Sustainability icon sets,
May 2021
In the practice-oriented module "Design of human-machine interfaces", two icon sets were created for a fictitious sustainability app for two different target groups in the areas of climate protection, biodiversity, renewable energy, resources, mindfulness, politics and ecosystem.
Brainstorming and sketching
The individual subject areas were outlined from different perspectives in order to generate a variety of conceptual ideas. Once the two target groups had been fully defined, the preferred pictograms were selected and further developed in terms of degree of abstraction and visual aesthetics in line with user requirements.
Design of the icon sets
Then the vector graphics were designed in Adobe Illustrator in a defined grid system and refined. This resulted in two icon sets.
Key project learnings
This project made it clear to me that the target group has a decisive influence on the visual design of an icon set. Once a seemingly perfect representation has been found for one category, it may no longer be appropriate for another target group, as various social, demographic and other factors play a relevant role. It is therefore essential to adapt the design to the specific customer needs.