One of the other attractive features of slot machines are their stylish icons or symbols. The theme of fruits has become a favorite of many gaming software providers. The icons of fruits have been used in slot machines of land-based casinos since long. In recent times, they are also used in the fruit-themed online slots.

History of fruit icons in slot machines

During the early days of slot machines in land-based casinos, the icons were numbers. Some casinos manipulated the slot machines to prevent players from winning. This caused lots of people to lose their hard-earned money. Soon, these unethical practices by some casinos were discovered by the authorities. A ban on gaming and slot machines followed in the early 20th century. 

The slots appeared once again when the casinos in Nevada opened their doors to gamblers. This time, the manufacturers of slot machines decided to include icons in them that didn’t have numbers. As a result, more design-friendly options were used, such as fruit and bubblegum. With the ban still on, the casinos got slot machines designed in a different manner. 

Now, the gamblers were paid in gum instead of cash upon winning. In this way, the casino owners were able to avoid suspicion from the law enforcement authorities. They convinced the law enforcement officials that the machines were nothing more than vending machines.

The popularity of fruit icons in today’s online slots

In recent times, online casinos have become immensely popular across the world. They have slot games with various themes and icons to make the gaming experience more exciting. Despite so many varieties in symbols, fruit icons have still maintained their popularity. 

Even today, there are hundreds of online casinos that provide fruit-themed slot games. Their popularity is not restricted to the online casinos. The fruit icons have retained their popularity in land-based casinos as well. Be it Las Vegas or Atlantic city, thousands of slot machines still use fruit icons in them. 

There are some online casinos that have fruit-themed slots offering free spins for new players who sign-up on them. One can know more about online casinos that provide free spins and other attractive bonuses on casino review sites. 

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Each of these qualities must be considered while designing a new set of icons. It must start with the general aspects and then move towards the specifics. Even if the intention is to create a single icon, these three qualities can still be incorporated in it. The three qualities are elaborated below:

1. Form 

This is the foundational structure of an icon and indicates how it has been made. In order to make a circle, a square, a vertical rectangle, or a more organic shape, it is necessary to have an underlying structure. Simply drawing a line around the major shapes will not give the desired output. 

A visually stable foundation for designing icon is created by the primary geometric shapes. They are the square, the triangle, and the circle. For example, in order to create an animal’s head, one may draw two triangles and two ellipses. One may begin a drawing by sketching the simplest and largest shapes. 

Then he or she can start refining towards greater detail. The key is to start with the simplest shapes and then go on adding more detail. One must always remember that only the detail needed to communicate the concept is required.

2. Recognizability

It is an outcome of the essence of an icon or a particular aspect that makes an icon unique. How easily the user understands the object, idea, or action depicted by the icon ultimately decides its success. Recognizability involves presenting the properties that the user commonly associates with the idea. 

It can also involve some unexpected and unique elements. One must understand that recognizability is not all about comprehension of an object, idea, or action. It is also about recognition of the unique icon set. Considering this, it can be concluded that aesthetic unity and recognition can often overlap. 

For example, there are two dogs having their own unique color, ear shape, and head shape. They can still be recognized as a part of the same set. This is owing to their shared elements of design and style.

3. Aesthetic unity

Aesthetic unity refers to the elements shared within a single icon and across an icon pack. These elements can be rounded or square corners, limited and consistent line weights, and the specific size of corners. They can also be the style, the color palette, and others. Aesthetic unity can be achieved when the designer repeats the choices throughout the icon pack. 

This is usually done with the intention of visually keeping it together as a whole. For example, in three dog icons, there can be common elements. They may include rounded corners, thick stroke around the faces of these dog icons, and their heart-shaped noses. Thus, the common design and style elements shared by the dog icons create aesthetic unity.

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There was a time when websites used to have lengthy content to describe the products and services of the business. Now, they are using iconography to present their products and services in a better way. When using iconography in website design, there are certain mistakes that must be avoided to create an excellent user experience. Here are some of them: 

1. Using icons to just fill in the space

It is extremely important that the users understand the icons while browsing the website. Often, many businesses make the mistake of using icons just to fill in the gaps. As a result, the icons fail to serve a purpose and just appear like some random, unwanted stock photos. 

