← DictionaryIconography
also called icon set, icon system
A consistent set of simplified symbols used to label or aid navigation.
Your icons, drawn to the same rules.
What It Is
Iconography is a Brand item, filed under Identity. The canonical meaning is a consistent set of simplified symbols used to label or aid navigation.
It is a label with a settled working definition, so the value is in using it the same way every time. That definition is deliberately narrow — the narrowness is what makes it usable.
How It's Used
Iconography earns its keep in positioning conversations, identity decisions and the language a business commits to. In real work it sits close to Visual Language, Design System and Navigation. The practical test is whether everyone in the room means the same thing by it.
Why It Matters
The cost of being vague about Iconography shows up later, not today. When it is unclear, every later choice about message, design and channel is made on sand. Deciding it deliberately costs one conversation. Leaving it undecided costs several.
It is the short word for a longer explanation. Your icons, drawn to the same rules.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Inside the industry, Iconography is used tightly and assumed to be understood: a consistent set of simplified symbols used to label or aid navigation.
Away from the jargon, it is your icons, drawn to the same rules.
The Bottom Line
Iconography pays off when it is specific and costs you when it is not. Your icons, drawn to the same rules.