Are Your Icons Feelin Blue

Users typically tend to click on images as they are naturally drawn to pictures. And the color blue is typically associated with links. So, it should come as no surprise that there would be a merging of the two - the user behavior with the web convention.

There is a growing trend towards making iconic images blue to reinforce the clickability of the icon with the blue serving as a visual cue to the user that the icon is clickable. This is fantastic because you get your imagery to do more than look pretty and serve double duty as an actionable object. Photographic images are being similarly treated with a blue hairline border around it. We see this on Google News and MSN.com for example. Of course, this is not a rule of thumb so you always get the anamolies like on the NYTimes.com homepage where the video icon is blue and beside a text link but not itself linked. Icons like print, email, arrows, and plus signs are common examples where blue is used. But more complex icons that are less obviously intuitive as being actionable are also going blue.

This can be hard to do all the time as it may not fit into your branding LAF or calls too much attention to an item (of course you don't need to use royal blue unless you are looking to have it really stand out). But it is probably a model worth following for icons which consume more real estate and are more of a focus and for which you wish to serve as a definite call to action. So, whether this is a passing trend or here to stay, it is nonetheless clever.