Icons

Sizing

Carbon components typically use icons on 16px artboards. Icons on 20px, 24px, and 32px artboards can also be used within the UI. Be sure icon size is consistent throughout your product.

16px and 20px icons are optimized to feel balanced when paired with 14px and 16px IBM Plex. Use 24px and 32px when larger icons are needed.

Touch targets

All touch targets for interactive icons need to be 44px or larger. Developers can add padding to a touch target with CSS to meet the 44px requirement.

Color

Icons are always a solid, monochromatic color and need to pass the same color contrast ratio as typography (4.5:1). The color of the icon should reflect the importance of the icon’s action which should always be to help guide a user. For more information on color, see the Color guidelines.

It’s also important to note that Carbon v10 icons themselves do not have interaction states, only their backgrounds do.

Alignment

When used next to text, icons should be center-aligned.