Icons are a primary source of assisting the visitors in the navigation of a website or any user interface design. As graphics, they enhance the user experience, and therefore, these need to be fairly minimal as well as expressive. For all designers out there, we know how handy can these be in any UI design. In this post, I have compiled some of the best reusable free minimal icons and UI elements. These resources are perfect for web interface design as well as smartphone application interface designs. Most of the kits are in either .psd or .ai format. Hopefully, these would be a great addition to your resources.

Free iPhone Toolbar Icons

iPhone apps come with their particular User Interface standards. Guys over at “The Working Group” have shared this clean and simple 160 piece iPhone toolbar icons set (PNG format) for use in your projects.

Also check out their Retina Display Icons Set which is available in larger formats. Each icon is now available at 3 sizes: 64 x 64, 48 x 48, and 24 x 24.

108 Mono Icons: Huge Set Of Minimal Icons

This icon pack comes with 108 gray icons by Tutorial9. The icon set includes website and security icons, shopping cart, e-commerce, management icons and much more.

Free Wireframe Toolbar Icons for GUI designers

These icons by “GentleFace” can be used for wireframes and software mockups creation, websites and software applications toolbars and menus including Android, Windows Mobile, Palm, iPhone and iPad apps. The icons are available in both black and white versions. The icons are available in 16×16, 32×32 and 48×48 pixel sizes (PNG format).

User Interface Design Framework

An absolutely lovely, clean set of icons, and my personal favorite; the set contains 260 minimal User Interface icon set in vector format. Plus a GUI Library with hundreds of vector elements for interface design. Perfect for creating wireframes and useable application interface design.

108 Minimalistic Go Green Web Icons Set

The set comes with a useful combination of eCommerce, social media, computer accessories and multimedia icons. The icons are available in 64×64 px and in PNG format. The icons were created by Dawghouse Design Studio and are available for free download.

iPhone UI vector elements

Mercury Intermedia has provided this clean set of iPhone User Interface elements in vector format. You would need any vector editing program like Adobe Illustrator to modify/edit these files.

Simplicio: A Free Icon Set

Simplicio icon set contains 78 minimalistic icons suitable for any kind of project. The set contains 78  free 128x128px icons in .png and .ico including AI format which can be useful for both corporate and personal setting. This icon set was designed by Neurovit from Turkey.

Brightmix Icon Set

A multi-purpose minimalistic set of icons by Brightmix, available in .eps format.

Goo-EE Icons

Goo-EE is a free icon set for you to use in your design projects. It is free for public and commercial use. It comes with 10 color options as well as in multiple sizes ranging from 8×8 to 32×32 px. Vector files are also provided.

500+ Free Stunning PC Icons

10 sets of 1000 high-quality free icons in sizes 16×16 & 32×32, available in PNG format.

Peculiar: A free icon package made only in CSS

Peculiar is a free icon package made only in CSS. It was created for sites and web applications that depend on fewer HTTP requests as possible or don’t need to use any image at all. The package contains 45 pictograms that are available in 16² pixels size. Each shape can be customized to different colors.

Free iPhone Toolbar Icons

Another set of iPhone Toolbar Icons by PixelPress, designed specifically for iPhone developers.

Icon Set by Luka Pensa

A Vector icon set created by Luka Pensa available at Css Globe; available in AI, EPS, PDF, XAR file formats.

48 Free 16×16 Pictograms

48 tiny 16×16 pictograms to use in your web designs, for free!

gCons: Free All-Purpose Icons for Designers and Developers

gCons is a set of 100 free all-purpose 32×32px icons for designers and web developers. The icons come in 12 different colors and are available in PSD, PNG, JPG and GIF formats designed by Sarfraz Shoukat.

30 Free Vector Icons

30 free vector icons with an apple feel to them. The download contains the PSD file. The icons can also be used as iPhone menu bar icons.

Please have a look at the licensing terms for each set before using them in your projects.

