Day 80:) The Rise of Icons

The word ‘icon’ has been derived from the Greek word eikon, which means image. Iconography, the study of icons, has been earlier related to religion, where one studies the images of holy figures. With the advancement in technology the whole dynamics changed. In present world, there is more work on icons in technology than in religion.

“Icons are the logos in the computer world”

It is easier to remember a face than a name as our memory works more efficiently with pictures. It is easier to remember an application’s icon than its name. When you recall Whatsapp or Instagram you will be thinking of their icons not the product name.

The icon was first used in Xerox’s Alto in early 1970s. It was an expensive system and just 2000 pieces were sold at that time. However, Xerox’s Star released in 1981 became the first consumer model to use icons. Thereafter Apple’s Mac incorporated them in 1984 and came up with superb icons. Artist Susan Kare is accredited to build the icons for Mac and later for Windows 3.1 in 1992. To put it well in Susan’s word, “I believe that good icons are more akin to road signs rather than illustrations, and ideally should present an idea in a clear, concise, and memorable way. I try to optimize for clarity and simplicity even as palette and resolution options have increased.”

In 2001 Apple’s Jelly Mac came equipped with some realistic icons and that raised the standard high. Icons are way closer to our life than we think. In a simple google search one will encounter with 7-8 icons.

As we see in the above photo, there is icon for all, images, news, videos, maps and even for more! There are 2 more, one for the voice search and other one for the text search. The more we move ahead in the digital world the more we will be interacting with these logos.

The next time when you sit to think or memorize. Taking the icon route will be helpful as the brain captures image more rapidly than the text.

Image Credit ~ Google search, the actual search was different than the one on the picture :P