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Research Outline
Prepared for Thangavignesh P. | Delivered September 13, 2020
Hand-Drawn Icon Market
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Goals
To inform the potential launch of a marketplace that exclusively sells hand-drawn/doodle-style icons by determining the demand and/or any changes in the usage of hand-drawn graphics in mobile UI, web designs, apps and other digital media.
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Early Findings
Iconfinder
As requested, the research team reviewed all recent
Iconfinder Designer Reports
to identify any relevant mentions of trends related to hand-drawn and/or doodle-style icons.
Notably, the Q1 2019 Iconfinder Designer Report highlighted the category-style combination of hand-drawn recreation & hobbies icons as the seventh greatest area of unmet demand for the quarter, adding that
991 such icons were sold in 2018
.
Subsequently, the Q2 2019 Iconfinder Designer Report noted that the search keyword "
doodle
" was one of several that appeared to be rising in popularity, with a quarterly increase of
39.89%
.
However, all other recent Iconfinder Designer Reports
did not mention
hand-drawn or doodle-style icons as a trend or potentially untapped source of demand.
Creative Market
More recently in
February 2020
, Creative Market released a Design Trend Report for Hand Drawn Icons, within which new demand from startups for such images was highlighted.
Specifically, startups including Mailchimp, Intercom, HelpScout and Buffer are increasingly leveraging hand-drawn graphics to "
immediately differentiate
" their brand identities.
Creative Bloq
Similarly, Creative Bloq reported that "
organic and handmade
" icons were an emerging illustration trend for
2019
.
Specifically, Creative Bloq asserted that hand-drawn graphics were a "
counter-trend
" to the more dominant format of geometric graphics, adding that brands are attracted to things that look "
organic and human made
" amid the preponderance of "
super-clean, sharp and sleek
" images in the digital landscape.
Shutterstock
Meanwhile, a slightly dated (
November 2017
) article published by Shutterstock claimed that "
Hand
Drawn Graphics and Icons are the Next Big Thing in Design."
Notably, Shutterstock echoed many of the aforementioned comments, such as the "
rising demand for authentic images
" as well as the fact that brands are embracing hand-made icons to "
differentiate themselves from the pack
."
Additionally, Shutterstock highlighted
content marketing
as a key opportunity for hand-drawn and doodle-style icons.
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