This would obviously confuse the user. Today, icons must be treated more like a great ad copy on the websites. To make this happen, the focus must be on communicating the most important thing as quickly as possible. The information also needs to be presented with the help of icons in a way that’s easily digestible.

2. Excessive use of icons

Iconography must undoubtedly be a part of the website’s design and branding strategy. This is especially true in case of responsive sites. However, the icons only support the design and copy. They are never the entire brand and design of the website in themselves. 

It’s not necessary to have an icon for every single product or service that is being offered. Using an icon for each of the product or service offered by the business results in information overload. A few good icons for describing the major offerings of the business is what’s required.

3. Not accompanying icons with a good copy

Icons may not communicate all the required information by themselves. Often, they need a good copy to convey the intended message to the users. They must be treated more like signposts to catch the attention of users. Icons generally tell the website’s visitors what the accompanying copy is all about before they even read it. 

No potential customer buys the product or service just by seeing the icons. A well-written copy is always required to describe the products and services to the users. So, it is quite obvious that a website needs to have a good combination of icons and copy.

5. Trying to complicate rather than simplifying

Designers need to be clever and the people giving them instructions must be clever as well. Problems arise when they try to be too clever and complicate things. Unfortunately, this happens quite often while incorporating iconography in the website designs. 

The designers and the individuals supervising them often try to force users to understand the brand, product, or service. This is a serious mistake and must be avoided at all costs. Iconography is something that must be crystal clear all the time. Only then it serves the purpose for which it is being used.

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This is the reason why most of the apps and websites use icons. Despite such advantages, icons can create negative user experiences if they’re not placed on websites the right way. This happens mostly when the designers hide functionalities behind the icons, thus confusing the users. Icons must guide users in the right direction and this is their primary function.

Types of Icons

A product, service, action, or idea must be presented well with the use of icons. If this is not done, they’re reduced to just a visual noise causing hindrances to the site’s visitors. Universal, conflicting, and unique icons are the three types you’ll generally come across. Each of them can be described as given below:

1. Universal icons: There are a few icons that enjoy a universal recognition. Among them are the ones used to indicate home, search, and a shopping cart. Any other icon used for indicating such things can confuse the users. Their meaning can also differ depending on the interface.

2. Conflicting icons: Commonly used pictograms can lead to contradictory meanings when used on the website. The most suitable examples in this context are the heart and star icons. The functionality indicated by these two icons vary from app to app.

It is this conflict that makes these icons difficult to interpret. The user may expect a particular outcome and get something different. This acts as an impediment to the user’s understanding of these icons.

3. Unique icons: They are a bad choice for anything abstract and fail to convey a concept. As they are not strong visual representations of the concept, they fail in guiding the users. One of the best examples would be the icon for Apple’s Game Center app. The icon is presented as a group of colorful circles. It doesn’t relate to gaming in any way.

Simple strategies for choosing an appropriate icon

There are some simple techniques and strategies that can be quite effective in choosing a proper icon. Using them, the designers can create the best user experiences by avoiding confusions. Here are some of the strategies that can be extremely useful:

1. Using labels to clarify unfamiliar icons: To create a good user experience, it is necessary that the user is not made to think too much. Including a text label can be an effective way of clarifying the meaning of an icon. The user must have clarity on what’s going to happen before he or she performs an action. 

2. Making icons ideal for touch-based interfaces: People interact with interfaces that are touch-based by using their fingers. It is, therefore, necessary that the icons be big enough for correctly capturing the actions of fingertips. Users generally get frustrated with tiny icons that trigger unintended actions.

3. Test the icons well before implementation: Before the icons are included in the design of a website or app, they must be tested for usability. It is done by observing how a first-time user interacts with the user interface. This helps in determining whether the icons are clear enough for the user and are of the appropriate size.

