Icon Design — How Palash Sarkar Creates Custom Icon Sets for Products

Palash Sarkar builds custom icon sets rather than relying purely on stock icon libraries whenever a product's brand identity is distinctive enough to warrant it — off-the-shelf icons rarely match a specific brand's visual character exactly, and the mismatch is subtle but noticeable across a whole product.

A Grid System Keeps a Whole Set Consistent

Every icon in a set gets built on the same underlying pixel grid — consistent stroke width, corner radius, and padding — so icons feel like one coherent family rather than individually designed elements loosely assembled together. Palash Sarkar establishes this grid before drawing a single icon, since retrofitting consistency after the fact is far harder than building it in from the start.

Legibility at the Smallest Size Comes First

An icon that looks detailed and refined at 64 pixels often becomes an illegible smudge at 16 pixels, which is frequently the actual size it appears in a real interface. Palash Sarkar designs and tests every icon at its smallest realistic size first, simplifying details that don't survive the reduction, rather than designing large and hoping it scales down cleanly.

Matching Icon Style to Brand Personality

Rounded, friendly icon shapes communicate something different than sharp, geometric ones — the icon style itself is a brand decision, not a neutral utility choice. On a project like Blockto, icon style needed to feel technically credible without becoming cold or intimidating to newcomers navigating blockchain concepts for the first time.

Key Takeaways

Custom icon design rewards the same systems discipline as any other design system component — a consistent grid, legibility tested at the smallest real size, and a style that reflects brand personality rather than generic neutrality. Palash Sarkar treats icon sets as a genuine extension of a product's identity, not an afterthought.