here. You’ll be guaranteed hours of icon searching fun.