Browsers Compass Icon Pack: Lightweight Icons for Maps & Navigation### Introduction
Browsers Compass Icon Pack is a thoughtfully designed collection of minimalist compass and navigation icons intended for use in web and mobile interfaces, mapping apps, and digital products that require clear directional cues. The pack focuses on lightweight, scalable vector formats and simple styling to maintain visual clarity across screen sizes and contexts.
What’s included
- SVG files for each icon (scalable without loss of quality).
- PNG exports at common sizes (16×16, 24×24, 32×32, 64×64).
- Icon font (WOFF, WOFF2) for fast loading and easy styling via CSS.
- Sketch/Figma/Adobe XD sources for designers who want to customize strokes, fills, and alignment.
- Light and dark variants to ensure visibility on different backgrounds.
- README and usage license with implementation examples and attribution details.
Key features
- Lightweight vector design: thin strokes and minimal detail reduce visual noise and file size.
- Consistent grid and stroke weights: icons harmonize with one another and with other system icons.
- Pixel-perfect at small sizes: optimized for legibility at 16–24 px.
- Accessible semantics: SVGs include title/desc tags and recommended ARIA attributes for screen readers.
- Flexible styling: color, stroke, and size can be changed via CSS or design tools.
- Performance-focused delivery: icon font and SVG sprite options reduce HTTP requests.
Design approach and principles
The pack was built around three core principles:
- Clarity — Each icon communicates direction or action at a glance. The compass needle, cardinal markers, and orientation indicators are simplified to avoid confusion.
- Scalability — Using vectors and a consistent 24px grid ensures that icons retain alignment and proportion across sizes.
- Minimalism — Decorative details are removed; only essential elements remain, making the icons suitable for modern interfaces.
Design considerations included stroke alignment to the pixel grid, limiting the palette to single-color strokes with optional fills, and providing both filled and outline styles to match multiple UI aesthetics.
Typical use cases
- Map apps showing current heading or re-center actions.
- Navigation controls in travel, hiking, and outdoor activity apps.
- Dashboards where orientation or direction is relevant (e.g., delivery tracking).
- UI kits and design systems as the default compass/navigation glyphs.
- Buttons and toolbar icons for web and mobile applications.
Implementation examples
HTML (SVG inline):
<button aria-label="recenter map"> <svg width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" role="img" aria-labelledby="compassTitle"> <title id="compassTitle">Recenter map</title> <circle cx="12" cy="12" r="10" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="1.5" fill="none"/> <path d="M12 6 L15 12 L9 11 Z" fill="currentColor"/> </svg> </button>
CSS (icon font):
.icon-compass:before { content: "900"; font-family: "BrowsersCompass"; speak: none; }
SVG sprite usage:
<svg class="icon"> <use href="icons.svg#compass-needle" /> </svg>
Accessibility tips
- Provide descriptive aria-labels or
tags for SVGs. - Ensure sufficient color contrast when using filled variants against backgrounds.
- Use focus-visible styles for keyboard users on buttons containing icons.
- When using icon fonts, include accessible text alternatives (sr-only spans).
Performance and optimization
- Prefer SVG sprite or inline SVG for critical icons to reduce font loading overhead.
- Use WOFF2 for icon fonts to minimize bytes transferred.
- Compress PNGs and strip metadata from exported raster files.
- Serve assets with caching headers and consider preloading key icons for faster first paint.
Customization and theming
- Change stroke color with CSS using currentColor for easy theming.
- Swap between outline and filled styles by toggling classes or using different SVG symbols.
- Adjust stroke-width or stroke-linecap for a heavier or softer visual weight.
- Use design tool source files to create extended variants (e.g., compass with degree markings).
Licensing and distribution
Common license options for icon packs:
- MIT — permissive reuse with attribution recommended but not required.
- Creative Commons — various levels; check attribution and commercial-use clauses.
- Commercial — paid license for use in proprietary products or templates.
Always review the included README for the pack’s specific license and any restrictions on redistribution or bundling.
Why choose this pack?
- Lightweight and optimized for UI — reduces visual clutter and page weight.
- Accessible and scalable — works across devices and for assistive technologies.
- Design-system friendly — consistent grid, stroke, and naming conventions simplify integration.
If you want, I can:
- produce 10 alternate H1/H2 title variations;
- generate a Figma-compatible SVG set (zip) with both filled and outline styles;
- create a short promo description (120–160 chars) for marketplaces.
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