To be colorblind and not be able to play a game or use an interface because of it would suck. Let’s fix that problem by adding simple icons alongside colors.
I developed this standard while working on Delivery Duck. There are other standards out there but I was frustrated with a few things:
- The icons were abstract and difficult to remember.
- The icons had to be viewed at the correct orientation, otherwise they looked like an icon for a different colour.
The Icons
The Criteria
Icons have been selected based on 3 criteria:
- The object is heavily associated with that colour
- The object’s shape is unique compared to the other objects
- The object is well known, easy to identify and easily remembered
Though there could be an object better associated with a particular colour, the right balance has to be found; the object also has to be a unique shape and easy to identify and remember
Purple for example was a tough color to crack, not many objects are purple and ones that are (such as eggplant) aren’t easily identifiable. In this case an easily identifiable object with a unique shape was chosen.
Usage
Place the icons within or on top of their associated color, or any way that works with your game/interface.
For Delivery Duck we placed the icons like so:
Download
Simple download this SVG file and modify to your needs. Please keep the icons themselves the same shape, but you may modify the circle border and place the icons anywhere you wish.