Icon Design Resources

Every so often people ask me about the best places to start learning icon design. I've gone through my bookmarks to collect some of my favorite icon-design related resources below.

Process Videos:

Designer Blogs:

Designer Interviews:

Apple:

  • macOS Icon Design Guidelines
    Apple's icon guidelines contain a lot of the basic information about how to make a good icon.
  • Application Icons [Need a Mac]
    To view an Application's icon in full resolution, right click on the app in Finder and select "Show Package Contents". Then open the Contents/Resources folder and look around for a file with the extension .icns. That's the icon file. You can use Quicklook [Spacebar] to view the full size only, or open it in Preview to see all of the different sizes.
  • Coretypes.bundle [Need a Mac]
    Most system icons are stored in /System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/. You can either navigate here by hand, or use ⌘ + Shift + G to bring up the Go To Folder window and paste the above path into the input field.

Inspiration:

Send me a mention on twitter if you've got a resource you like but I've left out!