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They use the software to such an extent that they memorize keyboard shortcuts and become familiar with the layouts. It is, therefore, important that the design software they use is intuitive and flexible. Here are some of the best graphic design software that designers can use to create fabulous icons and logos:

1. Adobe Photoshop

Of all the graphic design software, Adobe Photoshop is undoubtedly the most recognizable. Whether it’s basic cropping or more complex designing and image manipulations, this software is certainly reliable. It has retained its classic features like the pen tool as well as layers and masks. The most recent version has added some great tricks like the ‘Frame’ tool for easy masking. 

It also has the new Content-Aware Fill workspace. With practice, you can develop some wonderful skills in using the software to create icons, logos, and manipulated images. If you’re a beginner, it would take some time to get used to this software. Nevertheless, it offers plenty of design tools for impressive image editing. 

2. Adobe Illustrator

Some of the functions and tools are similar in Photoshop and Illustrator. However, Adobe Illustrator is more about vector design. The pen tool, mesh tool, swatches and colors, or Shape and Pathfinder tools are its highlights. They help designers create amazing logos, icons, sketches, and typography. 

Although it may take some time to learn this design software, it has unlimited potential for creating excellent designs. The software has a helpful user interface, great variety in tools, and can be used for precise editing.

3. Sketch

Available only on Mac, Sketch is used for creating some fantastic interfaces and icons. This design software is focused primarily on interface, website, and app design. Some of the developers prefer Sketch files over the layered files of Photoshop. The icons and interfaces that have been created with Sketch look great on mobile apps and websites. 

Using this software, designers can also create live comps. Developers can preview them by swiping or tapping and see how they’ll appear once published. The biggest advantage of Sketch is that it is less expensive than other popular graphic design software. It can also be ideal for beginners owing to its low learning curve.

4. Affinity Designer

When it comes to style and function, Affinity Designer never fails to impress. It is a low-cost alternative to Adobe Illustrator and is also relatively faster and easier. It has also received a lot of praise from the designer community for its effectiveness when working with layers. 

The software is quite simple for beginners and a powerful tool for expert freelance graphic artists on a budget. Affinity has also been upgraded lately with performance enhancements and new features. The only downside to this software is that it doesn’t have a few tools that Adobe Illustrator offers.

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If used effectively, they can provide users with a clear direction with regards to navigating the website. They may look small and insignificant; but, they can be extremely powerful in creating a great user experience. For making this happen, the icons must be used on a website with thoughtfulness and attention to detail. Here are some tips on making a website visually appealing with icons:

1. Be absolutely clear about the approach

Planning the approach of your website to iconography is essential before using the icons. You must consider a few questions and try to answer them to get a better idea. Basically, icons are just one of the design tools that simplify communication with the site’s visitors. 

Think about the information you want to convey by using the icons. This must be done before creating the style of the icons or choosing an icon pack. Next, define how they’ll be used on your website along with other design elements. You may also need to decide whether the text must be used with them on the website or not.

2. Consider sticking to a certain style

When integrating icons into the design of your website, it’s absolutely necessary to maintain consistency and cohesiveness. Keeping the uniformity intact will avoid any unnecessary confusion in the minds of users when they visit your site. Whether you decide to design the icons or buy an icon pack, make sure that the style is consistent. 

The style of the icons must also conform to the visual identity of your brand. When incorporating the icons into the site design, follow the established guidelines on the brand’s color palette. This keeps the design cohesive and the site’s visitors delighted.

3. Simplify the website’s product pages with icons

Designers can avoid unnecessary clutter on the product pages with an effective use of iconography. The product pages are important for conversion. This is why the design must convey only the necessary information, which would influence a user’s purchasing decision. 

A long copy can be a big turn-off for some users. Instead, the icons can be combined with a brief, well-written copy. Here, this magical combination comes into play once again. The use of this highly effective combination gives the copy a more digestible format. It also clears up the clutter on the product pages.

4. Combine them with a well-written copy

Icons can undoubtedly be powerful when it comes to communicating with the website’s users. However, they rarely match the effectiveness of a well-written and highly creative copy. It is, therefore, essential that you try pairing your website’s icons with a relevant and high-quality copy. 

By using this combination of attractive icons and well-written copy, you’ll be able to create a wonderful user experience. This can also transcend any cultural and language barriers successfully. In this way, the content of the website would be useful for all visitors, regardless of their background.

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