System icons Cloudya

System icons are both design features and signposts. We encounter them everywhere in the digital environment, often without us consciously noticing it. In the toolbar of our browser as well as in cell phone apps or the text and graphics programs we work with every day. System icons are small and minimalistic, but should still be quickly recognisable - a major challenge for designers.

Timo developed over 200 such system icons for the only Europe-wide cloud PBX provider NFON and its cloud-based communication platform Cloudya. That means: 200 different topics, each concentrated on a tiny grid measuring just 24 by 24 pixels.

But it wasn't just the limited space that was a challenge: system icons have to follow certain design rules due to their cross-platform use. Adapted line thicknesses and corner radii, the presence of “filled” variants, pixel accuracy and the area occupied by the graphics - everything must be adapted to one another and consistent throughout. Without a concept that precedes the design process, this is a difficult task.

Timo realized this by initially developing a general design line together with NFON, which was based on earlier NFON icon sets that he had also developed. Small, recurring design elements should tie in with the existing NFON appearance. At the same time, the system icons should have as unique a style as possible within the scope of technical possibilities. It's not even that important that every single icon appears unique - there are only a limited number of creative display options for an arrow icon, for example. The overall picture has to be right; the entire set presents a uniform style to the outside.

Timo also designed a modular system of over 100 icons and small illustrations based on the elements of the NFON logo.