Mastering Font Awesome 5: Your Icon Toolkit

27/01/2022

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In the realm of modern web design, visuals play a paramount role in user engagement and overall aesthetic appeal. Among the myriad tools available, Font Awesome stands out as an indispensable resource for incorporating scalable vector icons into your projects with remarkable ease. This guide delves deep into Font Awesome 5, focusing specifically on its free edition and the highly recommended KIT CODE integration method, ensuring you can enhance your web pages without the complexities of downloads or intricate setups. Prepare to discover how these versatile icons can be effortlessly manipulated in terms of size, color, orientation, and even animation, transforming static designs into dynamic, engaging experiences.

How do I use Font Awesome 5 icons? — To use the Free Font Awesome 5 icons, you can choose to download the Font Awesome library, or you can sign up for an account at Font Awesome, and get a code (called KIT CODE) to use when you add Font Awesome to your web page. We prefer the KIT CODE approach.

Font Awesome 5 represents a significant evolution from its predecessors, offering a redesigned, built-from-scratch framework that boasts an impressive collection of icons. While a professional (PRO) edition provides access to a vast library of 7842 icons, the free edition still offers a substantial 1588 icons, more than enough for most standard web development needs. Our exploration will concentrate on maximising the utility of this free offering.

Table

Getting Started: The KIT CODE Advantage
Understanding Font Awesome 5's Core Changes
Mastering Icon Sizing
Enhancing Lists with Icons
Bringing Icons to Life: Animation
Orientation and Transformation: Rotation and Flipping
Advanced Techniques: Stacking Icons
Achieving Alignment: Fixed Width Icons
- Without Fixed Width:
- With Fixed Width (fa-fw):
Styling for Layout: Bordered and Pulled Icons
The Evolution of Font Awesome: What's New in Version 5?
- Versioning and Compatibility
Licensing and Attribution
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Conclusion

Getting Started: The KIT CODE Advantage

Embarking on your Font Awesome journey is straightforward, with two primary methods for integration: downloading the entire library or utilising a unique KIT CODE. We wholeheartedly advocate for the KIT CODE approach due to its unparalleled simplicity and efficiency. This method eliminates the need for any local downloads or installations, streamlining your workflow considerably. Once you sign up for a free account at Font Awesome's official website, you'll be provided with a unique code, often referred to as a 'KIT CODE'.

Integrating Font Awesome into your web page using the KIT CODE is remarkably simple, requiring just a single line of HTML code within your document's <head> section. This script tag links directly to Font Awesome's Content Delivery Network (CDN), ensuring that your icons load quickly and efficiently for users worldwide. For instance, if your KIT CODE is a076d05399, your integration line would look like this:

<script src="https://kit.fontawesome.com/a076d05399.js" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>

This elegant solution means that with one line of code, you gain immediate access to the entire free icon library. There's no cumbersome setup, no file management, and updates to the icon library are seamlessly handled on the server side, ensuring you always have access to the latest versions without manual intervention. This 'no downloading or installation required' philosophy makes the KIT CODE method exceptionally appealing for developers seeking a rapid deployment solution.

Understanding Font Awesome 5's Core Changes

One of the most notable distinctions in Font Awesome 5, particularly when transitioning from version 4, is the introduction of new icon prefixes. While Font Awesome 4 predominantly used the fa prefix, version 5 introduces fas and far. The s in fas denotes a 'solid' style, representing a filled-in version of an icon. Conversely, far signifies a 'regular' style, typically an outlined or hollow version of the icon, offering a different visual aesthetic.

Font Awesome icons are primarily designed for use with inline HTML elements, with the <i> and <span> tags being the most commonly employed containers. This design choice is deliberate, as it allows icons to seamlessly inherit styling properties from their parent elements through CSS. This means that if you modify the font-size, color, or even add a shadow to the icon's container, the icon itself will automatically adopt these styles. This inheritance provides immense flexibility, allowing you to style your icons just like text, ensuring visual consistency across your design.

Consider the stylistic versatility:

<i class="fas fa-clock"></i> <!-- Solid clock icon -->
<i class="far fa-clock"></i> <!-- Regular (outlined) clock icon -->

And with custom styling:

<i class="fas fa-clock" style="font-size:120px;color:#2196F3"></i>
<i class="far fa-clock" style="font-size:120px;color:#2196F3"></i>

This demonstrates how easily you can adapt icons to fit your brand's color palette and size requirements without resorting to image editing software.

