Websites using Materialdesignicons

Okay, let s break down Material Design Icons (MDI) covering its overview, revenue (or lack thereof, as it s open-source), alternatives, pricing, and customer care.

1. Overview: Material Design Icons (MDI)

• What it is: Material Design Icons is a comprehensive, community-driven, and free icon set based on Google s Material Design principles. It s arguably the largest and most popular icon set adhering to these guidelines.

• Purpose: To provide a consistent and standardized set of icons for web, Android, iOS, and desktop applications. It aims for usability, clarity, and aesthetic harmony within the Material Design ecosystem.

• Key Features:

  • Vast Collection: Thousands of icons covering a wide range of categories and use cases.
  • Open Source: Licensed under the permissive Apache 2.0 license. This means you can use, modify, and distribute the icons freely, even for commercial purposes.
  • Material Design Compliance: Adheres to the Material Design guidelines for visual style, grid size, and overall consistency.
  • Multiple Formats: Available in SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) and other formats, ensuring scalability and compatibility across different platforms.
  • Community-Driven: Actively maintained and expanded by a large community of contributors. New icons are added regularly based on community requests and needs.
  • Official Framework Wrappers: Several third-party packages provide convenient integration with popular UI frameworks like React, Vue, Angular, and others.
  • Official NPM Package: Easily installable through npm.

• Target Audience: Web developers, mobile app developers, UI/UX designers, and anyone needing a consistent and comprehensive set of icons for their projects, who are also looking for free icons and are adherent to Google s material design guidelines.

2. Revenue and Financial Details

• Revenue Model: Material Design Icons (MDI) is an open-source project and does not generate revenue directly. It relies on community contributions, donations, and sponsorships.

• Funding: The project relies on donations from its users and sponsors. You can usually find donation links on the official website and GitHub repository.

• Financial Transparency: While the specific financial details are not publicly available in great detail (as it s not a traditional company), you can generally see how funds are used through project updates, community reports, and the ongoing maintenance and development of the icon set.

3. Alternatives to Material Design Icons

Here s a list of popular alternatives, categorized by type:

• Other Free/Open-Source Icon Sets:

  • Font Awesome: One of the most popular icon sets overall. Offers a free tier with a large number of icons and a paid Pro version with more options. Font Awesome is not strictly Material Design.
  • Bootstrap Icons: Created by the Bootstrap team. Integrates well with Bootstrap but is not limited to it. Not strictly Material Design.
  • Remix Icon: A neutral style, system-level icon set for designers and developers.
  • Feather Icons: A set of simple, beautiful open-source icons.
  • Tabler Icons: Open source and MIT licensed SVG icons

• Commercial Icon Sets (Paid):

  • Streamline Icons: A very large and highly polished icon set.
  • The Noun Project: A vast library of icons covering virtually any topic.
  • Iconfinder: A marketplace for icons, illustrations, and 3D graphics.
  • Flaticon: A large collection of icons in various styles. Part of Freepik.

• Icon Fonts:

  • While MDI can be used as an icon font, other general font icon options also exist (but are becoming less favored due to accessibility and performance concerns):
  • IcoMoon: Offers a way to create and manage custom icon fonts.
  • Fontello: Another tool for building custom icon fonts.

Choosing an Alternative: Consider these factors when selecting an alternative:

• Licensing: Understand the licensing terms and restrictions, especially for commercial use.
• Style: Does the icon style match your project s design aesthetic?
• Completeness: Does the set contain the icons you need?
• File Format: Are the icons available in the formats you require (SVG, PNG, etc.)?
• Framework Integration: Are there libraries or components that make it easy to use the icons with your chosen UI framework (React, Vue, Angular, etc.)?
• Price: Is it free, a one-time purchase, or a subscription?
• Community and Support: Is the project actively maintained, and is there a supportive community?

4. Pricing

• Material Design Icons (MDI) is completely FREE. It s licensed under the Apache 2.0 license, which allows you to use, modify, and distribute the icons for any purpose (including commercial projects) without paying any fees.

5. Customer Care and Support

• Community Support: MDI relies heavily on community support. Here s how you can typically get help:

  • GitHub Repository: The primary place for reporting bugs, requesting new icons, and contributing to the project. Use the issue tracker for bug reports and feature requests.

    • Link to GitHub repository: https://github.com/Templarian/MaterialDesign (This is the main repository)

  • Discussion Forums/Online Communities: Look for community forums, Stack Overflow, or other online communities where developers discuss MDI and Material Design.

  • Documentation: The official website and GitHub repository should contain documentation on how to use the icons.
  • Contribution Guidelines: MDI has guidelines on contributing icons.

• Lack of Dedicated Customer Support: Because MDI is a free, open-source project, there is no dedicated customer support team in the traditional sense. You won t find a phone number or email address for direct support. All support is provided through community channels.

• Commercial Support (Indirect): If you need guaranteed support or custom icon design services, you might be able to find independent designers or agencies that specialize in Material Design and MDI. However, this would be a separate engagement, not direct support from the MDI project itself.

In summary: Material Design Icons is an excellent choice if you need a comprehensive, free, and Material Design-compliant icon set. Its community-driven nature provides a wealth of resources and a constantly evolving library of icons. However, remember that support is primarily through the community, and there is no dedicated customer support team. If you need guaranteed support or a specific style not covered by MDI, you might need to explore commercial alternatives or hire a designer.