Iconfu – Icons for you

I came across Iconfu on a comment board that I frequented from time to time, Y-Combinator. It is a somewhat simple online tool for people to create icons for various purposes. By saying something simple, I mean there are so many options that I feel like I’ve just walked into an art store with a million different tools, canvases, and brushes. Since I am not an expert in the art field, I am looking for the basic brush, color picker, and fill. These work without too much hassle.

Exportable formats include png, gif, and ico. It is striking that the jpg list is missing. Many designers believe that the jpg format should be removed, but I wonder about the decision to exclude it. The format option is actually my favorite feature, which at any time allows you to click on the respective link and download your masterpiece.

Regarding my “something simple” comment, a deeper exploration of the site reveals more options than you would ever dream of using. Truly an impressive offering of tools, if anyone were sophisticated enough to use them. The question arises, will someone who is illiterate like me take the time to learn how to use them? Those familiar with graphic design are probably already Photoshop® or Gimp experts. So what is your motivation for working with this?

But I keep going, determined to make use of this new tool. Clearly the developers spared no expense when it came to adding functionality. A short description includes 12 different drawing modes, 10 different tools, 17 different actions, embedded comments, a nifty color level graph, an animator, and a special Give Up button that makes George Costanza appear on screen.

My least favorite part of Iconfu is perhaps the most important: the color picker. I have a theory about color pickers and it says the following: all color pickers should be banned outright. Since there are thousands upon thousands of colors available, how can I possibly choose the one I want with a little tool like this? Iconfu’s color tool is no better or worse than anyone else’s, but what I’m really looking for is a nice little box where I can enter a 6-digit hex code. (Yes, I did notice a way to enter the RGB values, but it is less than obvious.) When I’m designing a website, I usually spend hours trying to select colors. I use an arsenal that includes a color picker and various websites that tell me which colors should match the basic I start with. This effort invariably fails and I turn to a ready-made theme, but deviate from the theme. My plea to Iconfu, give me a box to enter the hex code and we’ll call it even.

The default size is a 16 x 16 pixel frame which happens to be the same size one needs to create the favicon.ico for a website. In the spirit of Iconfu, I tried mine. See my current favicon which is posted here for posterity.

Icon created with Iconfu, kindly redone by the creator of Iconfu (see comments)

Overall, I found this tool a bit too complex for the entry-level user, like myself. I’ll give them credit for having helpful menus and even tutorials. I have to admit that for my next favicon I am a little more likely to use a simple man tool, like favicon.cc. I will notice that Iconfu has the option to upgrade to achieve a 48 x 48 pixel frame, as well as other options. The fee is as small as $ 2, which can only remember my favorite line from a cult movie. Recreated and remixed here. (the movie clip starts around the 1:30 mark …)