Mastering Icon Sizing

Controlling the size of your icons is crucial for visual hierarchy and responsiveness. Font Awesome 5 provides a comprehensive set of classes to adjust icon sizes relative to their container. These classes range from fractional sizes to multiples of the base size, offering precise control over their appearance:

fa-xs: Extra Small
fa-sm: Small
fa-lg: Large
fa-2x: 2 times the size
fa-3x: 3 times the size
fa-4x: 4 times the size
fa-5x: 5 times the size
fa-6x: 6 times the size
fa-7x: 7 times the size
fa-8x: 8 times the size
fa-9x: 9 times the size
fa-10x: 10 times the size

These classes are invaluable for making icons stand out or recede as needed, adapting to different screen sizes and design contexts. For example, a small icon might be suitable for a navigation menu, while a larger one could serve as a prominent feature icon on a hero section.

Here's a look at how these sizing classes influence the visual scale of an icon:

<i class="fas fa-clock fa-xs"></i>
<i class="fas fa-clock fa-sm"></i>
<i class="fas fa-clock fa-lg"></i>
<i class="fas fa-clock fa-2x"></i>
<i class="fas fa-clock fa-5x"></i>
<i class="fas fa-clock fa-10x"></i>

This granular control ensures that your icons always fit perfectly within your design layout, regardless of the context.

Enhancing Lists with Icons

Beyond individual icons, Font Awesome offers a sophisticated way to integrate icons directly into unordered lists, replacing the default bullet points with custom icons. This is achieved using the fa-ul class on the parent <ul> element and the fa-li class on a <span> element wrapping each icon within the <li> item. This technique is perfect for creating visually appealing checklists, feature lists, or menu items that stand out.

The structure typically looks like this:

<ul class="fa-ul">
 <li><span class="fa-li"><i class="fas fa-check-square"></i></span>List Item</li>
 <li><span class="fa-li"><i class="fas fa-spinner fa-pulse"></i></span>List Item</li>
 <li><span class="fa-li"><i class="fas fa-square"></i></span>List Item</li>
</ul>

This not only makes your lists more engaging but also allows for greater customisation than standard CSS list-style properties. Imagine using a checkmark for completed tasks, a spinning icon for ongoing processes, or a simple square for general list items.

How do I get Started with Font Awesome? — Getting Started If you're new to Font Awesome, or just need a refresher. Here are some tips to help you get started. Styling Icons Make your icons look the best with our styling tools, whether you want to size, rotate, animate, or more.

Bringing Icons to Life: Animation

For dynamic user interfaces, Font Awesome provides classes to animate icons, adding a subtle yet effective layer of interactivity. The fa-spin class makes any icon rotate continuously, creating a perpetual motion effect ideal for loading indicators or busy states. For a more segmented rotation, the fa-pulse class rotates an icon in 8 distinct steps, giving it a pulsating or ticking appearance.

It's worth noting that these animations rely on CSS3, meaning older browsers like Internet Explorer 8 and 9 may not fully support these effects. However, for modern web applications, they offer a fantastic way to provide visual feedback to users.

Common animated icons include:

<i class="fas fa-spinner fa-spin"></i>
<i class="fas fa-circle-notch fa-spin"></i>
<i class="fas fa-sync-alt fa-spin"></i>
<i class="fas fa-cog fa-spin"></i>
<i class="fas fa-cog fa-pulse"></i>
<i class="fas fa-spinner fa-pulse"></i>

These animated icons are perfect for visually indicating background processes, data loading, or simply adding a touch of flair to your interactive elements.

Orientation and Transformation: Rotation and Flipping

Beyond simple sizing and animation, Font Awesome allows you to manipulate the orientation of icons using rotation and flipping classes. These are incredibly useful for creative layouts, adapting icons to specific design needs, or simply providing visual variety.

fa-rotate-90: Rotates the icon 90 degrees clockwise.
fa-rotate-180: Rotates the icon 180 degrees clockwise.
fa-rotate-270: Rotates the icon 270 degrees clockwise.
fa-flip-horizontal: Flips the icon horizontally.
fa-flip-vertical: Flips the icon vertically.

