Vic Bell on Designing Graphite: Hand-Drawn Icons for Font Awesome

In this episode, Matt and Jory sit down with UK-based icon designer + illustrator Vic Bell to talk about the brand-new Font Awesome icon pack, Graphite — a loose, hand-drawn set that brings texture, depth, and a whole lot of human personality to iconography.If you’ve ever tried to balance clarity vs. creativity, or wondered how icons can feel more like typefaces with different “voices”, this one’s for you. 🎧🗒️ What We Cover in This Episode👋 How Vic and Jory connected✏️ Designing Font Awesome Pro Plus packs and how “Small Batch” became a thing🧠 Vic’s creative journey: trends, taste, and identity🏠 Why icons are storytelling at micro-scale⚖️ The tension between clarity and creativity🧰 Illustrator vs. Figma for icon design📲 Custom brushes and iPad sidecar workflows🕒 Timestamps0:00 - Introduction and Welcome0:46 - How Vic and Jory Connected2:48 - Font Awesome Icon Packs Overview5:42 - Vic's Creative Journey and Evolution7:45 - The Hand-Drawn "Graphite" Icon Style10:17 - Reflections on Icon Design as a Career13:41 - Childhood Influences and the Magic of Small Things17:18 - Creative Process and Personalization22:19 - Trusting the Creative Process23:32 - Project Validation and Creative Freedom25:15 - Technical Challenges and Implementation26:23 - Future of Font Awesome Icon Packs30:52 - Illustrator vs. Figma for Icon Design31:28 - Creating Custom Brushes and Using iPad38:38 - Balancing Clarity and Creativity in Icon Design47:37 - Releasing Icon Packs and Delayed Gratification🔗 Links & ResourcesVic Bell: / vic_bellFont Awesome: https://fontawesome.com/Web Awesome: https://webawesome.com/Theme music by Ronnie MartinInterstitial music by Zach MalmStay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!