Icons?

We tend to make our own. My husband has his as something he drew himself (the sanskrit symbol for water). Mine is a kanji symbol (a japanese character) -- I have no idea how I got mine, where I got it as that was a long, long time ago (8 years ago). I do not remember drawing it, but...I might have. Since we have to have just one.....we agreed on the kanji symbol.

A trick my husband thought of? We made up 6 different business cards. We had various icons, and even various business names! We showed them to lay people. Meaning, we showed the checker at Nob Hill grocery, our friends at the gym who are in totally different lines of work. It was people like that who picked our business name. And you know what? To this day? People LOVE our business cards. Hmmmmm.......pretty sneaky, huh? Its great that they love it as it draws them in.

Software?

We use iWorks (for the Mac) lately cause it is far cheaper than Illustrator, and then save it as a PDF and take it to a print shop. Or, we use the 30 day version of Illustrator which is more than enough time to whip out an a business card, etc.

Icons are very important. I am glad you are asking so many questions about them.

My advice? (from having gone to school and learned about icons?)

Pick something that you can make big, or really small, and have it look good. In other words, the Disney black ears does great when you scale it down, or when you make it big. Target has a classic bulls eye and it does great on a small business card, or on a huge lit up sign. A complicated piece (ie: like some Aztec piece?) will not likely do so well. (my father in law wanted an Aztec drawing....it did not work!)

Have it be something versatile. What I mean by that is this. You might do so well someday that you branch out in other areas. Do not narrow yourself down. (ie: Target's bulls eye icon does not limit them) Try and stay away from buzz words, or buzz graphics that you will look back on and say "wow....that was soooo 80's". (you know, like the PacMan font?) With that said, I really like the stuff that is soooo old that its cool!

But above all else? Be happy with what you pick. If its not right the first time? Keep trying. I know it took me 3 tries before I liked a domain name for a separate business I have. Who cares if I bought two other domains before the final one? At least, I do not care -- as I will have to live with it for a long, long time.

Perhaps this is just me....but, if you end up using stock images or photos? Hunt high and low for a unique piece. I see a lot of stock photos that are common on lots of webpages. Stand apart from everyone else -- however you see fit. It certainly can't hurt, can it? Especially with an ICON! Make it your own.

If you are not into drawing your own icon? I would hire someone....but, have an idea of what you want first. A star? A top hat? A sand dollar? Seashell? Pencils in a pencil holder? A rubberband ball? A pair of scissors? A paper clip?.....those are all things I would like associated with office work. I also like old fashioned typewriters. : )

Think classic. You will likely find that in 20 years is still looks fabulous.

Those are my thoughts.
As always, take what you like and leave the rest. : )