We see and use icons everyday to the point where it doesn’t occur to us so much anymore, because most icons are so easily recognized that they often have the ability to replace words. This is the impact of icons on our daily lives. Netflix, the streaming service known to be easy to use, is a perfect example.
These icons above are shown on the bottom left side of the screen when a video is playing. We know what they mean even without labels. Breaking down some of these icons, we can really see how they came to be and their resemblance to actual objects that have the same meaning:
- The Play icon is probably the most recognizable and used. It is a triangle in the direction that looks like an arrow, going forward. Although the history of this icon is not so clear, it is so commonly used that everyone knows it by a quick glance.
- The Fast Forward and Backward icons are indicated by arrows. The number 10 can easily, and realistically, be understood as 10 seconds.
3. The Sound icon is in the shape of a speaker. The curved lines, or sound waves, next to it shows the volume — the more sound waves, the louder it is.
The same goes for these icons below, which are shown on the bottom right side of the screen when a video is playing:
- The Help icon is represented by a question mark, which is usually used when a question or confusion arises.
2. The Next icon is only clickable when a TV show is playing and there are next episodes to click into. The play icon combined with a line can be understood as the separation between episodes.
3. The Episodes icon shows 3 screens, each resembling a different episode, meaning the user can click to find other episodes or seasons to watch.
4. The icon for Audio/Subtitles is a talk bubble with lines that represent words. This isn’t super commonly seen, but in the context, it can be quickly recognized.
5. The Playback Speed icon is an icon of a timer, and allows the user to select different speeds to play the video.
6. The Fullscreen icon is a quite familiar one. It shows an expanded screen, which is exactly what “fullscreen” means.
The icons that Netflix uses are consistently bold and simple, with squared edges. White is the main colour, which makes them stand out on the dark inlay. After observing them in detail and sketching some out in Adobe Illustrator, I noticed that line weights differ slightly between certain icons. For example, the line weight being used as a border is heavier.
All in all, Netflix makes a great use of icons that are easily recognizable, used efficiently, consistent in style, and have clear meaning.
