162

NIGEL HOLMES

Pixelated

This style (drawn with

rectangles stuck together)

might appear to be easy to

draw, but a discerning eye

is required to design pixel

icons as sharp as these.

Continuous
Line

Each icon is drawn with a
single (or sometimes
several) meandering lines.
Holmes maintains con¬
sistent "density" of
linework throughout the
series from ¡con to ¡con.

Signage Icons

Drawn by Holmes for the

Smithsonian Institution,

these samples (just a few

from the larger set) display

deceptively simple solutions

to creating imagery for

global comprehension.

Chart Figures

These modern variations on
classic chart and graph
stylized human figures show
greater animation and more
vivid color than would have
been the case in these
fellows'earlier incarnations.

ferais

— i——■ "» ** *• ■ person

PBX firewall at terminal

factory

office building

terminal clock

¡Ufe ç£à* QÉrSJ

delivery truck house a store

house <з

S

>

r/

#

ч°

л°

walking

f

в S в

m

rían hughes

Round-Cap Chubby Style

A font is the perfect delivery medium for a series of icons as Hughes has done,
above. Select his font called Pic Format from Device foundry, type any key and
you'll get an icon. Keep typing to discover what's where. Each icon comes in
both positive and negative versions.

LOGO, FONT a LETTERING BIBLE

163

MARK FISHER

Newport Seafood & Wine Festival

Spring Break

Dr. Seuss's Birthday

Mother's Day

Nouveau Retro

Inked by hand,these
clever calendar icons
commemorate notable
occasions. Fisher does an
amazing job of imitating
the oversaturated line
quality of old printed
advertisements.

DANIEL PELAYIN

Chubby

Search no more for that
dancing cow or elusive
cotton ball box icon.
Pelavin's got it and
thousands more, all drawn
with his signature friendly
fat stroke.

^ £f ®m

BMW 325i: Surfboard: Baseball Bat:

Speed and Sex and Steel Plasticity in a World of Flows Power Plays

Luxor Hotel:

Slow Buildings for Fast Space

cäO

@: Freeways:

Marking the Electrosphere Iconic Foundations

ox

Lipstick:
Masks of Beauty

X

Blue Jeans:

Uniforms of Modernism

iL

SFMOMA:

Iconic Monumentally

CBS Logo:

Co-opting the Corporate

Minicam:

You are Big Brother

KitchenAid Mixer:
Gadgets Galore

Split Screen

Top, in navy and lemon, a system of icons by Mark Fox of
BlackDog for an Oracle Corporation annual report. Note
that all the designs maintain consistent light/dark ratio,
line width and live area within the enclosure. There's an
art to drawing cohesive series of consistent icons like this.

Abstract Conceptual

Above, Mark Fox produced this exercise in free association for the
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art exhibition "Icons: Magnets of
Meaning." (The larger logo at right spells out the word ICON). Just
looking at this amazing series starts my mind pondering the
limitless creative possibilities of the icon.. .unleashed!