The History of the Glyph: From Ancient Symbols to Digital Icons

Create Your Own Glyphs: A Beginner’s Guide to Vector IconsCreating your own glyphs — the small, simplified vector icons used in typefaces, apps, and interfaces — is a useful skill for designers, UI developers, and hobbyists. This guide walks you through the concepts, tools, workflow, and best practices for designing clear, consistent vector glyphs, with practical steps and examples so you can start building an icon set.

What is a glyph?

A glyph is a single graphical mark that represents a character, symbol, or icon. In typography, a glyph is a rendered form of a letter or symbol. In interface design, “glyph” usually refers to compact, simplified icons (often monochrome) used in toolbars, buttons, and menus. Glyphs are typically created as vector shapes so they scale cleanly at many sizes and can be embedded in fonts or used as SVG/PNG assets.

Why design your own glyphs?

• Brand consistency: Custom glyphs let you match your product’s style, line weight, and personality.
• Clarity and efficiency: Tailored glyphs can communicate actions and states more clearly than generic icons.
• Scalability: Vector glyphs remain crisp at any resolution — ideal for responsive interfaces and high-DPI displays.
• Reusability: A well-constructed glyph set can be reused across platforms and projects.

Tools you’ll need

Essential software options (pick one based on preference and budget):

• Vector editors: Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer, or free options like Inkscape.
• Icon/font tools: FontForge (free), Glyphs (Mac, paid), FontLab (paid), or online services like IcoMoon and Fontello for generating icon fonts and SVG sprites.
• Optional: A grid and pixel-preview tool (or plugins) to check rendering at small sizes.

Foundational principles

1. Simplicity: Glyphs are small. Distill ideas to their most essential forms — use basic shapes and avoid unnecessary detail.
2. Consistency: Maintain consistent stroke widths, corner radii, cap styles, and visual weight across the set.
3. Legibility at size: Test glyphs at typical UI sizes (16–24 px). Ensure silhouettes remain distinct.
4. Alignment and optical balance: Visual balance matters more than strict mathematical centering. Nudge shapes for perceived balance.
5. Grid and unit system: Work on a grid (e.g., 24×24 or 32×32 artboard) and use multiples of a base unit for spacing and stroke widths.

Step-by-step workflow

1. Define scope and style

   • Decide the set size (e.g., 50 common UI icons).
   • Pick a style: outline/stroke, filled/solid, rounded, sharp, or two-tone.
   • Choose a baseline grid (24×24, 32×32). Example: use 24×24 with a 2 px stroke.

2. Sketch ideas

   • Start with quick pen-and-paper thumbnails or rough vector sketches.
   • Aim for recognizability using common metaphors (magnifying glass = search, trash can = delete).
   • Iterate on several concepts before digitizing.

3. Set up your document

   • Create an artboard at your chosen grid size.
   • Enable snapping to pixel grid and gridlines matching your unit system.
   • Define global stroke and corner styles.

4. Build basic shapes

   • Use rectangles, circles, lines, and simple combinations.
   • Prefer boolean operations (unite, subtract, intersect) to create clean vector paths.

5. Keep strokes and joins consistent

   • Use a single stroke weight for stroke-style glyphs.
   • Decide cap (butt/round) and join (miter/round) styles and apply them globally.

6. Convert strokes to outlines when needed

   • For consistent rendering across platforms, convert strokes to filled paths before exporting fonts or SVG sprites.

7. Optical adjustments

   • Check small-size rendering and adjust curves or spacing to avoid visual clutter.
   • Slightly increase open counters (holes) so shapes read clearly.

8. Naming and organizing

   • Name each glyph descriptively (search, home, settings).
   • Group related icons into folders or font codepoints for easier maintenance.

9. Exporting

   • For web: export optimized SVGs (minify paths, remove metadata).
   • For apps: export PNGs at multiple scales (@1x, @2x, @3x) if raster needed.
   • For icon fonts: use FontForge, Glyphs, or IcoMoon to map glyphs to codepoints and generate font files (TTF/WOFF) and CSS.

Design tips and common patterns

• Use metaphors that are widely understood (envelope = email, gear = settings).
• Avoid text inside glyphs — text becomes illegible at small sizes.
• Favor open counters and distinct silhouettes to reduce ambiguity.
• Keep stroke endings consistent — mix of rounded and square ends looks off.
• For outline icons, use a stroke-only system and ensure fills are empty; for solid icons, prefer unified filled shapes.
• Test icons in real UI contexts (menus, toolbars) and with different background colors.
• Provide states: active, disabled, hover — tweak opacity, outline, or add small indicators.

Accessibility and international considerations

• Ensure icons have accessible labels (aria-label for web) and tooltips where needed.
• Don’t rely on icon-only interfaces for critical actions; combine with text or confirm dialogs.
• Consider cultural meanings — some symbols differ across regions (e.g., mailbox shapes).

Example: Designing a “Save” glyph (step-by-step)

1. Concept: Floppy disk is a common save metaphor; simplified rectangle with a notch and a small square.
2. Artboard: 24×24 grid, 2 px stroke.
3. Build: Draw base rounded rectangle, add a smaller rectangle for the label area, add square for shutter.
4. Boolean: Subtract shapes to create the notch; unify where appropriate.
5. Stroke -> Outline: Convert to filled paths for export.
6. Test at 16 px and 24 px — adjust corner rounding and hole sizes.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

• Over-detailing: Remove tiny elements that disappear at small sizes.
• Inconsistent radii: Use a single corner radius token across icons.
• Improper alignment: Snap to grid; use consistent padding inside the artboard.
• Neglecting export formats: Provide SVGs for scalability, and raster at needed densities for legacy systems.

Maintaining and evolving an icon set

• Create a versioned library and document style rules (stroke, grid, corner radii).
• Keep source files organized with symbols/components for repeated elements.
• Periodically audit icons for redundancy or new needs as your product grows.
• Encourage contributions using templates and a simple review checklist (legibility, consistency, accessibility).

Resources to learn more

• Tutorials for your chosen vector editor (Illustrator, Affinity, Inkscape).
• Icon system examples: open-source icon libraries to study (examine structure and naming).
• Tools for generating fonts and SVG sprites (IcoMoon, Fontello).
• Accessibility guidelines for icons (WCAG techniques for meaningful images).

Creating glyphs blends visual restraint with precise technique. Start small, prioritize consistency and legibility, and iterate with real-world testing. With a solid grid, simple shapes, and a documented style, you’ll be able to build a cohesive icon set that scales across devices and strengthens your product’s visual language.