Illustrative Wildlife Iconography
We were tasked with creating a set of 12 digitally-made vector icons. These icons could be themed in any way, but they had to be unified in theme as well as style.
Sketching Ideas
I eventually decided to pursue icons representative of my local home area. I thought it might be interesting to include various elements, such as the indigenous fauna, flora, and people, and I began sketching these out. I tried to sketch quickly and without regard for styling things as a traditional digital icon, so as to get ideas out as best as I could. I knew I could refine and make drafts less detailed later on in the process; right then I simply wanted to understand the shape of the objects thoroughly in order to abstract and minimize them successfully in a digital way.
Digital Drafting
After sketching, I was excited to begin drafting digitally and really working on a style to follow that I could be consistent with. A style randomly came to mind: minimal flowing lines with a pop of color where needed. I thought this concept was perfect for my theme as it embraced a wilder, more free-flowing aesthetic rather than the perfectly rigid lines always seen in digital icons.
These first drafts were heavily stylized and were too illustrative for successful icons. I figured I was going to need to cut back significantly and minimalize everything. The first design I began experimenting with was the eagle, which you can see the process of below. After I had created it, I decided to stick with all wildlife instead of including the other content.
Feedback and Refining
What I thought was the issue with the designs were confirmed when I got feedback. I needed to adjust the icons in a style that was a bit more restrictive. So, I got rid of the watercolor style and focused on creating more solid shapes and colors. They were certainly in a rough state still at this point because of experimentation and testing.
Finalizing
I focused on a few points of feedback, like making the shapes more deliberate, creating some roundness in the angles, and sticking with the solid shapes. I began creating the rest of the animals and got into a rhythm of using the same shapes in every single icon, where I would manipulate them to fit with the next animal but continue recycling shapes for consistency.
I learned a great deal throughout this project. I was able to better conceptualize and create more abstract and minimal shapes out of animals that can look quite complex in reality. If I were to critique myself, I think I may have gotten carried away adding the details on the animal bodies, and it could be refined to be even more minimalistic. However, I think the illustrative style is also unique and interesting. I have created icons in the past where I used a more traditional style, and I felt bored with the way most icons appear. Ultimately I came to learn that the most important thing is that the purpose of the icon is achieved, and that is for people to look at it and easily understand it.
