Allomancy Icons

[Coinshooter he/him]

So, I've got this little project that I'm working on. Basically, I want to take (almost) all the symbols associated with Investiture and turn them into 200x200 icons (since that's also the recommended size for user icons here on 17th Shard). So, naturally, I've begun with some of the symbols associated with Allomancy (just the physical, for now):

With these two (iron and steel, respectively), I wanted to show them in action. And so I did. It's pretty straightforward - I like the mists in the Steel icon, in particular (it's also my current icon).

These two are definitely my favorites, so far. With Tin, I didn't blur the mists and put in stars and distant city lights to show that the senses are sharpened while burning the metal, and with pewter, I did energy ripples and a heartbeat to show that it gives the person more energy, more endurance, etc. Between the two, I have no idea which one's my favorite, but I'm leaning more towards pewter.

 

However, now I have a question - what should I do for the other metals? For Gold, Atium, and Electrum, I've got some ideas, but for zinc and brass, I haven't the slightest idea.

[ChullRider he/him]

I would probably use one of those, but I kind of like my Icon right now... 

[WriterKitty she/her]

Well, with Zinc, you could play fairly literally with the "rioter" concept and have a city that's partly destroyed / smoking in the background (perhaps a variant of the cityscape from Tin?). If you hadn't already used a heartbeat motif in Pewter, I'd suggest that (something to imply agitation / emotional manipulation). Maybe a stylized heart? If you want to get ultra nerdy, you could take a look at the molecular models for mood-altering hormones like seratonin or testosterone and work that into the design (since the shape of molecules can be abstracted as just lines and circles, it kind of works with the designs you already have.

 

My knee-jerk response for Brass is a cup of tea, but that doesn't exactly fit with the rest of your designs.   Maybe play up the mist, or add something resembling a blindfold? Basically, playing with the idea of emotions being muffled or numbed. You could do a kind of contrast between Zinc and Copper by having Zinc's design resemble an explosion (lots of lines reaching outward, that sort of thing) and Copper having more curves, maybe even having it look like something that's been wrapped up or bound.

 

Those are tricky ones, though. Hope some of that helps!

[Coinshooter he/him]

Well, with Zinc, you could play fairly literally with the "rioter" concept and have a city that's partly destroyed / smoking in the background (perhaps a variant of the cityscape from Tin?). If you hadn't already used a heartbeat motif in Pewter, I'd suggest that (something to imply agitation / emotional manipulation). Maybe a stylized heart? If you want to get ultra nerdy, you could take a look at the molecular models for mood-altering hormones like seratonin or testosterone and work that into the design (since the shape of molecules can be abstracted as just lines and circles, it kind of works with the designs you already have.

 

My knee-jerk response for Brass is a cup of tea, but that doesn't exactly fit with the rest of your designs.   Maybe play up the mist, or add something resembling a blindfold? Basically, playing with the idea of emotions being muffled or numbed. You could do a kind of contrast between Zinc and Copper by having Zinc's design resemble an explosion (lots of lines reaching outward, that sort of thing) and Copper having more curves, maybe even having it look like something that's been wrapped up or bound.

 

Those are tricky ones, though. Hope some of that helps!

Thanks for the ideas! I like all of these - especially those for Rioting and Soothing. I'll probably end up doing the super-nerdy thing, since we need more nerdiness in life, and I was contemplating doing something similar for some other metals (that I didn't end up doing).

[WriterKitty she/her]

Well, if you like the idea of chemical models, might I suggest testosterone and melatonin? As far as "rioting" goes, you can't beat testosterone, and as commonly represented, it has all sorts of nice spiky bits. Melatonin sort of looks curved, which makes for good contrast, and there's not much more soothing than a chemical that helps regulate sleep. 

[Kestrel she/her]

OHHH the steel one i'm in loveee

[Coinshooter he/him]

OHHH the steel one i'm in loveee

Thank you! I'm thinking that I'll edit the iron one real quick when I get working on the cognitive metals.

 

So, with Bronze, I was thinking that a Radar motif would work well, since a Seeker detects Allomantic pulses. I'm still not sure what to do with copper, though. Maybe something resembling static?

Edited July 20, 2015 by Coinshooter

[Argent he/him]

Radar motif for bronze is what I was going to suggest. Copper would naturally be something with a cloud, or the symbol being obscure. 

 

Zinc and brass... A fiery motif might work for brass. Zinc is a hard one.

[Ookla the Absent]

Radar motif for bronze is what I was going to suggest. Copper would naturally be something with a cloud, or the symbol being obscure.

 

If radar for bronze, I think static would be good for copper.

 

Zinc and brass... A fiery motif might work for brass. Zinc is a hard one.

I'd say warm vs cool colors, maybe fire/snow, or sunblaze/fog or cloud? Or sun/moon?

[Coinshooter he/him]

Uy, I've been very slow at getting these up... so here's the only one I've been able to do recently.

I decided to go for the Radar Motif. I'll need to get back to working on these - Brandon said last night at the signing that doing fan art really can pay off!

[+Slowswift he/him]

Uy, I've been very slow at getting these up... so here's the only one I've been able to do recently.

I decided to go for the Radar Motif. I'll need to get back to working on these - Brandon said last night at the signing that doing fan art really can pay off!

Cool!

You were there? Harmony dangit.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Slowswift

[Curiosity he/him]

I thought Zinc was Rioting and Soothing was Brass, since Soothing is Pushing on emotions, which is the property of an Alloy. 

 

Love the Tin icon. Perhaps the Brass icon should have a smooth pond surface or something like that? Whatever it should be should have relatively dull colors. I would actually depict a riot for Zinc, with flames, fists, and bright colors. I don't know if that works, but it would be interesting. 

[Mailliw73 he/him]

I thought Zinc was Rioting and Soothing was Brass, since Soothing is Pushing on emotions, which is the property of an Alloy. 

You're correct.

[Coinshooter he/him]

Love the Tin icon. Perhaps the Brass icon should have a smooth pond surface or something like that? Whatever it should be should have relatively dull colors. I would actually depict a riot for Zinc, with flames, fists, and bright colors. I don't know if that works, but it would be interesting. 

I agree with this consensus - I think I'll do something fiery, with warm colors, for zinc - probably a glow of red towards the center (to represent the fact that it pulls), and an aura on the edge of the brass picture with cool colors. After I do copper, which will probably be static to counter the radar motif.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions!