The Proliferation and Problem of the ✨ Sparkles ✨ Icon

This content originally appeared on NN/g latest articles and announcements and was authored by Kate Kaplan

Summary: The sparkles icon has become increasingly prevalent in user interfaces, particularly in association with AI-driven features, but it suffers from ambiguity and lacks a standardized meaning.

This article features content from the book Digital Icons That Work: A Comprehensive Guide to Enhancing User Experience with Effective Iconography by Kate Kaplan (with a contributing chapter on icon design by Kelley Gordon ).

The Rise of the Sparkles Icon

Have you noticed how sparkles icons seem to be popping up across a variety of user interfaces over the past year or so? Everything — from the word-editing software I use, to UX tools, to various mobile-shopping applications — seems to have adopted a sparkles icon. What that sparkles icon means, however, differs from interface to interface.

The sparkles icon likely originated in image- and video-editing software as an indicator of special editing effects. More recently, it has evolved to signify something “special” or new (e.g., deals, promotions, or recent listings) — much like how the sparkles emoji is used in texting to communicate something exciting or intriguing.

This content originally appeared on NN/g latest articles and announcements and was authored by Kate Kaplan

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APA

Kate Kaplan | Sciencx (2024-09-20T17:00:00+00:00) The Proliferation and Problem of the ✨ Sparkles ✨ Icon. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2024/09/20/the-proliferation-and-problem-of-the-%e2%9c%a8-sparkles-%e2%9c%a8-icon/

MLA

" » The Proliferation and Problem of the ✨ Sparkles ✨ Icon." Kate Kaplan | Sciencx - Friday September 20, 2024, https://www.scien.cx/2024/09/20/the-proliferation-and-problem-of-the-%e2%9c%a8-sparkles-%e2%9c%a8-icon/

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IEEE

" » The Proliferation and Problem of the ✨ Sparkles ✨ Icon." Kate Kaplan | Sciencx [Online]. Available: https://www.scien.cx/2024/09/20/the-proliferation-and-problem-of-the-%e2%9c%a8-sparkles-%e2%9c%a8-icon/. [Accessed: ]

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» The Proliferation and Problem of the ✨ Sparkles ✨ Icon | Kate Kaplan | Sciencx | https://www.scien.cx/2024/09/20/the-proliferation-and-problem-of-the-%e2%9c%a8-sparkles-%e2%9c%a8-icon/ |

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