Halloween Icon Set - Thai Superstition Theme

The spookiest event has come! To welcome this annual occasion, I transformed the design of 12 icons that are frequently used in interfaces to match the Halloween theme. Plus, for creativity’s sake, I (as a Thai) decided to design them based on Thai superstitions while still preserving their original characteristics. So Don’t Worry. Even though you have no clues about any Thai superstitious belief, I’m certain you will still understand and enjoy using them. Let me present my work along with an explanation of the inspiration.

Tukata Sie Kaban - Profile Icon

Tukata Sie Kaban (Dolls whose neck was broken) is a traditional clay doll used as an offering. According to Thai belief, it is molded as a substitute for humans, particularly sick family members. Breaking the doll’s neck is a way to trick ghosts into believing that those people had already passed away. 

Spirit House - Home Icon

As its name suggests, a spirit house, a good reference for a home icon, is where a sacred spirit, which is mostly called Jaotee in Thai and in the form of a statue, lives to protect the area around it. When visiting Thailand, you can see spirit houses almost everywhere you go whether it be in front of (human) houses, schools, shopping malls or roadsides.

Incense Sticks - Search Icon

When performing a ritual to pay respect to any kind of souls, incense sticks are used as a way of communicating with them. In other words, burning them is a sort of invitation to allow souls to appear in the area of the ritual and hear your wish. I personally found the purpose of incense sticks pretty similar to the function of searching. So the magnifier was replaced with a censer and a stick and the way it looked was from a bird eye view.

Circle of Candles - Settings Icon

I got an inspiration of this icon when watching Stupid Cupid, a Thai comedy drama. There was a scene where a male protagonist’s ex-girlfriend was performing a black magic to make him fall in love with her again. She was surrounded by a circle of (scented) candles to prepare for the ritual and it happened to resemble the shape of gear – a settings icon. 

Mirror Reflection - Friend Icon

In many countries including Thailand, it has been believed that mirrors are a channel to communicate with wandering souls. When you are looking at a mirror alone at night, the reflection sometimes doesn’t show yourself, yet someone else that you’ve never met before. This mysterious person in the mirror might be your new “ friend.”

Geckos (Tukkae in Thai) - Speaker & Mute Icons

An icon of a speaker was turned into a gecko! It’s based on Thai belief that this little animal can tell those who hear its sound their fortune. If you hear a gecko’s sound in the daytime, that means your family will miserably encounter mishaps. On the other hand, if you hear it at night and more than 7 times, it will bring prosperity to your life. Don’t forget to listen to geckos’ calls next time for a free fortune telling!

Water Jars - Delete Icon

How come are water jars related to Thai superstition? You might be curious, right? In Ban Phi Pob, one of the most renowned Thai ghost movies ever, there’s a scene where villagers hide inside a water jar to escape Phi Pob, a ghost whose favourite dish is a fresh liver. This unrealistic jar reminded me of a recycle bin on digital devices which have unlimited capacity as well. So let’s change all delete icons to a jar-shaped one!

Yantra (Talisman) - Lock Icon

Yantra is a sacred symbol that is believed it can give protection from any dangers to its owner. In Thailand, yantra can be represented in various ways such as tattoos, and enchanted cloth. Inspired by its power, I changed a lock icon to look like a yantra cloth that is radiating holy light. May this yantra icon keep your valuable data secured!

Ching (Thai Cymbals) - Notification Icon

I redesign a bell-shaped notification icon to a Ching icon, a Thai percussion instrument, as its shape resembles a bell. Thai people believe that every Thai traditional instrument has spirits which are regarded as “Master”. They consequently must play it respectfully otherwise they might offend the spirits. If you hear the sound of Ching or any Thai instruments out of nowhere, Be Careful because there might be “something” following you until it gets what it desires.

Human Organs - Heart, Visibility & Hide Icons

There are heart-shaped and eye-shaped icons. Why not change their design to become scarier!

Color Palette 

For the color theme, I was inspired by the phenomena of eclipses: solar eclipse for a light mode and lunar eclipse for a dark mode. These 2 images from below links were used as a reference for 2 different palettes.

source: solar eclipse, lunar eclipse

That’s all about the process of creating this icon set. You can check it out by going to the Figma page I provided above. I hope my icons can bring about a festive wow effect with the Spooky yet Cute vibe to any apps!

Happy Halloween, everyone! 🎃