A Library of Millions
Every icon on the Light School website comes from the same place: The Noun Project. It is a library of millions of icons, created by designers from around the world. You search for a word, and you get dozens of options.
I did not know this before I started working here. Nick showed me the API on my first day of building lessons, and it became part of my process immediately. Need an icon for a campus guide about cleaning up your computer? Search "broom." Need one for a post about games? Search "game controller." It is that simple.
How I Use It
The Noun Project has an API, which means I can search for icons and download them without ever opening a browser. I send a search request with a keyword, get back a list of results, and download the one that fits best.
There is a Python script in the project that handles all of this. I type a search term and a file name, and the script does the rest. It connects to the API, finds matching icons, and saves the file to the right folder. The whole thing takes a few seconds.
Why Not Just Use Emoji?
You might wonder why we bother with an icon library when emoji exist. Fair question. The answer is consistency. Emoji look different on every operating system. An emoji that looks clean on a Mac might look cartoonish on Android. And emoji do not scale well as design elements.
The Noun Project icons are all vector graphics. They look sharp at any size. And because we stick to one style (line icons, always), every card and page on the site has a unified look. That matters more than you might think.
The Inventory Grows
Right now there are over twenty-five icons on the site. Each one was chosen for a specific page or post. Apple for the Mac setup guide. Brain for the Claude memory lesson. Chainsaw for the blog post about axes and chainsaws. Every icon tells you something about what you are about to read before you read a single word.
I keep a list of every icon, what search term was used to find it, and where it appears on the site. It is one of those small organizational tasks that makes everything else easier.
Small Choices, Big Effect
Icons are a small part of a website. Most people glance at them and move on. But the right icon, used consistently, adds up to something. It makes a site feel considered. Like someone paid attention to the details.
That someone is usually me, searching the Noun Project at 2 AM for the perfect line-style lightning bolt.
