Kick recently updated its icons again, and to me, they still need to be improved. There are two things I think Kick is missing the mark on.
1) A Theme
2) Individual Unique Icons
For a theme, why not use the Kick Logo as inspiration? So that is what I did. Kick’s logo has 3 ’Tetris’ pieces removed from a square to make up the K. The way I see Tetris blocks are individual blocks connected. So I went with this theme to make up “My Icons”.
Let’s start with the Moderator Icon. Moderators have always been associated with a “Ban Hammer”. So why not lean into this as the icon for Moderators? Having a crown just doesn’t provide reference to what moderators are for the channel. The hammer icon can also be associated with a Gavel that is used in the court system. As moderators, we all provide some ‘law and order’ within the streaming communities. Plus, the new Mod Icon looks like a chess piece to me and doesn’t make it distinguishable from the Streamer and Staff icons, besides the colors.
Verification Icon. The checkmark has been used for multiple platforms to allow users to know that they are “verified”. I made the icon slightly larger so it’s more distinguishable to users.
Founders Icon. Having the “1” for the Founders Icon I believe illustrates the purpose, which is to show that you were someone who supported on “Day 1”. The only difference I made was to make it more “Tetris” like to keep up with the theme.
Default Subscriber Badge. The existing badge didn’t feel like it followed any theme, but I used that as inspiration to make this badge. Having resembled a star for the original icon, I wanted to keep that same orientation. I went with a turned square to keep that originality.
VIP Badge. VIP’s are typically distinguished members of the community which is why I went with a crown. But why ditch the Diamond? The diamond to me just seems like a copy and paste idea from other platforms without signifying the “importance” of VIP’s. The crown, in my opinion, does this. Lets the community know that these are important people to the community.
OG Badge. Sticking with the Theme (block/tetris style), I made the letters “OG” of these blocks. I believe the OG badge deserves to keep the “OG” design because it signifies to the community that these members were part of the “Original” members of the streamers community.
Streamer/Broadcaster Icon. I wanted to make this microphone out of blocks to stick with the theme, but also to signify that this is the “broadcaster/person directly talking”. The previous microphone icon seemed a little to wide and the current icon looks like someone wearing a hat or headdress.
Finally, the Kick Staff Icon. This one was such a no brainer to me that I’m not sure why Kick hasn’t done this yet. But make the Staff badge unique by making it the logo. The previous icon looked like a bow tie, which doesn’t have any significant meaning in my eyes. The current icon looks like a bow tie on top of someones head, which again, doesn’t have any meaning.
So why am I posting this? Kick changed its VIP icon to be yellow, which confused me because it was the same color as the Founders icon, then changed it again to be the same color as the Moderator icon. So I designed the VIP icon to be pink in a previous post because of the first change. But then it got me thinking, why not redesign all of their badges to give each one a unique feel and give all of their icons a theme?
Also, Kick Staff, if you’re reading this. Thank you for your time. I sincerely hope that this gives you some inspiration, or me a job haha
TLDR: Let’s stick with a theme and have each badge “mean” something.