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I had a chance to work on some ribbons for a recent web project. Some additions made, and here they are, as a freebie collection.  Ribbons look great in web and graphic design, particularly when you want something to stand out more.  From site banners to menu buttons, widget and sidebar titles to advert banners, they serve as a great eye candy. The set contains 40 multicolored ribbons including some stitch styled ribbons in “.ai/.pdf” format. You would need a vector editing program such as Adobe Illustrator to modify them. All of the ribbons are free for personal and commercial use. No attribution is necessary, but if done, is certainly appreciated. However, you may not re-distribute or re-sell them.

Also check out Stitch Styled Social Media Icons from one of the previous posts.

Download the complete set in Vector format: 40 Multicolored Vector Ribbons Set
Please let me know if you face any problems using them.

Black Backgrounds by iAmFreeman

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Arabic typography is the artistic practice of calligraphy in Arabic language which involves the interplay and arrangement of various forms of letters and curves. The pure complexity of the Arabic script is amazing; and it is kind of unfortunate that it is largely ignored outside the Middle East. I find the arabesque based designs very beautiful and free-flowing which visually represent a great piece of art even if you can’t read the text. More and more International brands are looking for ways to adapt their corporate identity to suit the International market including the Arabic audiences. Designing Arabic logos for a larger audience (local as well as the International community) is a challenge in itself because Arabic text is read from right to left unlike the English text which is read from left to right; and one has to incorporate both of the languages in a single design. The design needs to hold a unique balance which allows both languages to work together in harmony. In this post, I have hand-picked some Arabic based logos from various designers. Based on my knowledge of the Arabic language, I have also provided comments on the designs where necessary.

Designer: Khawar Bilal, Doha, Qatar

Originally from Pakistan, and now working in Qatar, Khawar Bilal is perhaps one of the most talented bilingual (Arabic & English) logo and identity designer I have come across. He is very passionate about Arabic Calligraphy which reflects in his work.

“Qalam” means pen in Arabic. In the following logo design, the nib of a fountain pen is shown while the word “Qalam” is written in a floral style on top of it.

Designer: Aissam Hamoud

Designer: Sara Al-Mudhaf

Designer: Salah Sadeq, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Designer: RaMMal, Australia

“Shorouq” means “sunrise” in Arabic.

Designer: Mohammed Ammar, Amman, Jordan

This is another great piece of Arabic artwork. You would notice that the word “marna” is written in traditional Arabic typographic style. Various elements from the Arabic alphabets have been used.

Designer: Mo Shennawy, Cairo, Egypt

Misr, Logo for Egypt Tourism, 2008. The logo reads “Misr” in Arabic; but at the same time, it presents an illustration of the sun (as seen from the right) and water waves.

Designer: Cristina Ludwig, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Designer: Unknown

The Mother Tongue is an Arabic language center based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The typographic design reads “Al-Lisan Al Umm” shown on the top of the English text.

Designer: Unknown

The Emirates Airline logo combines a unique and custom typeface of the Arabic as well as the English language.

Designer: International Nomads, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Designer: Mohammed Eisa, Egypt

The design reads “Radio Star” written in Arabic text.

Designer: Ivan Rios, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Designer: 29letters

Corporate Identity/ Branding for Oryx Magazine – Qatar Airways by 29letters in collaboration with Agency Fish, London, UK.

Designer: Abdulhameed Shamandour, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Notice the word “Jewel” written in Arabic typographic style.

Designer: Mezoomar, Egypt

Designer: Ahmad Magdi, Egypt

Designer: Shakil Ali, Karachi, Pakistan

Designer: Abdus Salam

Shameless promotion of one of my logo designs!

P.S.: All logo designs are copyrights of their respective designers/owners.

