Noo Icons: two Claude agents draw and review a variable icon font built to rules written as numbers
Noo–Studio's record of a Claude agent drawing a variable icon font in Python while a second, no-edit agent judged it against numeric rules.
Done withCOClaude (Opus agents)FfontToolsHCHeadless Chrome
Studio's own record; not independently checked
WHAT THEY DID
Noo–Studio wrote an icon family's decisions as numbers (grid, keylines, stroke per weight, minimum white), had one Claude agent draw every icon in Python and a second agent, with no right to edit, review the build.
STEP BY STEP
- Founder's request turned into a written brief: grid, keylines, stroke per weight from the studio typeface, corners, minimum white, meaning of each icon in words.
- Designer agent draws every icon in Python on whole units; one command builds SVGs, variable font, CSS, specimen and proofs.
- Build checks reject touching parts, broken cuts, self-crossing contours and ink outside the live area.
- Reviewer agent (separate prompt, own tests, no edit rights) judges v0.1; designer fixes blocking and important findings in round two.
- Stroke retuned to Noo Sans stems (v0.3); motion axis MOVE added (v0.4).
HOW IT WENT
A reviewer agent judged the first build 'Not ready for the site yet'; a second round fixed every blocking and important finding, and the set then grew into a four-axis font.
Reported results: 165 icons as a variable icon font (fill, weight, optical size, MOVE) and 2,475 SVG files in the v0.4 download; the font went into the studio's site on 4 Oct.
WORTH KNOWING
Shows how to get a consistent icon set from AI: fix the rules first, make the build reject broken drawings, and keep a separate reviewer and a person for meaning. The studio says the densest icons still need hinting or a drawing made for 16 px, and the agents' clock does not time the person who read the proofs between rounds; times and counts are the studio's own record.
TRY IT
- Write your icon rules as numbers first: grid, live area, keylines, stroke per weight, minimum gap.
- Give the review to a second agent with its own prompt and tests and no permission to edit.
- Write what each icon means in words, then check how a reader actually reads it.
Rates the entry, not the tool.
Source: Piotr Paweł Zalewski · Noo–StudioOpen as a page
- Work done: Oct 3, 2026 – Oct 5, 2026
- Source published: Oct 5, 2026
- On 4TC: added Oct 29, 2026 · checked Oct 29, 2026
About this source
Type: Documented method · Firsthand report · Demonstrated workflow
- Designing Icons With AI
Piotr Paweł Zalewski · Noo–Studio · Published Oct 5, 2026 (Byline '5 October 2026'.) · Checked Oct 29, 2026
Studio's own paper about its own icon family; part of the studio's 'Paper' series that leads to its Identity service (self-promotion). No sponsorship disclosed.
Access: open
Source check: Reviewed by a 4TC editor on Oct 29, 2026. Claims, quotes and dates re-checked against the sources by Ella on 29 Oct 2026. Nobody at 4TC has tested this.
Claims and where they come from
- The founder asked for 'a full-on icon system that can be used consistently across all of the materials', with 'variable weights, the same as Google have the icon font'. (reported) [1]
- The designer was a Claude agent working in a folder of Python, with fontTools to compile the font and a headless Chrome to render each drawing. (reported) [1]
- The brief fixed the decisions as numbers: a 24-unit grid with a live area of 20, four keylines, and a stroke of 2 units at Regular, 0.92 at Thin and 2.94 at Bold, taken from the stems of the studio's typeface. (reported) [1]
- The build refuses any icon whose parts come closer than one unit at any weight, any cut that leaves its solid, any contour that crosses itself and any ink outside the live area. (reported) [1]
- Version 0.1 was done at 12:34 on 3 Oct after an hour and twenty-seven minutes: 116 icons, a variable font with three axes, 27 masters, 130 names and 1,740 SVG files, regenerated by one command in about sixteen seconds. (reported) [1]
- A second Claude agent with a separate prompt, its own tests and permission to write nothing but its report and its test files gave the verdict 'Not ready for the site yet': 3 blocking findings, 8 important and 13 polish. (reported) [1]
- Findings included strokes touching in seven icons at Regular, 38 of the 116 losing a gap at Bold, and misreadings such as the week as a keyboard and the brand book as a door. (reported) [1]
- Round two ran from 13:21 to 14:52 and fixed every blocking and important finding; by the agents' clock, brief to end of round two took three hours and forty-six minutes. (reported) [1]
- The set grew to 165 icons, and version 0.4 on 5 Oct added a fourth axis, MOVE. (reported) [1]
- The paper says the icons were not tested with readers, Safari and Firefox are untested, and four icon choices still wait for a person. (reported) [1]
- The font is free to download and to try but is © 2026 Noo–Studio, all rights reserved; an open licence has not been granted. (reported) [1]
4TC interpretation
Our reading, not something the source says.
Most AI icon attempts drift from one picture to the next. Here the consistency comes from written rules a build can check, and the paper prints its brief, prompts and the reviewer's findings.
Designer impact
Established [1]
No open licence: the font and its drawings are free to download and try, but use in published work needs the studio's permission.
- Treat the download as a reference, not an asset for client work.
- Ask the studio in writing before using the icons in published work.
Established [1]
Every 'read as' judgement came from one model looking at renders; no people were asked.
- Test icon meanings with real users before shipping a set.
Established = documented by primary sources or the company’s own statements. Disputed = contested with evidence on both sides. Alleged = reported, not established.
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