Icon library, Beckon

UI design

Role

UI Design

Team

Product Team @ Beckon

Duration

2012-2017

Overview

Here’s a selection of icons I’ve produced for specialized technical interfaces, applications, and product illustrations.

Icon family (Beckon)

Wait, why design your own icons?

While many modern design systems rely on standardized icon libraries, there’s unique value in creating custom iconography for specialized technical domains, like Industrial IoT or marketing intelligence. In such environments, users often need visual indicators for domain-specific concepts—whether it’s an analytical model, a particular type of solution, or a specific technical process—that wouldn’t be found in general-purpose icon sets.

Custom icon design allows us to visually represent these specialized concepts while maintaining perfect consistency with the broader product design language. While standard libraries can serve as a foundation, having full ownership over the icon system ensures that every visual element—from common actions to complex technical concepts—speaks the same visual language and provides users with clear, familiar touchpoints throughout their journey.

As with any icon system, these are designed to be clear visual anchors that gracefully support the interface. Each icon is crafted to be instantly recognizable while maintaining a cohesive, familial aesthetic that remains clear and distinguishable even at small sizes.

Icon family (FogHorn)

Line-based icons can be a challenge when it comes to scaling, and for high-DPI displays. As such, it's important to codify scaling mechanisms.

SVG icon scaling study (Beckon)

Outside of a user interface — such as mobile application icons — an icon is actually more like a small illustration. They must still capture the essence of their function in a simplified way, but a greater degree of styling is usually desirable.

Broken egg for error page (Scout Labs)

App icons (independent)

I produced this series of icons as an exercise. The reference designs were not mine, but the result shown here is. I rebuilt and styled each dial by eye, to hone my skill with vector shape compositing and layer styles.

Dial icons (study)

Older icons sets, stylistically, were somewhere between illustrations and small photos.

Icon family (Technorati)

Icon family (LookSmart)