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Pakistan-a country which has been hit by a series of catastrophic incidents in the past few years; struck by an earthquake in 2005 was regarded as the worst tragedy for the nation; and now with a fifth of the country under water, an approx 20 million people have been affected by the devastating floods; leaving people homeless and desperately needing assistance. The wave of floods triggered by monsoon rains in Pakistan is now said to have killed at least 1600 people. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who visited Pakistan, said the floods were the worst disaster he had ever seen. There are literally millions of people in Pakistan who are sleeping out in the open on high ground with little or no food at all. Relief efforts are underway, but coping with a disaster of this magnitude is hard and slow as well. The UN has urgently appealed for an aid of $460 million. According to relief workers, without an immediate increase in aid, the disaster could multiply in magnitude causing hunger, death and the spread of epidemic diseases.

Playing My Part

In the light of these circumstances, I have decided undertaking the mantle of trying to add my little drop to the ocean to help bring relief and reach out to those desperately needing for our help. The idea is to initially design a minimum of three logos and contribute the service charges/payment received from the clients to the relief of flood affected areas. 100% of the payment received will go directly to the flood affected areas to help cope with the disaster. There is no restriction on the maximum amount of payment. However, in order to provide relief on a wider scale, I have decided to choose the clients offering the highest amount of bids (Bidding Starts at $200). All the payments would be contributed to a noble cause, so kindly be generous. I hope to extend the number of logo designs depending upon the response.

So, if you are looking for a logo design for your business, kindly place a bid, either by commenting below or sending me a mail directly at abdussalam.rafiq@gmail.com or even if you don’t require a logo for yourself, kindly pass on the word to others who might be looking for one.  You can have a look at my portfolio, my recent logo designs and a logo design process I published lately. While sending me a request for the logo design specifically for this relief effort, kindly mention the following details in your email:

Subject: Logo Design for a Cause (Pakistan Flood Relief Efforts)
Your Name:
Email:
Phone (optional):
Country:
Desired Payment amount:
Preferred Method of Payment:

I would be glad to send you further details. You get a logo designed (with revisions) for your business, and I bring you smiles and lots of prayers and well wishes. Should sound like a fair deal!

Any suggestions in this regard are welcome.

Header Image Courtesy: BBC

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Hello! It has been some pretty busy couple of weeks lately. I have also been a bit too “easy” on the blogging part but nevertheless, I got a chance to work with a number of clients  and designed a couple of stuff. My current focus has been on logo design and branding lately. I also got a chance to work as a designer at TEDxlahore (an independently organized TED event), a truly great experience. Here is a showcase of some of the recent logo design work I have done for different clients plus some of the usual experimentation and playing around. Not every concept was chosen but still, I got to learn a great deal and I think that’s what matters the most in the long run. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome.

Business Idea Competition

Award winning logo design for Business Idea Competition held at National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences, Lahore. Over 90 teams from over 25 different universities participated in the event.

YaaDahani

A logo design for an SMS based service. The typeface is custom and I created it myself specifically for this logo. YaaDahani is an “Urdu” language word which means “Reminder”. It is derived from “Yaad” which means “Remember”. Basically, it is an SMS based service to which users can subscribe to, set reminders for themselves as well as others; whether it be a birthday, wedding, party or any event. The name was chosen in Urdu in order to provide a more personalized feeling for the locals. I wrote a complete design process of this logo here.

International Trade Fair

Logo Design for “International Trade Fair” to be held at Birmingham, United Kingdom this August.

Pacific Bay Watch

Logo Design for Pacific Bay Watch. The client wanted to have a water theme in his design. So, I created the word “bay” out of water waves.

Rocas Gelato

Logo Design for “Rocas Gelato”, a gelato bar.

RUBY Slippers

Logo Design for Ruby Slippers. The client wanted to have a feminine look incorporated in the design. The Double “P” have been modified as slippers.

Umbrella

This wasn’t a client project; just a result of experimentation with negative space.  I was playing around with Illustrator and came up with this one.

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Creating your first portfolio online can bring with it a lot of questions and anxieties. To put together and showcase your best work, you need to present it effectively to win the hearts of clients and make your mark. Remember that your artwork reflects your personality and you have to make sure that it sends out a great impression to others. Add a personal touch to your designs through which others could recognize you easily. Design is in the details, so you have to make sure that your portfolio sets with the  highest standards of Graphic design.

