DesignLab | Reflection points Icons

Haley Park
3 min readMar 2, 2021

To start this project, I went to the kitchen where I spend most my time daily. I had no idea how many lock icons I have been living with! Probably the reason I didn’t recognize those icons before was because I accepted them as a part of my daily life. As I was taking pictures, I got to appreciate those icons that make my life quality better.

Rice cooker!

Rice-cooker, blender, and door-lock

People say “simple is good.” I think it applies when it comes to daily safety as well. It ensures me that I won’t get hurt from hot rice steam, from sharp blades, and from thieves. Out of those icons, the MVP goes to the blender locks. I had a horrible experience that I almost got my fingers off while cleaning inside the blender a few years ago, so I always make sure to check the icon and the ‘red’ color. It makes it easier for my brain to recognize that the un-connected red lock is dangerous.

It was also interesting how each of the locks look different even though they are all LOCKS. I wonder how much effort and time were spent while creating each of them; however, I think the blender locks are the most effective. If you look closely, the rice-cooker and door-lock locks look like lipsticks.

Icons I digitized on Figma.

As I was creating these icons, I realized that “simple” is not always easy to create! I want to give thanks for those who took their time and effort to make those icons simple to use!

Coffee bean grinder

Coffee bean grinder

Fun fact:

I didn’t know there were such icons before I took these pictures on the coffee bean grinder. How come? I am not sure. I only saw numbers above those icons when grinding beans in different sizes. It says right there how fine it is, but I googled each time to find out which number indicated the degree of fineness I wanted. I think it’s because of the background color and the complexity of the signs. When the light reflects on the grinder, I can’t really see the icons and words, and the complex icons make it harder to see. Then, how would I want to make those icons more visible? I will create them for the next assignment! Let’s see!

(So, here’s my work the next day)

Lesson for today: never underestimate someone’s work. In my previous work, I expressed how I couldn’t see the icons on the coffee bean grinder, so then I would make them better. I should’ve not said that because It’s the work that someone else tried really hard to produce. I get to be appreciate for little things related to design around me.

Lots of respect for designers :)

--

--

Haley Park
0 Followers

From South Korea, studying UX Design with educational background