Seeking advice with creating icons

[myront]

A software development company is inquiring about getting icons made for their software. I've creating many icons for my own personal use for my coreldraw workspace but only really simple ones. We're debating whether we should even consider the job. It would be an hourly rate to create the icons and I can do it all within CorelDraw including output as either .ico, .png, .svg, .bmp, etc.
Any advice as to what format to use? Seems to me the trend is to use vector icons using svg. Would the software developer be responsible for any labels to the icons? Would I need to design multiple sizes for each.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

What format to use can also be largely dictated by the software and by the OS.

For instance, if you are creating a Windows icon, it's ico file. Most software that I use will accept a png or svg. If you do png, you want to have a different sizes. Using SVG, not so much.

Some software will require one file (say svg) with all the icons in it, but xml properties may have to be just so so in order for it to be read as an icon for this particular button/function/gui icon etc.

I personally like doing icons, one thing that I love about Linux is can mess with all that stuff to make anything and everything your own. But it also gives a lot of freedom of what format are used.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I forgot to mention, how is the program themed? Is it pulling from the OS? Say light or dark themed, but it done through the OS settings or does it have it's own selection via the program properties (like Adobe (at least in CS6))?

Reason I bring that up, depending on the icon designs, may have to have a separate set for light and separate for dark. I tend to like dark themes and there is a difference in what icons you can get away with depending on how some of them are setup. A highly glossy dark theme (like you would get with a QT based program) is different then the more muted charcoal dark them that you may get with another program. Depending on what type of dark theme it is, may or may not be able to eeck pay with the same set in a light themed environment as well.

That might be something else to keep in mind.