1. Introduce yourself

While presenting your artwork online, it is important that you introduce yourself and your background. It is preferable that you include a recent resume of yourself.  It is important for others to know what fields do you specialize in, your interests, past projects, affiliations, awards and achievements.

2. Answer all the Buying Questions

3. Do Not be Afraid to Showcase your Work

Many designers are afraid to showcase their work to the world worrying about copyright infringement or the harsh critiques. Well, trust me, that’s for your own good. First of all, people recognize you through your style of artwork, and in the current state of social media and networking, copied work never goes unnoticed. Secondly, positive criticism and feedback helps a lot. It is important to know what others think of your work and in the end, it definitely helps you achieve better. As a professional, it is important to have a great portfolio showcase on your personal domain as well as on various online networking platforms. There are a number of free online platforms and tools which offer you the ability to upload your work and create a design portfolio online for free. Here is my pick of some of the favorites:

Online Platforms & Tools for Setting Up a Portfolio

Behance Network

Behance Network is perhaps by far one of the best and my favorite portfolio management sites I have ever come across. The site offers you a great number of features and the portfolio designs are strikingly appealing, clean and professional. You can setup your dynamic portfolio using their easy-to-use tools, create circles (network with like-minded people), ask for feedback and share content. However, you need to request an invitation to join the Behance Network.

Carbonmade: Your Online Portfolio

Carbonmade allows you to create and manage your online portfolio with a number of online tools. Currently, it boasts to have a database of over 240,000 portfolios. They have two packages, the first is free called Meh. With this package, you are allowed to post 5 projects with 35 images. The other premium package is called Whoo!, This package allows you to get 50 projects with up to 500 hi-res images and 10 high quality videos for $12/month.

Coroflot – Design Jobs & Portfolios

Coroflot is another great site for hosting your portfolio online. It not only showcases individual portfolios but also maintains a database of job openings. It provides you statistics on profile views, and lets you organize your content in folders through an easy drag-and-drop interface. Currently, it is hosting a database of over 190,000 creative portfolios ranging in various genres.

DeviantART

If you are in the world of design, and you don’t know deviantART, then I pity you. DeviantART is perhaps the largest art community of the world which allows you to display, share and sell your artwork online. Moreover, it is a great place to receive feedback from other designers. It allows you to create your own portfolio with unlimited uploads.

SHOWN’D

SHOWN’D is a great solution to help create your portfolio online as well as get in touch with a number of employers. It provides you with a number of tools including importing images from Flickr. Another great feature is that it allows you to embed your portfolio in an external website. Comes with a number of customizable layouts.

World Architecture

WA is an independent global forum and extensive database targeting to become the “Home Page” of architects from ALL countries of the world. Contributions from all our members will have equitable chances to be represented, promoted, reviewed and criticized at this cosmopolitan arena. WA portal focuses on architecture only.

Indexhibit

Indexhibit is a web application used to build and maintain an archetypal, invisible website format that combines text, image, movie and sound. Indexhibit has a clean interface and comes with a number of customizable layouts. However, a bit of a let down is that it requires more web/php knowledge, but considering that it is a free application, it does have a promise.

Cargo

Cargo managed to get a great amount of exposure lately. It is a CMS tool for creating your portfolio online. They host your portfolio but you can join by invitation only.

4. Include Testimonials

References and positive testimonials from past projects and clients should also be included.  If you don’t have any, get them! They make a winning impression.

5. Know your hood

It is important to always keep an eye out for the latest trends and a review of what others are doing. Look for inspiration by visiting other portfolios and design websites. This would help you keep updated in the design community.

