Traveling through Central Europe I was in three different countries, with three different currencies and three different languages. I don't speak Czech, German or Hungarian, but managed to navigate bus, train and boat transportation with ease.

How? Almost everywhere we went the directional signs included simple icons which conveyed their meaning at a glance. As I sipped my espresso in a sidewalk café I thought about how this same strategy of simple meaningful graphics applies to any business, even if you are not serving a global audience.

Why? Because your brain can process images 60,000 times faster than it can process words. Whether you’re running through a train station, or surfing a website an image conveys an idea or an emotion in an instant. So if you’re thinking about adding icons to your marketing or website, here are a couple of quick rules.

• Keep the graphic simple. You want people to get the meaning at a glance. 
• Create a consistent style set so all of your icons look like they’re part of a family.
• Test for meaning. Don’t assume your icon communicates what you think it does. Show it to people and see if they understand the meaning and the intention behind the design icons.