The innovative visual language – this is what is waiting for us in the upcoming 2015. Google announced its release this June, and the world spot the new term “material design”. Firstly applied in the interface of Android, it won the hearts of millions and was adopted by the most forward-minded web designers.
You can notice more and more websites implementing the main principles of this trend today, and most probably you find yourself thinking about creating something of this kind. To add a spoon of inspiration and share useful stuff, I offer you to browse and download a pack of material design free icons, the indispensable elements of any website.
Material Design and Its Principles
Material design is a very interesting topic to discuss. When facing it for the first time, you can’t even imagine those tons of data and research that is behind it. To answer all possible questions like “what is material design?”, “what's so special about it?”, etc, Google launched the complete guide where you can read everything you need to know about this innovation. TemplateMonster blog also published a post dedicated to this trend, and I hope that you haven’t missed it - Dribbble Shots: Material Design Inspiration.
In case you see this term for the first time:
Material design is the new visual language combining the key principles of good design and the innovation/possibility of technology and science.
Its main principle can be described as rendering realistic picture. It’s done through the bold graphic interface, interaction of objects that are conveyed through light dynamics, motion and rationalized space. Material design is grounded in tactile reality, inspired by the study of paper and ink. The foundational elements like typography, grids, colors, spaces, images, guides, visual treatments, and an emphasis on user's actions make core functionalities immediately apparent.
Material trend study can be a captivating pastime, and you can spend hours diving deeply into it. The manual from Google offers a detailed description of its main principles, tells about animation, style, components, and layout. You can even find in this guide the whole color palette that can be used for creating an authentic material designs. And in this post I want to share with you such elements of style as icons.
Material Design Free Icons
All icons in material design are treated as visual expression of a brand’s products. Being simple, bold, and friendly, they are perfect for communicating the core ideas of a product. These icons are cut, folded and are done with simple graphic elements at the core. Having at disposal the product icons grid, geometry and its anatomy (everything is in Google's guide), designers are practicing something based on new design language. Here you’ll find several material design icon packs that are completely free and ready for use. For today it’s the most complete compilation of all available icons of this kind.
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Android Material Design Icons
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And before leaving, I want to share with you several free templates that will help you create your own icons of this kind.
Icon Grid System
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Material Design Icon Templates
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Material Design Icon Templates
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P.S. In case you got something to add, feel free to drop your links in the comments below.