Identify icon sets to use for future site needs

[jenniferthibault]

In order to make it easier and faster for the NRRD team to use new icons, we should identify icon sets that stylistically match the site that the team should try to pull from first.

[jenniferthibault]

Think I found a few good starter options! Here's what I'd add to the style guide under the Icons note tab.

@brentryanjohnson I'd love your review on both content and the list of recommendations:

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Many of the site’s icons are from different contributors on the Noun Project, and are used under a Creative Commons license with attribution in the humans.txt file. Others are designed from scratch.

Even though they are from different sets and artists, they share common style attributes. When picking or building new icons, make sure to match these characteristics:

• highly rounded corners
• default style uses heavy outlines, unfilled solid interior spaces
• if shapes overlap in space, lines leave a gap where they meet instead of intersecting (.icon-cloud, .icon-wind, .icon-coal, .icon-copper )

For finding new icons in the future, here are some open source icon resources that match icon characteristics used on the NRRD site. Each example is from an open source icon set, but specific licenses differ for each.

• Font Awesome: Regular style, free collection.
  • Select an individual icon to download it as an SVG
  • License
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s icons on the Noun Project
• Feather icons
  • MIT License
  • GitHib repository

After you’ve picked new icons, add citations for it to humans.txt

[jenniferthibault]

@mcharg & @brentryanjohnson where's the most useful place for these options to live for future reference?

[mcharg]

Maybe under Design & Research on the wiki?

[jenniferthibault]

Yeah I'm torn between the wiki and the notes tab on the icons page in the style guide.

Wiki because it feels like a list of optional resources, but style guide because it tells you how to style new elements consistently. I think that makes the style guide feel a little less like it would get forgotten there — does that make sense?

[mcharg]

I'm good with putting them in the style guide.