Standard Blog Icon

As they say the great things about standards, is that there’s so many to choose from ; )

With the prevalence of blogging you’d think someone would have come up with a standard icon for blogs by now, well apparently not.

A few months ago I was mulling over the idea that there isn’t a universally recognised, standard blog icon, but I got side tracked by god knows what & forgot all about it until a couple of weeks ago when I found the scribbles in my notepad.

So I opened up illustrator and about 15mins later the icon above popped out. OK, I admit I’ve not created a new standard per se, that takes time, but who knows, in years to come maybe everyone will be using it. As nearly all blogs have the RSS feed option and that’s how a lot of people read them, I’ve based the icon on the standard RSS feed icon.

In any case, here it is, it’s free, it’s yours to own, no restrictions. If you think it’s really cool and you want to let me know, then fine, use the Facebook page link, but in all honestly, if you think it’s that good I’d prefer you told everyone else, go to www.theblogicon.com, link to the Facebook page, link to the Twitter page, I’m really not after the glory, I simply want to see a standard blog icon in use.

So please pass it on, you can even edit & tweak it, even call it you own, for all I care (although if you do want to credit me, then remember to use Bernd’s inspired by icon), I just want to see a standard icon in use, I’m not after the glory, just usability.

Click here for a .zip containing the icon in various sizes in PNG & GIF formats, plus the original Photoshop & Illustrator vector file just click the logo above.

blog-icon-200

UPDATE:
to clarify, the blog icon is registered at Creative Commons as Attribution-ShareAlike http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses/
ie anyone can use it, modify it, pass it on etc, but they must do so with the same rights, ie they shouldn’t charge anyone for it or add any restrictions

you should follow me on twitter here


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Comments

  1. CoCreatr Avatar

    Now, that is an (i) inspiring blog icon. Thank you for it and the nice mention. Now let me see what I can mash up from it.

    Find me on twitter, too. I donated the (i) to the public domain, there is really no other way to make it useful to the world.

  2. CoCreatr Avatar

    Now, that is an (i) inspiring blog icon. Thank you for it and the nice mention. Now let me see what I can mash up from it.

    Find me on twitter, too. I donated the (i) to the public domain, there is really no other way to make it useful to the world.

  3. marieyap Avatar

    oh nice blog icon

  4. marieyap Avatar

    oh nice blog icon

  5. […] Note: thanks to Brendan Mitchell for the new standard blog icon […]

  6. […] Note: thanks to Brendan Mitchell for the new standard blog icon […]

  7. tkujapan Avatar
    tkujapan

    I love this icon. thank you for making it.

  8. tkujapan Avatar
    tkujapan

    I love this icon. thank you for making it.

  9. Brendan Mitchell Avatar

    you’re welcome 🙂

  10. Brendan Mitchell Avatar

    you’re welcome 🙂

  11. Web Design Dave Avatar

    Well its easy enough to understand, and that is what is important. Definitely need a blog icon that the world can conform to.

  12. Web Design Dave Avatar

    Well its easy enough to understand, and that is what is important. Definitely need a blog icon that the world can conform to.

  13. dva Avatar
    dva

    Love the icon. I wouldn’t use the orange icon though; it looks too much like the RSS icon. Red could be the standard color for blogs, maybe?

  14. dva Avatar
    dva

    Love the icon. I wouldn’t use the orange icon though; it looks too much like the RSS icon. Red could be the standard color for blogs, maybe?

  15. Jeffrey Fass Avatar

    Gratitudes for the icon, Brendan. It’s just right!

    Jeffrey

  16. Jeffrey Fass Avatar

    Gratitudes for the icon, Brendan. It’s just right!

    Jeffrey

  17. Ryan Trask Avatar

    Very interesting post and icon. I like the idea.

  18. Ryan Trask Avatar

    Very interesting post and icon. I like the idea.

  19. Ore Avatar

    Beautiful icon!

  20. Ore Avatar

    Beautiful icon!

  21. Nathan Allan Avatar

    Very nice! Just what I was looking for. I will try to get the word out on this great idea, in my own little way.

  22. Nathan Allan Avatar

    Very nice! Just what I was looking for. I will try to get the word out on this great idea, in my own little way.

  23. Clark Avatar
    Clark

    I appreciate your efforts. I agree with other comments about the color. If this icon is next to or near a RSS icon it’s too similar. It really should be a different color.

