Stellar Symbols
I created a set of more than 600 unique symbols for use in AAC devices.
What is an AAC device?
AAC stands for “Augmentative and Alternative Communication”, so an AAC device is any digital tool that assists with communication. Most AAC devices have the ability to upload symbols. These symbols help to reduce the cognitive load of speech and there is a small cottage industry of AAC users who make and share AAC symbols with each other online.
I chose to make my own symbol set as part of a larger AAC project because I was dissatisfied with existing symbol sets from both an aesthetic and practical perspective.
Common issues include:
- Inconsistent line weight
- Key details are way too small
- Just generally poorly drawn
When making my symbols, I drew on the shared design language that AAC users tend to use when creating AAC symbols for themselves. I tried to combine that language with typical emoji design techniques and conventions in order to make my symbols as accessible and approachable as possible.
Click here to view my style guide
My symbols have been published on Global Symbols, a library of thousands of free AAC symbols which is directly integrated with some AAC applications.
And people are actually using them on their boards for communicating!
Here are some real communication boards made by AAC users which include my symbols!
This project was originally going to be just a couple dozen emojis — enough for a visual mockup of my AAC app — but after seeing that people found them genuinely useful I got engrossed in the process of icon creation.
I also created a companion character creator which lets people create icons of the important people in their life