Why are Icons so Iconic?
We see icons everyday in our lives and these magical and useful symbols are able to encompass words, meanings, and sometimes even abstract concepts in a simple ‘icon.’
“Icons are everywhere; some are so powerful and universal that we instantly recognise that they represent a brand, product, or message, without the need for any words”
– https://medium.com/@Claromentis/why-icons-are-important-29dd86ac45d0
The word ‘Icon’ is from the Latin word eikōn, meaning ‘likeness, image’. This contextualizes the application of icons in our everyday life as the likeness of ‘icons’ to these different meanings utilizes an image to express an idea.
Icons are extremely pivotal in our everyday lives as they function as a means of simplifying ideas down and act as universally understood concepts that surpass the language barrier. The meaning of words may be lost in translation – icons will not.
“Basically, an app or desktop icon is an image that, having a kind of symbolic and metaphoric potential, becomes the element of navigation in the process of interaction. In a deeper explanation, an icon is a visual symbol representing some action, thing, person, real or virtual.”
– Marina Yalanska
https://blog.tubikstudio.com/iconic-simplicity-the-vital-role-of-icons/
Therefore not only are Icons ‘iconic,’ they are also extremely important and play a large role in our daily lives. Next time you send an email after clicking the ‘paper airplane’ icon or the trash can icon when you wish to delete something or throw something out. Without these icons, everything represented by icons (ie bathroom, water foundation, etc.) would have to be reverted to text – which is neither easily processed information nor universally understood language.
