What is Pictogrammers and what does it offer?

Updated

Pictogrammers is an open-source iconography project for designers and developers. It is a collaborative group that maintains icon libraries you can browse and use in prototypes and code. The main reason to use it is access to large, permissively licensed icon sets—most notably Material Design Icons (MDI), which the site describes as its largest library with over 7,200 unique icons. If you need a broad, community-maintained icon set that follows Google's Material Design guidelines, Pictogrammers is a strong candidate.

Who runs it

Pictogrammers describes itself as "a dedicated group of collaborators from all walks of life," working across nearly every part of the globe. The stated goal is to express ideas in a universal visual language so that everyone can benefit. The project is community-driven rather than a single company product, and it invites outside contributions.

What libraries it offers

The site highlights two featured libraries:

Library What it is Best for
Material Design Icons (MDI) The original library, following Google's Material Design guidelines for system icons. Over 7,200 unique icons. Broad coverage; general UI and app icon needs
Material Design Icons Light (MDI Light) A lighter take on the same guidelines, with icons slimmed down to be "modern, crisp, and clean." Interfaces that need a lighter visual weight

Both are presented as browsable libraries, so you can look through the sets before deciding which fits your project.

Who it is for

The site explicitly names two audiences:

  • Designers building prototypes, who need icons they can drop into mockups.
  • Developers writing code, who need icons they can implement directly.

The stated aim is that "finding and implementing an icon should be a snap," across whatever use case you have. That makes it a reasonable starting point if you want one source for both design and development rather than separate assets.

How to get involved

If you want to contribute rather than just consume, Pictogrammers lists several paths:

  • Tackle issues and icon requests on one of the libraries.
  • Write or update documentation for people getting started.
  • Build an integration the project doesn't already have.
  • Ask questions or offer help via Mastodon or by opening a GitHub issue.

What to check before committing

The site does not state pricing or licensing terms on the page described here, so confirm the exact license for the specific library you plan to use before shipping it in a product. Also verify icon coverage for your particular domain—7,200+ icons is large, but niche or branded symbols may still be missing. If you need a lighter visual style, compare MDI and MDI Light side by side on the same screen before choosing one for a whole project, since mixing weights inconsistently tends to look worse than picking a single set.