Book 'Ball'Managing Multimedia    
   
     
 

Icons Picons and Micons

Send mail icon

An Icon, as might be used on a button on a web page, is a representation of an idea. In this case the symbolic meaning behind the icon is Send Mail such as might be used in an on-line kiosk to send comments or an order, or might be used in e-mail. The lines to the left of the envelope on the icon represent movement.

Send mail Picon

A Picon takes the idea a little further and uses a real image on the button. Sometimes the picture is clearer than an icon would be, but sometimes the extra detail in a photograph can be misleading. Once again the button represents the idea of sending mail. A cultural note here is that in some countries the place from which you send your letters is called a post box, and in others it is called a mail box. In electronic systems it is always called mail. The post box here (in fact a Danish one) might need to be a different colour or changed to a mail box if that suited the user culture better. In the US, one icon readily identified with mail is the US-style mail box, which is half a cylinder with a flap at the end and a flag to say you have mail to be collected.

Send mail Micon

The third example is a micon, which also moves (in this case it's an animated GIF file). This micon is an animation of the picon above, but it could just as well be specially shot video. You can, of course, use an animated graphic as well as an animated photo and this is the more commonly seen kind.

 

 

Within an application you might wish to differentiate between types of material using icons, picons and micons. A moving icon could lead to a movie and a more symbolic icon could provide background information. Using different styles and types of buttons in this way allows your viewer to know what kind of material is available behind a button.

As a foot note, you should be aware that many people consider use of animated buttons rather crass and you will sometimes come across pages so full of small animated icons that they may remind you of 'Toon Town'. Use with care.

You could think about what icon would represent the postal service in different countries and cultures. In much of Europe, for instance, a Post Horn design is used. The ALT tag on a web page can be used to give an explicit message about the purpose of the icon.

   
mini ballBook 1 Chapter 8 - Interface design