Iconic

When given the exercise to gather the many icons found in my life, I wasn’t sure where the adventure might lead and how far I’d have to go outside of my home to discover anything of value. The Texas heat is destructive and my hope was that the symbols and icons I depend on would be much closer to the setting of my couch and less towards the surface of the sun that’s awaiting outdoors.

Fortunately, I had underestimated just how often and how many icons are utilized around us — even within arms distance. Sticking to my air-conditioned and the comfort of my couch, I quickly recognized the icons lighting up the directional input that our TV remotes supply.

The Samsung remote doesn’t do anything revolutionary, there are a couple icons provided with labels (menu, info, exit, and return, volume up and down, channel up and down) and a few that stick with what most users identify as a common representation (power button, light bulb, mute symbol, and then all of your “playback” buttons).

The Amazon remote ditches all forms of labels in place of those common icons we’re all familiar with — it isn’t a huge risk without the labels for this device, as users generally know what each button represents and there isn’t much confusion or a hefty learning curve involved. The only unusual one would be the microphone icon that leads to a voice command through Alexa when pressed.

Overall, both remotes are easily understood and provide the results expected when encountered, making my TV perform it’s requested actions.

Continuing my journey of icons (finally off the couch), I found myself in the kitchen where a whole myriad of symbols await. My favorite ones come in the form of food-related representations (a boy gotta eat, you know?). Check out our little Ninja grill’s icons of foods a user might be interested in cooking and the times / heats needed to prepare such items.

Pretty straightforward and easily understood icons providing a chef like myself the tools to prepare a meal properly — matching the meat or item with the correct setting and timing.

My favorite icon is the one for “Fry Snow” — just kidding, I know what frozen fries are and how amazing they can be in an air crisper.

Before heading out of the kitchen, the trash and recycle bin called out with their shiny exteriors and the signifying icons and labels we’ve adorned them with.

The icons shared on these “partners of disposal” help guests know exactly where to place their trash or recyclables correctly. Even without the given labels, we’re fairly certain people would recognize that this where you throw your squares or start spinning around (kidding, of course).

The grand finale of our icon home tour ends with my favorite — warning labels. Why are these my favorite? Because they most surely represent a small populous of individuals that have mistakenly used the product incorrectly . . . or they’re just dumb / are making poor choices — like eating Tide Pods. Uhhh, what. They don’t taste good, right? It could be another one of those “great COVID protectors” like horse dewormer. What are you doing to us, Tik Tok?

The bright red “no” icon should be a given in meaning “don’t do this.” But humanity does whatever it wants like eating detergent or spraying them in our eyes (that’s part of our American rights, I guess).

Either way, the icons clearly provide a warning in their representations as well as some written warnings nearby to further explain the severity of making a snack out of something used to clean your clothing.

There are so many icons near us and they provide a service in letting us know how something functions, ways for us to interact, and how to utilize something correctly (with warnings on what not to do as well). I’m thankful for the easily understood imagery from icons that reflect “real-world” items and scenarios — working to make life easier for the user no matter the language or where we come from. They’re a powerful resource and tool in the world of design that must be used well and help defend against confusion.

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