9 Rules for Clear and Intuitive Icons

I'm not sure I agree with all of these. I would never have guessed that a paper plane could represent sending an e-mail.

Similarly, I would never associate an underlined, blue L with a link. Maybe I'm too far into the web development rabbit hole, but I thought most people these days associated a chain link with an internet hyperlink.

Who is writing these "rules"? They sound more like opinions, which is fine if they're coming from a reputed source like Tufte or Nielsen. But who is "anthony"?

The other reason to label buttons with icons is so that they become larger and are easier to target.

Also, I'm sure I've seen that row of house icons before. Anyone know the original source?

One rule for clear and intuitive icons:

1. Google Image Search for name + "icon". Match most prominent design to your style.

This solves almost all of your icon needs.

Icons should be iconic, a paperplane is not iconic of email. Icons take time to establish, you can't just create an icon, something becomes an icon as it becomes recognizable through repeated use.

As for the "Home" icon example I can clearly see the Home icon from OS X. The home icon from OSX is a better icon because more people are familiar with it.

Should the Save icon in Google docs be a floppy disk or a cloud? The floppy makes no sense when you think about it, but it's a better icon because for 20 years people have been clicking that to save their files. I'd even argue the same thing for the link icon, it's on enough interfaces that people who want to link things know to click that button.

You should only really create new icons when there isn't something existing. Buy an icon pack and be done with it. People will be more familiar with them because they are used around the web.

edit: My bad, there is no save icon in Google Docs, but if there was...