Iconography

Iconography is a visual language used to represent features, functionality, or content. Icons are intended to be simple visual elements that are recognized and understood immediately.

On this page

Icon set

The basic icon set represents actions, status, and symbols. Icons are displayed in 4 sizes based on its usage — normal (16x16px), medium (20x20px), big (32x32px), large (48x48px). Icon variants may also be utilized to best support the icon's usage. Refer to icon usage for more guidelines regarding the 8 variants.

General guidelines

  • Use labels with status and symbol icons.

  • Don't use icons with page, section, or sub section headlines.

  • Don't combine multiple icons into one object or action.

Custom icons

When designing a custom icon consider the following:

  • Icons must be 16x16px. Some Cloudscape components will resize icons depending on the context.

  • Design icons using lines, not fills. Consistently use a 2px stroke, and align the stroke to the center. Ensure that each line is accurately aligned to the pixel grid in the icon template. Cloudscape components will adjust the stroke width based on the size of the icon.

  • Cloudscape components will adjust the color based on the icon’s concrete usage and context.

  • Save or export your icon as an SVG. When doing so, don’t convert the line stroke to outline.

Usage

Icon sizes and typography

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Heading 5

paragraph

small

Icons can be set to 4 sizes based on its usage — normal (16x16px), medium (20x20px), big (32x32px), large (48x48px). The default size for all icons is the normal size. All action icons in particular are only displayed with the normal size.

When using status or symbol icons combined with text, the size of the icon should correlate with the font-size of the text. Make sure to choose the appropriate icon size of the 4 available to best match the height of the icon and the text together.

Example: Use the big icon size when paired with an h1.

Action icons

Action icons represent controls to perform actions on resources or the page layout. They may be placed on their own or in a button.

Variants

Depending on the context, you can use action icons with the following variants: normal, disabled, inverted, link, or subtle.

Buttons

An action icon that's displayed on its own is called an icon button. We recommend using this with standalone actions. All action icons include hover states and active states (when applicable) to increase usability.

Example: Settings icon in a table.

In contrast, you can also use action icons with the normal-style button when it’s grouped with other elements, such as within an action stripe or attached to a form field. We recommend you use this style only for common actions, and that you include a text label describing the icon.

Example: Refresh button within an action stripe.

Status icons

Status icons are visual representations that communicate the status of a resource in a compact form that’s easily embedded in other elements. The icon, color, and appending text are independent from each other and should be combined to best support your use case. If an existing icon is already sufficient for your use case, refrain from generating new status icons. For guidelines about common uses, see status indicators.

Shape

Status icons are distinguished from action and symbol icons by its additive structure. The shape is derived from the combination of a metaphorical state (for example, a check) and a specific shape (circle or triangle) to contain the state. Icons contained within squares are not status indicators.

Placement

Place status icons to the left of the resource or message that indicates a status.

Symbol icons

Use symbol icons to bring additional visual emphasis or to symbolize an object that doesn't pertain to status. To avoid visual noise, use symbol icons sparingly and only when absolutely necessary.

Placement

Place symbol icons to the left of the resource or message that it supports.