Icons are representations or metaphors, and, just as metaphors do, they have boundaries. Icons substitute a unit of meanings (Idea, concept, action). The main advantage of icons is that they make possible the representation of many ideas, concepts, etc, in little space. Because it is very important to take advantage of every nook and cranny of interfaces, icons are very useful for this application.

Although people believe the opposite, icons are not recognized faster than texts. Actually, icons are recognized as fast as texts. Icons are always subjective; they depend on the personal and subjective interpretation of each individual according to their experiences. They are never completely clear or unequivocal and they can be easily misunderstood. They are equivalent representations of the physical world. It is pretty easy to represent an idea with an icon, but icons are not good to represent many ideas: the different meanings get mixed up and they become enigmatic.

Icons depend on intuition, sometimes they work perfectly and sometimes they don’t. They are not reliable as a method of interaction with the audience. Icons are images whose only function is to be visually attractive. They may appear:

In program interfaces: they make folders, applications, files and tools identifiable. They are the habitual icons on the computer desktop or the icons of Windows and Mac programs.

As graphic elements in files and websites. In these cases, icons are used to separate sections, paragraphs; they are used as graphic accents or as small illustrations.

All websites try to include as much graphic information as they can so that they are not only more pleasing to read, but they also help visitors realize, at a glance, what the site is about and the contents they will be able to accede. Some applications for websites use symbols sources (dingbats) in order to produce their own fitting icons.