  24. Clark Avatar
    Clark

    I appreciate your efforts. I agree with other comments about the color. If this icon is next to or near a RSS icon it’s too similar. It really should be a different color.

  25. Brendan Mitchell Avatar

    Hi Clark, thanks for your comment. Yes I agree, when I first created the icon I had used the RSS icon as inspiration, but as you’ll notice if you download the .zip file there are numerous colour variations to choose from. In a sense I don’t think sticking with a single colour is entirely necessary (although yes colour is an important aspect)… but when I’ve visited sites using the icon, they have used it in various colours, to suit their own website colour palette.

    Anyway hope you find a use for the icon and spread the idea

  26. Brendan Mitchell Avatar

    Hi Clark, thanks for your comment. Yes I agree, when I first created the icon I had used the RSS icon as inspiration, but as you’ll notice if you download the .zip file there are numerous colour variations to choose from. In a sense I don’t think sticking with a single colour is entirely necessary (although yes colour is an important aspect)… but when I’ve visited sites using the icon, they have used it in various colours, to suit their own website colour palette.

    Anyway hope you find a use for the icon and spread the idea

  27. C Ring Avatar

    thanks for this, really good and a really great help.

  28. C Ring Avatar

    thanks for this, really good and a really great help.

  29. KL Avatar
    KL

    Cudos to the idea, but I do think it is way too close the RSS icon.

  30. KL Avatar
    KL

    Cudos to the idea, but I do think it is way too close the RSS icon.

  31. Jon Avatar

    This is most excellent! Thanks for creating and sharing.

  32. Jon Avatar

    This is most excellent! Thanks for creating and sharing.

  33. […] momentum, I get on average just under a 100 people a day searching on google then clicking on the original post on my personal block, that’s about 350,000 people a year! never expected […]

  34. […] momentum, I get on average just under a 100 people a day searching on google then clicking on the original post on my personal block, that’s about 350,000 people a year! never expected […]

  35. Greg Fleischaker Avatar

    Awesome, just what I was looking for, thanks for your generosity.

  36. Greg Fleischaker Avatar

    Awesome, just what I was looking for, thanks for your generosity.

  37. Linda BD Avatar
    Linda BD

    there really does need to be a standard blog icon, so thanks for your design ideas, I like them so am including one on my website next to my other social media buttons

    for what it’s worth I like the white on black or black on white. I also like the white on red. I think the colour/look needs to be quite distinct from the other social media buttons out there & these colours I mentioned are!

    have you done anything to drive usage of it as a standard blog icon? I am going to suggest it to a number of influential social media forums, lets see if we can get it happening!!

  38. Linda BD Avatar
    Linda BD

    there really does need to be a standard blog icon, so thanks for your design ideas, I like them so am including one on my website next to my other social media buttons

    for what it’s worth I like the white on black or black on white. I also like the white on red. I think the colour/look needs to be quite distinct from the other social media buttons out there & these colours I mentioned are!

    have you done anything to drive usage of it as a standard blog icon? I am going to suggest it to a number of influential social media forums, lets see if we can get it happening!!

  39. Brendan Mitchell Avatar

    Hi Linda, thanks for your feedback and support.

    I must admit that I’ve not actively pushed the blog icon, I guess I should a little more. I get around 100-150 people a day arriving at this blog post from google searches alone, so I guess that indicates there’s a need for one, or at the very least, people are looking for one.

    I do have the twitter and facebook pages, but I don’t really expect people to visit them (why would they!), I looked at adding the blog icon onto wikipedia, but without validated external endorsements and links I don’t appear to be able to submit it.

    So any help you can provide via social media forums would be greatly appreciated

  40. Brendan Mitchell Avatar

    Hi Linda, thanks for your feedback and support.

    I must admit that I’ve not actively pushed the blog icon, I guess I should a little more. I get around 100-150 people a day arriving at this blog post from google searches alone, so I guess that indicates there’s a need for one, or at the very least, people are looking for one.

    I do have the twitter and facebook pages, but I don’t really expect people to visit them (why would they!), I looked at adding the blog icon onto wikipedia, but without validated external endorsements and links I don’t appear to be able to submit it.

    So any help you can provide via social media forums would be greatly appreciated

  41. […] the other hand, the first problem with standards: there are so many to choose from. The second problem: because technology innovation speeds up ever faster, standardization […]

  42. […] the other hand, the first problem with standards: there are so many to choose from. The second problem: because technology innovation speeds up ever faster, standardization […]

  43. KirkH Avatar

    Thanks for coming up with this Brendan. We’re looking for a blog icon to use in our emails to our customers so we’re going to roll with yours- I’ll send you some examples when we’re up and running.

