Icons8 Review: The Ultimate Design Kit for Creatives?
Finding the perfect design resources that meet their creative vision and align with their project requirements can be difficult for many designers. However, Icons8 seems to have cracked the code by providing a comprehensive design kit that caters to the diverse needs of creatives.
With an expansive collection of over 1,000,000 icons in over 45 different styles, Icons8 offers a vast library that ensures designers never run out of options. From flat icons to 3D to even animated icons, icons8 covers a wide range of styles and categories. Plus, all of the icons are cohesive and infinitely scalable!
But it doesn’t stop at just icons. Icons8 also offers other useful resources like illustrations, stock photos in sets, and a suite of AI tools to help in the creative process.
In this Icons8 review, I’ll explain what it is, who it’s best for, and its features. From there, I’ll show you how I could easily find, edit, and download a logo from Icons8 so you can do the same. I’ll finish by recommending the best Icons8 alternatives I’ve tried so you know if Icons8 is right for you!
Verdict
Icons8 provides a comprehensive design kit with an extensive library of icons, illustrations, and AI tools, catering to designers and developers seeking streamlined workflows. While it may not be the best resource for all types of creatives, the vast array of resources and user-friendly interface make it an excellent choice.
Pros
- The ultimate design kit for designers and developers, including a vast icon library, illustrations, photos, music, and helpful AI tools that streamline design workflows.
- Supports a wide variety of file formats like SVG and PNG.
- Download icons for free and use them personally and commercially! Just make sure you link back to Icons8.
- Icon tools for popular icon edits like recoloring, adding text, padding, and more.
- Available as a plugin on the most popular design software, including Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator, and more.
- Tutorials to master your design skills.
- Flexible, affordable pricing.
- User-friendly interface.
Cons
- To get some assets for free, you must link to Icons8. Otherwise, subscribe to their pro plan.
- For more advanced users, design limitations may exist when customizing on Icons8.
- Some may feel overwhelmed by the extensive array of choices available.
What is Icons8?
Icons8 is more than just a collection of icons; it’s a comprehensive design kit that simplifies the creative process for users, making it a go-to resource for designers, developers, and creatives.
It caters to various needs, offering various design assets, including icons, illustrations, photos, design tools, and more. It supports multiple file formats, such as PDF, SVG, and PNG, ensuring seamless integration into your projects. I was blown away by the export formats I was presented with when downloading icons!
The design tools are also extremely convenient. For example, Mega Creator allowed me to edit my logo directly from Icons8 without using complicated design software.
Icons8 also has many AI tools to streamline your photo edits. You can generate entire humans using artificial intelligence rather than hiring a model, enhance your image resolution, remove backgrounds, and more!
Who is Icons8 Best For?
Icons8 caters to a wide range of creative professionals, but there are certain types of people Icons8 is best for:
- Graphic Designers: Graphic designers can use Icons8’s vast library of icons, illustrations, and graphics to save time making them from scratch. The design tools also make creating and editing designs easier without complex software.
- Web Developers: Icons8 provides web developers with various design assets, including icons and illustrations, that can be easily integrated into websites and applications. The support for multiple file formats ensures compatibility with different development frameworks.
- UI/UX Designers: With Icons8, UI/UX designers have access to a wide range of design elements that can be used to create visually appealing and user-friendly interfaces. The versatility of Icons8 allows designers to explore different styles and themes to meet the specific needs of their projects.
- Developers: With Icons8’s plugins, developers can easily incorporate icons, illustrations, and other design elements into their websites, applications, and user interfaces. The icons, in particular, are consistent and responsive and come in various styles, making it easy for developers to achieve a cohesive and professional look.
Icons8 Features
THis platform is packed with features that make it a top choice for creatives. Here are the key features that Icons8 offers:
- Free Icons
- Illustrations
- Photos
- Royalty-Free Music
- Design Tools
- AI Tools
1. Free Icons
The Icon Library on Icons8 is an extensive collection of 1,000,000+ free icons, organized in various styles and themes that match each other!
Here are some highlights of the Icon Library:
- Icons are consistent.
- 45+ icon styles include outlines, solid colors, gradients, 3D, and animated icons!
- Scalable and responsive, meaning they look sharp on every device.
- Made by the best professional icon designers.
- Icon plugins for popular design tools, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and Figma.
- Icons are available in multiple file formats, including SVG, PNG, and GIF.
- Easy search functionality and categorization for efficient navigation through the library
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2. Illustrations
Icons8 comes with static, animated, and 3D illustrations. The static and animated illustrations are free with attribution.
