I have written here about middle-age eyesight and the ability to use emjois with confidence. Maybe the same frailty colors my perception of icons on computer screens that I occasionally find confusingly similar.
Do you ever go to open you Google Chrome Browser:
And accidentally click the Windows icon:
Is it just me, or do you find the Spotify icon on your phone unnervingly close to the Find My iPhone icon.
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Find My iPhone |
Spotify |
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And can you name the commercial source of these various email icons?
Can icons serve as trademarks worthy of legal protection? The answer is yes, but this is probably the exception in the world of icons. A trademark can be any word or a symbol that distinguishes in the minds of consumers a source of goods and services. Put more simply, if the picture is telling you where something comes from (who makes it) it is working as a trademark and can be legally protected.
There is a steep climb to gaining customer recognition in a simple symbol that also tells consumers what you are offering, like a picture of an envelope for email services. But with a subscriber base like Gmail (icon far left above) that boasts 1 billion monthly active users, you can get there.
Designing your own icon for an app in a crowded field of icons should be approached like adopting a trademark for your business. First, consider using something that does not tell people what you are offering right off the bat. I don’t think consumers are likely to select an app based on the information included in its icon. Consider including a letter, a word or part of a word in the icon, as these constructs provide additional grounds for a trademark foothold. Finally, adopt a distinctive color or color pattern to help your icon stand apart from the crowd.
All signs point to digital icons being here to stay. Planning their design is part of digital branding that should not be overlooked.