# Making a Consistent Icon Set With an Image Generator

Icon sets need to look like a family. Same line weight, same corner style, same perspective, same colour logic. Image generators can produce lovely individual icons, but a set that looks unified takes some planning.

# Write the style rules first

Decide the rules before any generation:

• Style: flat, outline, or soft 3D.
• Line weight: thin, medium or bold.
• Corners: rounded or sharp.
• Colour: one colour, two colours, or a defined palette.
• Background: transparent-looking plain white or a coloured circle.

Combine these into a short style block, for example: “flat icon, medium rounded outline, two-colour teal and coral, plain white background, centred, no text.”

# Generate icons in small groups

Ask for four to six icons at a time in a grid, all following the same style block. Grouping helps the model keep them consistent, because it creates them in the same context.

# Use simple, concrete subjects

Icons work best for clear objects and actions: a calendar, a cloud, a lock, a shopping bag. Abstract ideas such as “innovation” or “trust” lead to vague results. Translate abstract ideas into objects, like a light bulb for ideas or a shield for security.

# Check the details at small size

Icons are usually viewed at 24 to 64 pixels. Shrink the results and check whether each icon is still recognisable. Remove fine details that turn into noise at small sizes.

# Clean up for production

Generated icons are raster images. For a real product, designers usually redraw them as vectors so they scale perfectly and match exact line weights. The generated set is an excellent starting point for shapes and ideas.

# Avoid copying

Do not ask for icons in the style of a specific well-known icon library or brand. Develop your own style block instead. It is safer and gives your product its own identity.

# Tools

For a recent set of app icons I sketched ideas in Nano banana 2.1, mainly because its focus on design layout gives clean, centred results that are easy to compare. Then I redrew the chosen icons as vectors.

# A small workflow

1. Write the style block.
2. List twelve to twenty icon subjects as objects.
3. Generate in groups of four to six.
4. Pick the best version of each.
5. Check at small size.
6. Redraw in vector and test in the interface.

An icon set does not need to be perfect from the generator. It needs to be consistent enough that the final redraw is quick, and that is very achievable with a clear style block.