Design1 min read
Drawing icons that hold up at 16 pixels
Pixel grids, optical sizes and stroke rules for icons that stay sharp at every size.
Megan Sims
Published
An icon that looks crisp at 48 pixels can turn to mush at 16. Holding up at small sizes is a matter of drawing for the pixel grid from the start.
We draw every icon on a 24-pixel grid with a two-pixel stroke, align straight edges to whole pixels, and check each one at 16 before it ships. Where a detail can’t survive the shrink, we draw a simpler version rather than hoping.