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Recently, I had the chance to work on various logo designs and corporate branding for different clients. While you have a concept ready, it is important to present it to the client effectively in order to create your winning mark. A design, no matter how much good, if not presented well ends nowhere. Every now and then, I work on stationery design including business card, envelope design, CD design etc. Instead of creating a new template every time for presenting the concepts, I thought of creating these generic templates which can be used for presenting your logo designs, business card designs, envelope designs and stationery set design. All of the templates are available in standard sizes for better viewing. You can move or omit out some elements depending on your design requirements. You would require any vector editing program (Adobe Illustrator, Corel draw etc.) to edit these files. Hopefully, these templates would save you some time re-inventing the wheel. I would appreciate any feedback/suggestions in order to improve these templates.

Logo Design Presentation Template

Blank Template for presenting logo design concepts in full color as well as monotone (white plus black).

File Type: Adobe Illustrator (.ai)/PDF

Business Card Design Template

Includes two (Front and Back) blank standard 3.5″ by 2″ size business card design templates for presenting your concepts.

File Type: Encapsulated PostScript (.eps)

Envelope Design Template

Includes a blank standard #10 envelope (4-1/8″ x 9-1/2″) size template for presenting your concepts.

File Type: Encapsulated PostScript (.eps)

Stationery Set Design Template

Includes a blank standard A4 (8.27 X 11.69 inches) size template, two blank standard size (3.5″ by 2″) business card design templates for front and back designs, one blank standard #10 envelope (4-1/8″ x 9-1/2″) size template and a standard 120 mm CD for presenting your stationery set design concepts.

File Type: Encapsulated PostScript (.eps)

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Hi! As promised earlier, here I am with an account of one of my recent design projects, a logo design which I completed recently for a client. A couple weeks back, Rafaeel Akbar Choudhary approached me who required a logo for his SMS based service “YaaDahani”. Rafaeel, a.k.a “Roofi” is a serial entrepreneur, Product Evangelist, Brand & Project Manager, IT & Telecom Consultant, Leadership Trainer, Blogger, Underground Band Promoter and an Event Planner. Perhaps this pretty much sums up his life.

YaaDahani is an “Urdu” language word which means “Reminder”. It is derived from “Yaad” which means “Remember”. Basically, it is an SMS based service to which users can subscribe to, set reminders for themselves as well as others; whether it be a birthday, wedding, party or any event. The name was chosen in Urdu in order to provide a more personalized feeling for the locals.

Design Brief

The main aspect of the design brief was to create a personalized identity which communicates the idea of remembrance. The design needed to have both English and Urdu language incorporated in the logo for making it understandable to the masses. This was a challenging part as Urdu letters are entirely different from English alphabets. (YaaD in Urdu language can be seen written on the top right of my sketches). Moreover, unlike English, it is read from right (as is the case with Arabic language). The target audience was the youth who use cell phones in their daily lives and love to keep in touch with each other through SMS and VAS (Value Added Services). Therefore, the use of colors was really important in the design of this logo. To remind someone or being reminded generally brings happiness to one’s lives and therefore, the logo needed to be clean, stylish and modern as well.

Logo Development

I started out with some sketches on my pad, trying to incorporate both the English as well as Urdu language letters in the logo. Initially, Roofi named his service as “Yaad”, meaning “remember”. I was half way through when he rang me up and told me that he wanted his service named as “YaaDahani”, meaning “Reminder”. So, that’s the reason you would find both versions on my sketch pad.

I wasn’t quite satisfied with most of my sketches until I hit upon the Smiley one. It created the curve I needed for the first letter of  Urdu language part, whereas the upper part of the letter “Y” would accommodate for the second letter. I could then add two dots below the smiley (the curved part for the first Urdu letter), thus keeping in consideration both of the languages.   Initially, I used a variation of the Hobo Std font. The smiley looked quite well beneath the font; I sent a draft over to Roofi who liked it as well. However, I wanted something more personalized and unique and therefore dropped the idea of trying any more fonts and decided to create a unique typeface for the service.

Personalizing the Brand

Once I dropped the idea of using any fonts, I decided to make one. I opened up Illustrator and started out with basic shapes, in this case, rectangles and circles. The entire logo was made out of circles and rectangles, tweaked and tucked. I would create a circle and trim and tweak parts of it to shape the letters.