Imagine using a flipped arrow to indicate a collapse/expand state, or rotating an icon to fit a unique graphical composition. The flexibility here is immense:

<i class="fas fa-horse"></i>
<i class="fas fa-horse fa-rotate-90"></i>
<i class="fas fa-horse fa-rotate-180"></i>
<i class="fas fa-horse fa-rotate-270"></i><i class="fas fa-horse fa-flip-vertical"></i>

These transformations allow icons to serve multiple contextual purposes without needing different icon files.

Advanced Techniques: Stacking Icons

For more intricate visual elements, Font Awesome provides the ability to stack multiple icons on top of each other. This powerful feature allows you to create unique composite icons by layering a foreground icon over a background icon. The technique involves a parent element with the fa-stack class, typically combined with fa-lg to provide a larger base for stacking. Inside, individual icons use fa-stack-1x for the regular-sized icon and fa-stack-2x for the larger, background icon.

Additionally, the fa-inverse class can be applied to an icon to invert its color, often making it white when placed over a dark background icon. This is particularly useful for creating badges or status indicators.

Consider these creative stacking examples:

<span class="fa-stack fa-lg">
 <i class="fas fa-circle fa-stack-2x"></i>
 <i class="fab fa-twitter fa-stack-1x fa-inverse"></i>
</span>
fa-twitter (inverse) on fa-circle (solid)

<span class="fa-stack fa-lg">
 <i class="far fa-circle fa-stack-2x"></i>
 <i class="fab fa-twitter fa-stack-1x"></i>
</span>
fa-twitter on fa-circle (regular)

<span class="fa-stack fa-lg">
 <i class="fas fa-camera fa-stack-1x"></i>
 <i class="fas fa-ban fa-stack-2x text-danger" style="color:red;"></i>
</span>
fa-ban on fa-camera

Stacking opens up a world of possibilities for custom icon creation, allowing you to combine existing icons to convey more complex meanings or create unique visual branding elements.

Achieving Alignment: Fixed Width Icons

One common challenge in web design is achieving consistent vertical alignment, especially when dealing with lists or menus that feature icons of varying widths. Just like different letters or characters, not all icons have the same intrinsic width. This can lead to jagged, misaligned layouts that detract from a professional appearance.

Font Awesome addresses this issue with the fa-fw (fixed width) class. Applying this class to an icon ensures that it occupies a consistent, predefined width, regardless of its actual visual dimensions. This is incredibly beneficial for creating clean, vertically aligned lists, navigation menus, or sidebars where visual consistency is paramount.

Observe the difference this simple class can make:

Without Fixed Width:

<div><i class="fas fa-arrows-alt-v"></i> Icon 1</div>
<div><i class="fas fa-band-aid"></i> Icon 2</div>
<div><i class="fab fa-bluetooth-b"></i> Icon 3</div>

With Fixed Width (fa-fw):

<div><i class="fas fa-arrows-alt-v fa-fw"></i> Icon 1</div>
<div><i class="fas fa-band-aid fa-fw"></i> Icon 2</div>
<div><i class="fab fa-bluetooth-b fa-fw"></i> Icon 3</div>

The fa-fw class ensures that the text following each icon aligns perfectly, creating a much cleaner and more organised visual flow.

Styling for Layout: Bordered and Pulled Icons

Font Awesome also provides classes to style icons for integration within text blocks, such as pull quotes or article introductions. The fa-border class adds a subtle border around an icon, making it stand out as a distinct element. Coupled with fa-pull-right or fa-pull-left, icons can be floated alongside text, mimicking the behaviour of floated images in traditional print layouts.

These classes are excellent for enhancing readability and breaking up long blocks of text with relevant visual cues, guiding the reader's eye and adding a touch of professionalism to your content.

The Evolution of Font Awesome: What's New in Version 5?

Font Awesome 5 isn't just an update; it's a complete reimagining of the internet's most popular icon toolkit. Redesigned and rebuilt from scratch, version 5 introduces a host of new features and improvements that significantly enhance its capabilities and developer experience.

SVG Framework: Beyond traditional font icons, FA5 offers an SVG framework, providing greater flexibility and performance for icon rendering.
Icon Font Ligatures: This innovative feature allows you to type certain text strings, and Font Awesome will automatically convert them into the corresponding icon, simplifying usage in some contexts.
Official NPM Packages: For developers working with popular frontend libraries like React, official NPM packages streamline integration into modern JavaScript workflows.
New CDN: A new Content Delivery Network ensures faster and more reliable icon delivery globally.