Static
Icons8 also offers free vector, corporate, realistic, and quirky illustrations to help bring your designs to life. These illustrations are divided into various categories, such as business, technology, and nature, so you’ll easily find what you’re looking for and never run out of options.
Animated
If those aren’t working, you can always search through the Icons8 animated illustrations! You can download these for free with attribution.
Whether you’re working on a website or app, these illustrations will add a touch of creativity and uniqueness!
3D
Icons8 also offers a growing collection of over 700 3D models for motion design! These three-dimensional visuals are perfect for creating eye-catching designs that stand out.
The 3D models are broken down into various categories and include entire scenes, objects, and characters. With Icons8’s 3D graphics, you can bring your projects to life with depth and realism!
Read More
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3. Photos
In addition to icons and illustrations, Icons8 provides a wide range of high-quality photos that come in sets. That means you can keep your photos consistent! These photos cover a variety of subjects, including nature, animals, people, and more.
Read More
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- Shutterstock Review: The Best Asset Library for Creatives?
- Adobe Stock Review: The Best Stock Assets for Creatives?
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4. Royalty-Free Music
Icons8 also offers a collection of royalty-free music to use in your projects. The music library includes a diverse range of genres and moods, so you’ll easily be able to find something that fits the tone and style of your project.
5. Design Tools
Icons8 incorporates advanced design tools (some using artificial intelligence!) to streamline your design process.
Pichon
Pichon is a convenient drag-and-drop designer asset box to store, offering 1,000,000 icons, photos, and illustrations from a ready-made Icons8 library. These assets are automatically organized with artificial intelligence! Available on both macOS and Windows.
Lunacy
Lunacy is a free UI/UX design app for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Here are some of the AI tools it offers to speed up your workflow:
- Image upscale
- Background remover
- Text generator
- Avatar generator
It also has built-in icons, illustrations, and photos you can use in your designs without finding them elsewhere!
Mega Creator
Mega Creator lets you design illustrations using a drag-and-drop collection of high-quality graphics. All you have to do is choose a template, customize your design, and export it. Many templates are made for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and more, making this tool perfect for social media!
With Mega Creator, you’ll be able to edit your designs freely. However, you’ll have to subscribe to one of their plans to export.
Read More
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6. AI Tools
Icons8 takes design to the next level with its AI-powered design tools. These tools use artificial intelligence to enhance your creative process and make designing a breeze.
- Human generator: Rather than hiring a model, create realistic full-body photos of people.
- Face generator: Create original, expressive AI-generated faces instantly. Select the age, gender, facial expression, and more!
- AI-generated photos: Generate faces using AI.
- Face swapper: Generate high-quality face swaps with AI.
- Smart upscaler: Use AI to enhance the resolution of your images.
- Background remover: Remove backgrounds from your photos.
Read More
How to Use Icons8 to Download Icons
To give you a behind-the-scenes look at how easy it is to use icons8 to download design assets, here’s how I searched and downloaded an icon from Icons8 in seconds:
- Go to Icons
- Search a Keyword
- Filter the Results
- Select the Icon
- Download the Icon
Step 1: Go to Icons
I started by going to the Icons8 homepage and selecting the icons library.
Step 2: Search a Keyword
Despite its many resources, most creatives turn to Icons8 for icons (after all, it’s in the name) I wanted to see what the Icons8 library had to offer, so I searched for “phone” in the search bar.
I immediately got access to endless phone icons! I loved how organized the UI design on Icons8 was.
Step 3: Filter the Results
On the far left, I could filter the icons based on styles, categories, and the collections I’ve created. At the top, I could filter the icons based on animated or static, the designer, and the color. These filters made refining my search and finding the perfect icon for my project incredibly easy.
Step 4: Select the Icon
Once I found the phone icon I liked, I selected it. I easily customized it directly within Icons8, which was awesome! No complicated design tools or software were needed. I could also download, copy, or add the icon to a collection with a single click.
If the icon wasn’t what I was looking for, Icons8 recommended my icon in other styles and related icons in the same style. This made exploring different options and finding the perfect icon for my project incredibly easy.
Step 5: Download the Icon
When selecting “Download,” I was impressed by how many formats and PNG sizes I could choose! I could also edit my icon further in Lunacy and Mega Creator.
The icons from Icons8 are free to download, but you must link to the Icons8 website. If you don’t want to do this, subscribe to their pro plan.
