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I was jotting down some notes for a future project, sketching some simple icons for functionality etc, but all I could come up with for an icon to represent 'edit' was a pencil.

The pencil seems to have become pretty universal in icon design, but I think it's pretty outdated and it's not clear enough from a distance (it just looks like a diagonal line).

For 'add', we have the universal '+' sign, and for delete we have 'X' or '-'. I feel like we (the world) needs something similar for 'Edit'.

I saw the similar post on here about the 'Save' icon not being a disk, and found it really fascinating. But what about the pencil?

I've been thinking about this now for a few days, but I can't think of anything. Can anyone else?

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  • I like the replies so far! I don't feel like I'm being a total idiot for missing something obvious any more, lol. I think it's because the 'X' and '+' are made of two simple lines. There's no equivalent shape or basic symbol that represents editing... is there?
    – Dave Houlbrooke
    Commented Apr 12, 2012 at 16:13
  • There are better ways to do pencil icons than the diagonal line type, here's an example findicons.com/icon/168686/graphic_design?id=406988 but I agree, we need something better!
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Commented Apr 12, 2012 at 16:15
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    p.s. what type of thing is being editted in your case?
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Commented Apr 12, 2012 at 16:16
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    @DaveHoulbrooke: A Delta is three simple lines! ;)
    – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner
    Commented Apr 12, 2012 at 20:13
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    The Save icon is a disc because it's a metaphor that's understood, trying to replace it (and the pencil icon) to "modernize it" misunderstands the concept.
    – Zelda
    Commented Apr 13, 2012 at 20:12

4 Answers 4

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Some maybe fitting icons - depending on what you actually want to edit.

  • Pencil (the most general)
  • Gear (editing basic settings)
  • Text cursor (editing inline text blocks)
  • Scissors (edit-cropping images)
  • Pen (editing long text blocks)
  • Brush (edit-painting/coloring images)

Imho - in general - Edit tasks always are specific, so I'd go with a basic (well known) icon (pen/pencil) and combine it with an icon representing the specific task.

  • Pen + Table = Edit Table
  • Brush + Image = Re-Color image
  • Scissors + Image = Crop image
  • Gear + Paper Sheet = Edit settings
  • …
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    So essentially every application's toolbar icons (e.g. Photoshop, Illustrator, Paint, Word, etc.) could be considered an "edit" icon?
    – Lèse majesté
    Commented Apr 13, 2012 at 3:42
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    You made me lough - I didn't ever see it that way. Aside from pen/pencil: Yes. Maybe I'm already routine-blinded.
    – kaiser
    Commented Apr 13, 2012 at 9:10
  • Well, you are technically correct about them; it's just that coming up with a universal symbol which represents the general concept of "editing" is really hard. It's as much culture/tradition as it is logic. That's why most designers still use the pencil.
    – Lèse majesté
    Commented Apr 13, 2012 at 15:21
  • If every icon is considered an edit icon, I think we need to redefine what an edit icon is. If the entire picture is not currently in edit mode, then maybe you can consider a button to bring it into edit mode (and show the crop and recolor buttons you mention) an edit button.
    – NH.
    Commented Jul 10, 2017 at 23:28
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If you want to stick with simple symbols, such as +, -, x, why not use Δ? "Delta" for "Change", because when you Edit something, you're going to change it. Of course, I don't think I've ever seen this in use for this purpose before so people might not be used to it.

I suppose another option would be a stylized "E" (or maybe "ED"), for Edit. Not very original, but probably with clearer meaning than Δ.

Other less-common "Edit" symbols I've seen:

  • A lightning bolt - I guess because when you change something, you're "zapping" it. Of course, I first thought that the lightning bolt meant "Zap this thing out of existence!", so it didn't win any points for meaning. But it was a simple symbol to render.

  • A magic wand - Again, I think it was to imply doing something, in a generic sort of way. As a symbol, it was even less distinct looking than a pencil.

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    Δ is not "change". It's "difference" in math. So actually it'd say »I want to make a difference«, which feels kind of strange to me. Not downvoting, as it's an interesting approach. Sidenote: It's a triangle with a thicker border on the left, so the "difference" is hidden in there and won't be visible on small screens.
    – kaiser
    Commented Apr 13, 2012 at 9:13
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    This would be completely unintuitive I think - clever for clever's sake
    – UpTheCreek
    Commented Apr 13, 2012 at 12:00
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    @kaiser: I have heard expressions such as "ΔV = ..." read aloud as "change in velocity equals..." as well as "difference in velocity equals..." Not sure which is more commonly used.
    – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner
    Commented Apr 13, 2012 at 13:45
  • As I'm a technical engineer, I can tell you one thing for sure: In tech terms, it's difference :) So if you're comparing two values/shapes, etc. then you're using the triangle.
    – kaiser
    Commented Apr 13, 2012 at 14:36
  • @kaiser: Yes, and now that I think about it, one code editor I know uses Delta-symbol to start a code comparison... But I still think it could work.
    – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner
    Commented Apr 13, 2012 at 14:43
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Iconography is typically context centric. What is the app? What are the other icons? Who's using the app? How big are the icons? What device are they being used on? What kind of content is being edited?

I think the pencil is a fine icon. Yes, it's not a literally accurate one, but has become a defacto standard over the decades and most folks understand what it represents.

UPDATE

If restricted to simple symbols, I think + makes perfect sense for add, - for remove. Keeping with that theme, I think @FrustratedWithFormsDesig is spot-on recommending Δ. Alas, as stated, it's not common, so would likely take you back to figuring out a more common option.

In the realm of mathematical symbols, there's lots of options:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mathematical_symbols

But, alas, like the delta, they are all rather obscure for the average user.

What if you thought of what an edit does? What do pencils do when editing? I'm thinking maybe a scribble or a strike-through or other some sort of proofreading mark, perhaps?

http://www.merriam-webster.com/mw/table/proofrea.htm

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    So far I'm just making notes in a notebook. I'm thinking about application design, and how generally you add, remove, and change things. Add and remove have their simple symbols (+ and X), but edit doesn't.
    – Dave Houlbrooke
    Commented Apr 12, 2012 at 16:15
  • The catch is that there's only so many of the simple symbols out there. If you only need 2-3 icons, I can see a want for that. But typically you need more than that, and at some point one needs to go beyond the simple mathematical type symbols. It's an interesting challenge, for sure. I'll edit my answer with some more info.
    – DA01
    Commented Apr 12, 2012 at 18:53
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In a personal project (project management/to-do list) that I run locally I decided to design and use the infinity symbol ∞ (obviously a little larger a better looking). The decision was based on the concept that you can edit items an infinite amount of times, of course unless your code/project/design/application otherwise calls for logic that says otherwise.

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    One of the classic difficulties in icon design is that you need to think the other way round: the thought process needs to be image ⇒ concept, not concept ⇒ image. You can go from "Edit" to ∞ via the fact that things can be edited ∞ times - but does it go the other way? I doubt that someone seeing a ∞ would think "Okay, ∞, infinity... hmm... what can be done infinite times? I know, editing!"
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Commented Jan 14, 2014 at 13:22
  • And that is why I am a developer and not a designer.
    – userabuser
    Commented Jul 14, 2017 at 4:46

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