The website uses delicate outline icons, the sales presentation features solid coloured symbols, and the product sheet includes graphics with pronounced shadows. All these materials share the same logo and brand colours, yet each has a different feel.
A consistent icon style helps bring individual materials together into a cohesive visual identity. For icons to look like they belong to the same brand, they need shared rules for their design, size, and use.
What brings icons together as a set
Colour alone does not make icons consistent. Stroke thickness, line endings, corner rounding, and the level of detail also matter. An envelope icon drawn with a thin outline will look out of place beside a bold, solid phone icon, even if both use the same shade.
The starting point is therefore a shared approach to drawing the icons. A set can use outlines, solid fills, or a combination of both, but each approach needs a clearly defined purpose. Proportions deserve the same attention. Icons should have a similar visual weight when placed together, even when they represent different objects.
The icon style should complement the brand’s other visual elements. Rounded shapes can echo the soft lines of the typography, while geometric designs can support a more restrained visual identity. A custom set is not essential. A carefully chosen existing set provides a useful foundation if it covers the required subjects and permits the intended use.
The same style at different sizes
An icon that looks good filling a presentation slide may not work as a small symbol on a website. Thin lines disappear at smaller sizes, and intricate details merge together. When choosing or creating a set, it is therefore necessary to check icons at the actual sizes in which they will appear.
Consistency does not mean simply scaling every element up or down. Sometimes a small icon needs to be simplified while retaining its basic shape and meaning. A transport symbol should remain recognisable on a website, in a service brochure, and in a corporate presentation.
The background matters too. Icons must remain legible on both light and dark surfaces. For less familiar symbols, a short text label helps clarify their meaning.
Rules for using icons across the brand
For everyday work, it helps to document a few concise rules and illustrate them with examples.
- Choose one core set. Check that it includes symbols for commonly used subjects.
- Define a shared appearance. Specify stroke thickness, fill, corner rounding, colours, and permitted modifications.
- Test icons in actual use. Check them on a website, in a presentation, and in printed material.
- Check the licence. Review the terms for commercial use, modifications, and any required attribution.
- Define how new icons are added. Match new icons to the approved set and review their appearance before sharing them.
The most common problem arises when a required symbol is missing. Downloading one from another library may solve the problem for a single slide, but over time it weakens the consistency of the entire style. It helps to establish who manages the set and where requests for additions should go.
One set available to the whole team
BrandCloud provides a central place to manage a brand’s digital assets. Approved icons can be made available alongside guidelines and examples of use, giving every team member the same starting point.
A consistent icon style is easier to maintain when the right set is readily available. The same visual rules can then carry through naturally to the website, presentations, and other company materials.