My experience with Icons8 was excellent. Thanks to Icon8’s intuitive interface, finding the icon I was looking for didn’t take long. I was impressed by the wide range of formats and sizes I could download my icon in.
Plus, the editing tools provided by Icons8 were a game-changer. The ability to customize within the platform made finding the perfect icon for my project effortless. I was also pleased with the extensive filtering options, allowing me to refine my search and narrow down the results easily.
I’d highly recommend Icons8 as a free resource for quality design assets!
Top 3 Icons8 Alternatives
Here are the best Icons8 alternatives I’ve tried.
Flaticon
Flaticon gives you over 14.3 million free vector icons and stickers that can be downloaded in various formats. It’s also associated with additional design tools and resources:
- Free vectors and photos.
- An online design tool.
- Free templates for presentations.
- Free editable illustrations.
- Free videos for motion graphics.
Meanwhile, Icons8 offers a wider variety of creative assets like illustrations, photos, and music.
For more design tools, choose Flaticon. For a wider variety of creative assets, choose Icons8. Either way, see what these platforms offer and choose the best one according to your needs!
Read my Flaticon review!
Mixkit
Mixkit is another great alternative to Icons8. It provides a vast library of high-quality audio and video assets, including stock videos, stock music, sound effects, and video templates.
If you’re a videographer, filmmaker, or YouTuber, Mixkit will be the better choice for you compared to Icons8. UI/UX designers and web designers should turn to Icons8 for a vast icon library with icons in over 45 styles, illustrations, stock photos, and more.
Read my Mixkit review!
Pexels
Pexels is a popular platform for the best free stock photos and videos. It offers a diverse collection of high-quality visuals that can enhance any project.
If you’re only looking for high-quality photos and videos, Pexels is your best bet. For a wider range of creative assets, including an icon library, design tools, and AI tools, choose Icons8!
Read my Pexels review!
Icons8 Review: Is It the Ultimate Design Kit for Creatives?
Whether you are a graphic designer, developer, or creative professional, Icons8 offers a comprehensive design kit to elevate your creative projects. With an extensive library of icons, illustrations, and AI tools, Icons8 provides the resources to bring your ideas to life.
The extensive resources and tools Icons8 make it an incredible resource for creatives. However, the question of whether or not it’s the ultimate resource for you depends on your needs. For example, if you’re a videographer or filmmaker, choosing Mixkit to retrieve what you need to create stunning videos would be wiser, as Icons8 does not specialize in creating assets for video projects.
Regardless, the Icons8 intuitive interface and helpful tutorials make it easy to use all the features Icons8 has to offer. Finding and downloading the icon I wanted from Icons8 couldn’t have been easier. So, if you want to enhance your design process and create stunning work, Icons8 is worth considering!
Thanks for reading my Icons8 review! I hope you found it helpful. Try it for yourself and see how you like it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Icons8 used for?
Icons8 is a versatile design tool for crafting icons, illustrations, and visual design elements. The library of customizable assets, like icons and photos, caters to web design, app development, and graphic design projects. Offering various icon formats and sizes, Icons8 meets diverse design requirements.
Can you use Icons8 for free?
You can download some assets like icons and illustrations for free from Icons8 with attribution. However, 3D assets and exporting from Mega Creator require payment without attribution. The pricing for each type of asset or design tool you’re interested in using is on the Icons8 pricing page. Paid subscriptions unlock more features and unlimited downloads, and Icons8 Pro provides full access without attribution requirements.
How do I use Icons8 on my website?
The best way to use Icons8 assets on your website is by selecting the asset, hitting “Download,” and copying and pasting the HTML snippet onto your website. This will embed the asset directly into your code, ensuring it appears seamlessly on your website without slowing it down much.
Is Icons8 trustworthy?
Icons8 has solid credibility in the design realm, backed by years of industry presence and a vast user community. Renowned for top-notch design resources, Icons8 is a trusted choice among professionals and creatives seeking high-quality project tools. I used Icons8 and can verify that it is a trustworthy and reliable website.
What is Icons8 about?
Icons8 is a versatile platform catering to creatives by offering icons, illustrations, photos, and music. It equips designers with tools to craft visually appealing content for diverse projects. You can access many design assets for personal or commercial use through subscription or individual purchases.
How to get Icons8 for free?
Some assets, like the icons and certain illustrations, are free to download with attribution.
How does Icons8 work?
Icons8 offers various design elements like icons, photos, and music. Search or browse through categories for specific assets and download them. Depending on the asset, you can download it for free with attribution or have to pay for it. You can download assets in multiple formats and sizes for your projects.
