3 Icon Packs for Windows Phone and Windows 8

The search for icons has driven many a developer to the brink of insanity.

OK, that may be over-stating the case, but it is always good to have more options when it comes to icons. Especially in Windows Phone and Windows 8, where the icon style is color-less, it is important to find exactly the icons that fit the functionality, draws the eye or conveys exactly the visual sense you’re looking for. Finding just the right icon brings a lot of personality to an application, so I thought I’d share where I get my icons.

Templarian’s Windows Phone icons

Austin Andrews has done superb work with his 300+ high quality Windows Phone icons (available for download and through a github repo). Looks like he’s working on Windows RT icons as well. Plus a tutorial on creating icons yourself.

If you use his icons in production, send him a donation. That’s not his rule, it’s mine.

Pictos

While not specifically designed for Windows Phone, I confess I’m in love with Drew Wilson’s Pictos series of icons and have used them in my own applications. They are beautiful, well crafted and a perfect fit for the app bar icon style. There are also usually several options for a single concept, allowing you to pick the style that you feel best fits your application. These vector icons look great large or small, so they’re perfect for cross-platform development.

And they are cheap. The original Pictos set (324 icons) clocks in at $29 for the vector pack and the subsequent Pictos 2, 3 and 4 (162 icons) are only $19 each.

Syncfusion Metro Studio

Finally, you’ll want to go check out the icons in Metro Studio from Syncfusion. Here you’ll find a collection of hundreds of icons in a dozen categories designed with the Windows Metro Modern style in mind. Wonderfully, they are free with registration.