It's important to note that with the release of Font Awesome 5, versions 4 and 3 have been marked as 'End-of-Life' (EOL). This means no further updates or releases are planned for these older versions. While their documentation and Git repositories are still accessible for legacy projects, new projects should always default to Font Awesome 5 to leverage its latest features and ongoing support.

Versioning and Compatibility

Font Awesome adheres as closely as possible to Semantic Versioning (SemVer), using a <major>.<minor>.<patch> format. However, due to its comprehensive nature, some deviations apply:

Any release may update the design or branding of an existing icon.
Patch versions will never intentionally introduce backward-incompatible changes.
Minor releases might include backward-incompatible changes, but these will always be accompanied by clear upgrading instructions in the UPGRADING.md guide.
Crucially, neither minor nor patch releases will ever remove existing icons, ensuring your projects remain stable.
Bug fixes are typically handled as patch releases unless they necessitate backward incompatibility, in which case they become minor releases.

This approach provides a good balance between continuous improvement and stability for developers.

Licensing and Attribution

Font Awesome Free is a testament to the power of open source development. It is free, open source, and friendly towards GPL projects, meaning you can use it for virtually any purpose—commercial projects, open-source initiatives, or personal websites—without incurring licensing fees.

However, it's vital to understand the different licenses governing its various components:

Icons (.svg and .js files): Covered by the CC BY 4.0 License (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International). This requires attribution.
Fonts (web and desktop font files): Covered by the SIL OFL 1.1 License (Open Font License). This also requires attribution.
Code (all non-font and non-icon files): Covered by the MIT License. This too requires attribution.

The good news is that Font Awesome has made attribution as effortless as possible. Downloaded Font Awesome Free files already contain embedded comments with sufficient attribution. Therefore, under normal usage, you typically won't need to take any additional steps. The developers kindly request that these terse attribution comments are not actively removed from the files, as they serve as a valuable way for others to discover Font Awesome.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do I start using Font Awesome 5?: The easiest way is to sign up for a free account on the Font Awesome website to obtain a KIT CODE. Then, simply include the script tag with your unique code in the <head> section of your HTML document. No downloads or installations are required.
What's the difference between fas and far prefixes?: fas stands for 'Font Awesome Solid', providing a filled-in version of the icon. far stands for 'Font Awesome Regular', typically offering an outlined or hollow version. These prefixes denote different visual styles for the same icon.
Can I change the size and color of Font Awesome icons?: Absolutely! Font Awesome icons are designed to inherit CSS properties. You can easily change their font-size and color, among other styles, directly through your CSS or inline styles, just like you would with text.
Is Font Awesome 5 backward compatible with Font Awesome 4?: No, Font Awesome 5 introduces new prefixes (fas, far) and a redesigned framework, making it largely incompatible with version 4's syntax. Font Awesome 4 is now End-of-Life, and new projects should use version 5.
Is Font Awesome Free suitable for commercial projects?: Yes, Font Awesome Free is open source and licensed under GPL-friendly terms. You are free to use it for commercial projects, open-source projects, or any personal use without needing to purchase a license, though attribution is required (and typically handled by embedded comments).
Do I need to attribute Font Awesome when I use it?: Yes, attribution is required by the licenses (CC BY 4.0, SIL OFL 1.1, MIT). However, the downloaded files already contain embedded comments with sufficient attribution, so you generally don't need to do anything extra unless you modify the files significantly.
Can Font Awesome icons be animated?: Yes, you can animate icons using classes like fa-spin for continuous rotation and fa-pulse for an 8-step rotation. Be aware that these CSS3 animations may not be supported in very old browsers like IE8 and IE9.
What is the purpose of the fa-fw class?: The fa-fw (fixed width) class is used to set icons at a consistent, fixed width. This is particularly useful for vertically aligning icons in lists, navigation menus, or sidebars, ensuring a clean and organised appearance regardless of the icon's natural width.

Conclusion

Font Awesome 5 offers a robust and incredibly versatile toolkit for anyone looking to incorporate high-quality, scalable icons into their web projects. Its straightforward integration via the KIT CODE, combined with a wealth of styling, sizing, and animation options, makes it an indispensable asset for web developers and designers alike. From simple list enhancements to complex stacked icons, Font Awesome empowers you to elevate your website's visual appeal and provide a richer, more intuitive user experience. By understanding its core features and embracing its flexible design, you can unlock the full creative potential of this iconic library and ensure your designs are not just functional, but truly awesome.

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