Consider a custom icon library when a recurring set of services, subjects or activities needs a coherent visual language that suitable stock icons cannot provide. Start with the concepts and usage sizes, then define shared drawing rules, labels and a process for adding new icons.
Build a vocabulary before drawing symbols
A brand icon library is a family of pictograms used to explain recurring concepts. It is different from an app's launcher icon, a set of logos or occasional editorial illustrations. Its job is to make a range of subjects feel related while keeping their meanings distinct.
List the concepts the organization repeatedly communicates. Separate concrete things, such as a bicycle, from abstract ideas, such as resilience. Group duplicates and ask which distinctions matter to the audience. Buying forty drawings before agreeing the vocabulary often creates a visually consistent set with unclear meanings.
What Let’s Grow Canada shows
Emily Gosling, BP&O: Let’s Grow Canada identity by Caserne, 20 October 2026 describes a family of more than forty symbols, illustrated with Benjamin Lamingo, spanning subjects in the food system. The initiative launched in February; the October date belongs to the review.
The example makes a broad subject tangible through multiple related symbols. My recommendation is to define both the breadth of the subject and the visual relationships before expanding a library. The reported project is a reference, not proof that every organization needs forty icons.
Decide whether stock or custom is appropriate
| Situation | Likely starting point |
|---|---|
| Common interface actions | A familiar, tested interface set |
| A few occasional illustrations | A small art-directed commission |
| Repeated sector-specific concepts | A focused custom pictogram family |
| Unclear distinctions between services | Clarify language and information architecture first |
A licensed set can be entirely appropriate. Commission custom work when the meanings, tone or brand relationships require it. Decorative distinctiveness alone does not justify making a familiar action harder to understand.
Define a drawing grammar
Specify the grid, stroke or fill logic, corner treatment, angle conventions and level of detail. Then test several deliberately different subjects together: one round, one angular, one dense and one sparse. Matching bounding boxes is not enough if one symbol appears much heavier than the others.
For an illustrative civic program, a bicycle, river and building could share a line language without having identical silhouettes. My Resilient Watertown identity brings those subjects together within a civic mark. It is a reference for shared visual language, not a claim that I delivered that client a separate icon library.
Test meaning separately from style
Show the symbols to people unfamiliar with the project and ask what they think each represents. Record confusion between neighboring concepts. A well-drawn leaf may be read as nature, food, recycling or wellness depending on context. The label and surrounding information must do part of the work.
Keep meaningful labels where comprehension matters. For digital applications, follow W3C guidance on image alternatives: provide an appropriate text equivalent for informative graphics and treat decorative repetition differently. The implementation depends on whether the graphic conveys unique information or repeats visible wording.
Check the smallest actual use
Review the icons in the intended page, sign or printed document. Fine lines that look elegant in a presentation may disappear in a small reproduction. Prepare simpler variants only where necessary and document when to use them. Do not assume a single vector file resolves every size problem.
Across my identity collection, proportion and reduction are recurring design concerns. Logos and pictograms have different jobs, but both require careful decisions about what survives at a small scale.
Leave room for the next icon
- Give each concept a stable name and short definition.
- Keep editable masters and approved exports together.
- Document size, contrast and background requirements.
- Record the review process for additions and replacements.
- Check a new drawing against the family before releasing it.
My visual identity and graphics services can help scope that family. A useful library is one that the organization can keep coherent as its subjects change.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are brand icons the same as app icons?
No. A brand icon library is a related set of pictograms for subjects or activities. An app icon identifies a particular application and has different platform and recognition requirements.
Can an icon replace its text label?
Only when the meaning is sufficiently clear in that context. Keep labels for unfamiliar or ambiguous concepts, and provide an accessible equivalent when the icon communicates information.
Sources and Credits
- Emily Gosling, BP&O: Let’s Grow Canada identity by Caserne, 20 October 2026
- W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: Images Tutorial, checked 26 October 2026
Created and sources checked on 26 October 2026. The editorial date places this article in the requested series; it is not a claim of earlier publication. External projects are credited to their creators. The review frameworks and hypothetical examples are design recommendations, not measured client outcomes.
Bring the concepts your team repeatedly needs to explain. We can determine whether you need a custom icon family, a smaller illustration set or clearer information first. Book a free consultation or explore design services.