Icons are a critical element of UI design and as important a part of your web project as web fonts, but creating custom icons for each project is rarely practical as it’s so time-consuming. On the other hand, finding those hidden treasures in a pool of tens of thousands of free icons also takes time.
That’s why we’ve stepped in to help out – we’ve picked out a great selection of free icons, and hopefully you’ll find at least a few sets that you can put to good use in your own projects, whether they’re personal or commercial.
Freepik’s animal icons are delightfully minimal
This fantastic set of 80 wildlife icons manages to be thoroughly clean and minimal while also being wonderfully expressive. It’s the work of Freepik, and the free download comes with the icons both in PNG format and original SVG vector files.
02. Point & Square colour icons
The tiniest dash of colour brings these vector icons to life
If you like a little splash of colour in your icons but don’t want to go too far, this set by Iconshock may be just what you’re looking for. Its pixel-perfect icons are mainly monochromatic but enlivened by eye-catching dashes of colour, and they come in AI, SVG and EPS formats.
These isometric beauties aren’t just for accountants
This set of 30 isometric icons has been created with the accounting industry in mind, but there are some fab pieces in there that could easily be turned towards more general use if you’re so inclined.
04. iconmonstr
You can easily download free icons at iconmonstr
The iconmonstr website is a great place to find black and white vector icons. They’re available in various sizes, and you can download them either in .PNG or .SVG format.
05. Find Icons
Find icons at Find Icons – it doesn’t get simpler than that
Find Icons helps you track down everything from flat black and white icons to colourful 3D icons. Uncover what you’re looking for by searching by colour, background colour and even style.
06. Icon Archive
Icon Archive’s rating system will help you decide which free icons to download
At Icon Archive you’ll have to sort the wheat from the chaff to a certain extent, but you are able to sort icons by colour, background colour, size, style and category, and download PNGs in four different sizes.
07. Icon Gallery
Icon Gallery is literally a gallery of great free icons. Hence the name
Icon Gallery offers you with a simpler filter option to help you find the icons you’re looking for. Icons are available in several sizes to download in .PNG or .ICO.
08. The Noun Project
The Noun Project offer free icons devoted to a similar aesthetic
Gaining more and more traction and use, the aim of The Noun Project is to provide free icons that all have a similar and consistent aesthetic. It’s like a ‘free icon set’ that’s been juiced up with a search area, a beautiful UI, and some fantastic icon designs.
09. IconToucan
IconToucan enables you to drag, drop, and download whatever free icons you like
The primary benefit of IconToucan is convenience. The site enables you to quickly view the transparent, PNG icons and then drag and drop them into a drawer on the right side of the page. Appearing underneath is a list of those icons you’ve chosen and with a single click you can download all the free icons you’ve selected at once in a ZIP archive file.
10. Minicons
Minicons provides 210 free icons for web design and wireframes to choose from
Minicons offers a clean set of 210, vector-based free icons with a few hidden gems. You can download all of them in a single click, and they’re are free for both personal and commercial use. If you want more, you can open the wallet and pay $59 for the complete package of 1,500 vector icons.
11. Fontello
Create your own webfonts of icons with this easy composer
This site lets you create your own free webfonts of icons. You basically select the ‘glyphs’ of icons you want in your font from a few different (really nice) collections. You can change the pixel sizes, customise the file names, and download your webfont bundle. Everything is generated through the site and ready for publishing on yours.
12. Socialico
Socialico offers a package of 74 free icons for social media use
Social media is everywhere these days, and the number and variety of social-based sites is increasing all the time. Every website designer seems to have the need for some good social media icons, and this collection provides some of the more common ones (Facebook and Twitter) to more niche ones (Dribbble and deviantART). The free icons come as a font, with the icons both in a circle holding shape and without a circle.
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