4 min read
My Top 5 Free Icon Websites
As a Designer I use iconography quite a lot within my creative work, some projects more than others.. I have a few go-to websites I love to use and can pretty much find exactly what I’m looking for from no more than 5 websites, Here are my top 5 free icon websites I use on a daily basis.
It may sound a little silly but the better, more useful icon websites are the ones which have been designed better, with some pretty good ui and ux throughout their designs.
Above all, my favourite... I absolutely love their recent update to their website design. It makes my life easier when searching for a specific icon. They have a load of cool features and add ons which not only makes my life as a designer easier but also helps the coders integrate them into their builds.
The search function is simple and helpful, The way everything is displayed is very easy and simple to use, and above all else. they have a lot of top designers who contribute to the site which makes the quality on The Noun project high.
Another go to icon website is Flat Icon, Although their design isn’t quite on the level of The Noun project, it is still a standout above all of the other competition. The quality is still pretty good alongside Noun Project and I find it helpful as the style of icons on here differ to any other of their competitors.
Again, I love the search function, its usually the first thing I do when coming onto here as I usually know exactly what I’m looking for. It may sound a bit funny but I actually find the ads useful on here also, they have links to other websites like freepik and shutterstock.
Dribbble has evolved from a pure inspiration site to a practical resource for downloadable icons. I absolutely love Dribbble! I have done several blog posts about my love for it and use it almost twice a day, every day. I regularly post my work and some behind the scenes and love to just have a scroll though every so often. A simple search for Iconography brings up lots of top quality work from around the world. although they can’t be used as free icons it helps to get an idea for what i need to dine or the style I should take when searching for free icons. A tool which I could not live without!
Similar to Dribbble, Behance.net is an online portfolio website with lots of inspiration. I use this alongside Dribbble for inspiration but the best thing about Behance is there are a lot of free resources just waiting to be used! I can easily find free icon sets to use within my designs. Some are even so specific that I can easily use a single set for a whole project which saves time and also keeps the icons consistent giving my designs that professional look and feel.
Iconmonstr has a similar feel to my top pick, is very easy to use. Simple and I love it!
The search works a treat, the black and white style helps me concentrate on what matters, the icon. I love to use this one specifically for social icons as it has a huge selection of social logos and elements.
And because I couldn’t keep my list to 5, here is another really useful website making it number 6 on my top 5 free icon websites
Although I don’t use it often, Icons8 deserves a mention for its dynamic range of icon styles, from minimalist to quirky. Icon8 is still one of my favourite resources to use. They provide a wide variety of icons from the most commonly used arrow and check icons to extraordinary Harry Potter icons. I find the size of the icons a little small but sometimes I like to quickly look through here when deadlines are tight, this makes for easier viewing which makes it great.
https://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/icons
Vecteezy has stepped up significantly – It may not be the most visually pleasing website at first glance, but the resources on here are just as useful as any of the other resource websites above. There's an endless number of icon sets and styles.
There seems to be a lot of resources like the above, where the icon set is a font, to be installed on your machine and each icon can be used by simply typing its unique code found in the cheat sheet on the homepage of the site (above). It's a really easy and effective way of using icons.
Similar to Font awesome, this is another font-based icon set. It's not quite as large as font awesome but is still a really good resource to have in my library.
Streamline now boasts over 100,000 icons, cementing its place as one of the most comprehensive resources available today for any digital project requirement. Strealine is another invaluable resource to have when trying to find an icon set for a website or a branding project.
So there are my 5 (plus 5 😅) favourite free icon websites which I use more than I care to admit. Icons are a huge part in the design world, and play an integral part in what I do on a day to day basis creating whether that be creating UI/UX designs or branding. So free resource website like the above examples are fantastic and are greatly appreciated.
If you're ever in our area and want to chat about design or see these icons in action, feel free to pop into our studio! We love discussing creative ideas and sharing our resources.
Hiya, I'm Mike - Web designer at Shape. My articles usually consist of design related stuff.