In the above image, the red lines represent the shapes which I used for the typeface, whereas the ones in blue were discarded off. I would have stopped there but I didn’t like the cornered edges all around, so I made a few tweaks, rounded off the edges and came up with a more modern and stylish look. (Someone later told me that a similar but not an exact font was available, and I could have tweaked that; but I was happy that I had created something unique and personalized myself).

The tweaked version is shown in the above image. The corners were rounded. The above design creates a happy face out of the double “a” serving as eyes, the smiley accommodating part of the Urdu letter with two dots beneath, and the upper part of “Y” was tweaked for the second part of Urdu letters.

Color Options

Although the colors in the logo were important in the sense as they were more youth targeted, nevertheless, the logo had to serve right in both black and white versions. The Black and White version is shown below:

We tried a number of color combos. Roofi hadn’t a great concern about the options presented to him. In fact, he was having trouble deciding among the four shown here. Finally, the decision was locked down on the Purple and Green one and was selected by the client. The tag-line goes, “Bhoolna-Ab Sirf Bahana” which means “Forgetting is just an excuse!”.

The header as it appears with the tag-line on the brand’s website:

I won’t say that this was the best creative solution I designed. There could be a lot of other options. I learn from other designers out there who are constantly providing valuable resources and inspiration to the design community. Therefore, any comments/feedback would be appreciated. Thanks to Rafaeel Akbar Choudhary for providing me a chance to work with him. I wish him all the best in launching his service and future ventures.

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Hello Everyone! It has been a pretty long time since I published my last post. I apologize for the delay but I had been over-occupied with my exams and some design projects in the past few weeks. Anyways, I am back now and have some pretty good posts and account of some of my recent design projects lined up which I would be sharing with you in the next few days. Watch out for some freebies as well. This time, I have collected some really creative splash inspired illustrations and advertisements by designers from around the world. The use of splash adds more dynamism and zeal to a design and I must say that some of the illustrations showcased here are really mind blowing-amazing stuff. Also check out some of the resources provided at the end of the post.

Designer: Jonas Eriksson – Malmo, Sweden

Designer: Waldo LEE – Paris, France

Designer: Predrag Milankovic – Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Designer: Wallstreet Different Creature – Krakow, Poland

Designer: Mike Campau – Birmingham, MI, United States

Designer: Alexandre Szewinski – Sao Bento do Sul, Brazil

Designer: Elina Kasesalu – Tallinn, Estonia

Designer: Stefanos Michaelides – Thessaloniki, Greece

Designer: Jorge Artola – Panama City, Panama

Designer: Rasoloarison Live – Paris, France

Designer: Omar Torres – Guatemala City, Guatemala

Designer: Tatiana Sobral – Sao Paulo, Brazil

Designer: Laura Alejo – Brooklyn, NY, United States

Designer: Medusateam – Lerida, Spain

Designer: Cláudio Hickstein – Porto Alegre, Brazil

Designer: Steve Sojkowsk – Boston, MA, United States

Designer: Unknown

Bonus Material

Detailed Water Splash Vector File

15 Adobe Illustrator Splash Brushes

Ice Cube Falling Into Water Vector Illustration

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Origami is the traditional Japanese folk art of paper folding. It uses the art of transforming a flat sheet of material into a finished sculpture through a number of folds. Following the origami design trend in 2009, graphic design industry has been flooded with numerous examples of origami inspired company logo designs. Origami logo designs have been used by companies who wish to project a temporary modern, sharp and elegant look. Below are some examples of creative origami logo designs for your inspiration. Moreover, some origami logo design tutorials have also been provided at the end of this post. Now, who doesn’t remember the paper boat we used to make in our younger years? Enjoy!

Origami Logo Design Inspiration

Origami Style Logo Design Tutorials

Create an Origami Logo in Photoshop

Origami Logo Design In Illustrator

Create an Origami Swan Logo in Photoshop

Fold an Origami Logo in Photoshop

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