Icons

Material icons use geometric shapes to visually represent core ideas, capabilities, or topics.

Product icons are the visual expression of a brand’s products, services, and tools.

Sizing

Product icons are 48dp; system icons are 24dp

Icons on light backgrounds

Icon state	Opacity
Active + focused	87%
Active + unfocused	54%
Inactive	38%

Icons on dark backgrounds

Icon state	Opacity
Active + focused	100%
Active + unfocused	70%
Inactive	50%

Product icons

Product icons are the visual expression of a brand’s products, services, and tools. Simple, bold, and friendly, they communicate the core idea and intent of a product. While each product icon is visually distinct, all product icons for a given brand should be unified through concept and execution.

Use these guidelines as a starting point to ensure that your product icon colors and key elements reflect your brand identity.

Material icons

Material icons are easy to use in your web, Android, and iOS projects.

Design approach

Product icon design is inspired by the tactile and physical quality of material. Each icon is cut, folded, and lit as paper would be, but represented by simple graphic elements. The quality of the material is sturdy, with clean folds and crisp edges. The matte-like finish interacts with light through subtle highlights and consistent shadows.

Physical prototype

Lighting study

Material prototype

Color study

Product icon grid

The product icon grid has been developed to facilitate consistency and establish a clear set of rules for the positioning of graphic elements. This standardization results in a flexible but coherent system.

Grid

Keylines

Keyline shapes

Keyline shapes are the foundation of the grid. By using these core shapes as guidelines, you can maintain a consistent visual proportion across related product icons.

Square

Height: 152dp
Width: 152dp

Circle

Diameter: 176dp

Vertical rectangle

Height: 176dp
Width: 128dp

Horizontal rectangle

Height:128dp
Width:176dp

DP unit grid

Android expects product icons to be provided at 48dp, with edges at 1dp. When you create the icon, maintain the 48-unit measure, but scale it to 400% at 192 x 192 dp (the edge becomes 4dp).

Any scaling done to the original will scale the image up or down proportionally. By maintaining the unit ratio, you preserve sharp edges and correct alignment when the scale is reduced.

1:1 Unit grid

4:1 Unit grid

Geometry

Preset standards have been determined for specific keylines: circle, square, rectangle, orthogonals, and diagonals. This small palette of universal and simple elements has been developed to unify product icons and systemize their placement on the grid.

Product icon anatomy

Product icon anatomy describes the graphic elements that make up a product icon. The consistency of these elements across icons for a given brand is critical in maintaining a shared visual language. Familiarity with these elements makes it easier to understand characteristics of each logo and subtle differences between them. It will also help educate your eye to recognize the underlying structure of logo designs.

1. Finish
2. Material background
3. Material foreground
4. Color
5. Shadow

Components

Each component is positioned on top of the previous one, always viewed from straight above.

Construction perspective

An exploded perspective example illustrating the context of each component of the logo construction.

Material background

The back-most material element

Material foreground

A material element raised above, and casting a shadow upon, the material background.

Spot color

Color applied to a small portion of an element.

Flooding

Color applied to an entire element, edge-to-edge.

Tinted edge

The top edge of a material element. A tint is the mixture of a color with white, which lightens the original color.

Shaded edge

The bottom edge of a material element. Shade is the mixture of a color with a darker hue, which darkens the original color.

Contact shadow

A soft shadow around all edges of a raised material element.

Finish

A soft tint above all elements to provide surface lighting, fading from upper-left to lower-right.

Product icon metrics

Lighting

Within the material environment, virtual lights illuminate the scene and allow objects to cast shadows. A top light cast on material elements creates a contact shadow while highlighting the top and bottom edges. An angled light reinforces the sense of surface across the elements.

Top

45º angle

Shadows

For a product icon, the top light from above casts a soft shadow surrounding an element lightly on the top and left. The shadow is slightly heavier below and to the right. This shadow is always contained within the icon’s silhouette.

Drop shadow metrics

Mode: Normal
Opacity: 20%
X Offset: 0dp
Y Offset: 4dp
Blur: 4dp
Color: Refer to Tint, shade and shadow values

Edge tint and shade

The top and bottom edges of material elements provide a sense of depth and surface. Material elements have a standard 1dp thickness. All edge distances are measured from an element's interior edge.

Tint highlights the top edge of all elements. The left, right, and bottom edges do not have a tint applied.

Shade darkens the bottom edge of all elements. The left, right, and top edges do not have a shade applied.

Tinted edge

Height: 1dp
Opacity: 20%
Color: White (#FFFFFF)

Shaded edge

Height: 1dp
Opacity: 20%
Color: Refer to Tint, shade and shadow values

Finish

The finish layer is a result of the virtual 45º light source. It extends from the top-left corner to the exterior edge of the icon’s silhouette. The finish is always contained within these boundaries.

Gradient metrics

Type: Radial
Angle: 45º
Color: White (#FFFFFF)
Midpoint Location: 33%

Slider 1
Opacity: 10%
Location: 0%

Slider 2
Opacity: 0%
Location: 100%

Tint, shade, and shadow values

Each color reacts differently when tints and shades are added. The color of every edge tint, edge shade, and shadow needs to be adjusted for each color that lies behind it. To ensure color harmony, follow the appropriate value for each.

Product icon patterns

Influenced by the behavior of physical material, simple conventions provide a sense of surface and tactility. The interactions of material and color allow for numerous unique compositions.

Color

Colored elements are flush with the paper’s surface.

Don’t embellish colored elements with any edges or shadows.

Do.

Don’t.

Don’t add shadows.

Layer

Layered paper elements create depth through edges and shadows.

Be cautious with the quantity of overlapping surfaces. Having too many complicates the icon and lacks focus.

Do.

Don’t.

Don’t add too many layers

Elevate

Elevating a key material element atop a simple background silhouette focuses attention to the center.

Don’t crop elevated material elements within another shape.

Do.

Don’t.

Don’t crop elevated materials.

Score

Scored material elements have the illusion of depth without losing their geometric form. Scores should be centered on symmetrical shapes.

Don’t use multiple scores, or position a score off-center.

Do.

Don’t.

Don’t position a score off-center.

Fold

Folded material elements are skewed, having greater dimension. Spot colors should be avoided, so as to avoid altering or misrepresenting key elements.

Do.

Don’t.

Overlap

Overlapped material elements create unique silhouettes. All elements, edges, and shadows are confined to the interior of the silhouette.

Don’t exceed more than two overlaps. Having too many complicates the icon and lacks focus.

Do.

Don’t.

Accordion

Accordion folded material elements are adjoined by a connecting fold, used to add dimension to a single material element.

Don’t exceed more than two accordion folds. Having too many complicates the icon and lacks focus.

Do.

Don’t.

Don’t use three accordion folds.

Distort

Product icons should never be distorted or transformed. Elements should remain in their geometric form, and not be skewed, rotated, bowed, warped, or bent.

Don’t.

Don’t distort the icon.

Don’t.