  44. KirkH Avatar

    Thanks for coming up with this Brendan. We’re looking for a blog icon to use in our emails to our customers so we’re going to roll with yours- I’ll send you some examples when we’re up and running.

  45. Brendan Mitchell Avatar

    you’re welcome Kirk

  46. Brendan Mitchell Avatar

    you’re welcome Kirk

  47. threethirty Avatar

    This is awesome the only problem I see with adoption is there isn’t clear licensing.

  48. Brendan Mitchell Avatar

    Hi Threethirty, thanks for the comment.

    I guess I haven’t made it clear above, I shall update the post, but the blog icon is registered at Creative Commons as Attribution-ShareAlike http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses/
    ie anyone can use it, modify it, pass it on etc, but they must do so with the same rights, ie they shouldn’t charge anyone for it or add any restrictions, hope that answers your question
    thanks again
    Brendan

  49. Brendan Mitchell Avatar

    Hi Threethirty, thanks for the comment.

    I guess I haven’t made it clear above, I shall update the post, but the blog icon is registered at Creative Commons as Attribution-ShareAlike http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses/
    ie anyone can use it, modify it, pass it on etc, but they must do so with the same rights, ie they shouldn’t charge anyone for it or add any restrictions, hope that answers your question
    thanks again
    Brendan

  50. Mark Hesketh Avatar

    Hi Brendan,

    I was making a new iOS style nav bar for my portfolio website and ran into the same problem… I wanted an icon for the blog that wasn’t just the WordPress/Blogger icon or something.

    I’d seen this icon flag up on Google Images (it’s obviously circulating) and thought it was very clever.

    Just wanted to say cheers, its just what I was looking for!

    Mark

  51. Mark Hesketh Avatar

    Hi Brendan,

    I was making a new iOS style nav bar for my portfolio website and ran into the same problem… I wanted an icon for the blog that wasn’t just the WordPress/Blogger icon or something.

    I’d seen this icon flag up on Google Images (it’s obviously circulating) and thought it was very clever.

    Just wanted to say cheers, its just what I was looking for!

    Mark

  52. Brendan Mitchell Avatar

    You’re welcome Mark, glad you like it, and please remember to pass on the links http://www.facebook.com/theblogicon and twitter @theblogicon
    brendan

  53. Brendan Mitchell Avatar

    You’re welcome Mark, glad you like it, and please remember to pass on the links http://www.facebook.com/theblogicon and twitter @theblogicon
    brendan

  54. […] files, PNG and GIF) and sizes can be found over at http://www.theblogicon.com/Or you can read Brendan’s original blog post. Tweet Posted in Inspiration, WordPress | Tagged blog, design, icon, wordpress | Leave a […]

  55. […] files, PNG and GIF) and sizes can be found over at http://www.theblogicon.com/Or you can read Brendan’s original blog post. Tweet Posted in Inspiration, WordPress | Tagged blog, design, icon, wordpress | Leave a […]

  56. Lethbridge Marketing Avatar

    [please delete the first post – major typo]

    WOW, thank you! I didn’t want to use the wordpress icon as many people who aren’t bloggers or heavy in to the internet would not know what it meant.

    The icon is up at http://www.davidhowse.com/ which is the temp site and will soon be moved over to http://www.davidhowsemarketing.com/

    Cheers!

  57. Lethbridge Marketing Avatar

    [please delete the first post – major typo]

    WOW, thank you! I didn’t want to use the wordpress icon as many people who aren’t bloggers or heavy in to the internet would not know what it meant.

    The icon is up at http://www.davidhowse.com/ which is the temp site and will soon be moved over to http://www.davidhowsemarketing.com/

    Cheers!

  58. Keatonian Avatar

    Thanks! Great job… saved me hours of Photoshop-ing.

  59. Keatonian Avatar

    Thanks! Great job… saved me hours of Photoshop-ing.

  60. […] were in agreement with this advice and luckily we then stumbled across a solution in the form of a blog post by Brendan Mitchell from March 2009.  Brendan had come up against the same problem years earlier and couldn’t […]

  61. […] were in agreement with this advice and luckily we then stumbled across a solution in the form of a blog post by Brendan Mitchell from March 2009.  Brendan had come up against the same problem years earlier and couldn’t […]

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