Custom CAD Icons & CAE Icons for Engineering & Technical Software
If you’re building advanced CAD, CAM, or CAE software, every icon must earn its place. Our custom CAD icons and custom CAE icons are designed for clarity, speed, and technical accuracy, supporting engineers, designers, and operators working in high stakes environments.
From global engineering suites to specialist tools for marine, electrical, or aerospace design, we’ve crafted tens of thousands of icons to simplify complex UIs and reduce user fatigue. Whether you’re replacing legacy icons or designing a new platform, we help you create consistency, enhance usability, and scale with confidence.
We design high performance UI icons for CAD, CAM and CAE software used in manufacturing, marine, aviation, defence, energy, and construction.
Custom CAD & CAE Icons Trusted ByGlobal Brands & Tech Industries
We design icon systems for technically demanding sectors where clarity, speed, and usability are essential. Whether users are designing ships, modelling complex assemblies, or running simulation and analysis, we help make your UI intuitive and efficient.
Our CAD and CAE icon sets are trusted across:
- Aerospace & Defence – naval design, mission systems, simulation dashboards
- Engineering & Manufacturing – large scale CAD/CAM/CAE toolkits
- Automotive & Electrical – schematic and wiring design software
- Architecture & Construction – modelling, BIM, and 3D workflows
- Energy & Utilities – monitoring, control, and planning tools
These industries demand more than attractive visuals. We pay close attention to workflow logic, icon hierarchy, and technical accuracy. We collaborate with product teams and subject matter experts so each icon supports recognition, differentiates tool modes, and reduces cognitive load in data heavy interfaces.
No matter how technically challenging, Creative Freedom always produces professionally designed icons, and delivers on time. They have delivered multiple asset types, from UI icons, to app icons, diagrams and other creative assets.
They take the time to understand our needs and always deliver to our very precise technical specifications, which is why we have been working with them for the past 10 years, and will continue long into the future.
Riccardo Taffarello, Head of UX – Aveva
i2 engaged Creative Freedom to create a new set of 2D and 3D icons in SVG for our investigative and analysis products.
These icons needed to represent real world items. The team produced excellent designs and iterated quickly using Icon Manager.
It was a pleasure to work with them on this year long project. I highly recommend them and will use them again.
Mark Bingley, UX Design Lead – i2 Group
Why Clients Choose Our Custom CAD & CAE Icons
When developing large, complex CAD or CAE platforms, many teams find the icon design process breaks down. Without oversight, inconsistencies, duplicate assets, and version errors creep in, especially across distributed teams and evolving specifications.
Common problems before clients come to us
- Inconsistent icon quality — multiple freelancers, unclear briefs, no standards. We solve this with an Icon Style Document and tight internal QA.
- Slow delivery — relying on one designer stalls timelines. We scale fast with 10+ professional icon designers who work as a team.
- Lack of industry knowledge — generic icons miss technical nuance. We’ve worked on platforms in marine, CAD, defence, electrical design and more.
- Low confidence in freelancers — availability and scale risk. Long term clients like Aveva, Hexagon, and Zuken trust us year after year.
- Chaotic review processes — email chains, lost comments, no version control. Clients tell us Icon Manager changed everything, making approvals fast and visual.
Experience, capacity, and Icon Manager
Our solution combines two decades of enterprise experience with a flexible team. Every icon is checked against your specifications for clarity, function, and consistency, and every project is supported by our bespoke tool: Icon Manager.
Icon Manager gives full transparency over the design process, from concept to final delivery. View progress and stats, and log in from any location to approve or comment in real time. Every version and comment is recorded, which keeps stakeholder alignment and quality control effortless.
Icon Manager
We deliver custom icons with Icon Manager, our project management and collaboration software that simplifies every stage of large icon projects.
Icon Manager – teamwork without the chaos
Working with Creative Freedom was fun and effective, supported by the most efficient project management website I have used. The project was delivered on time and the team was flexible with changes.
Andrew Holm – Matt Black Systems
All the Icon File Formats You Need
Whether you’re modernising a legacy CAD or CAE platform or building new tools for the cloud, we provide production ready icon assets in the formats you need, optimised for speed, clarity, and compatibility. We’ll match your specification or help define it.
We regularly deliver in:
- SVG — scalable, editable, perfect for modern interfaces
- PNG — pixel perfect in all standard sizes: 16, 24, 32, 48 and more
- XAML — ideal for Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) apps
- ICO — for toolbars, shortcuts, and legacy Windows support
- BMP — for embedded use in older systems
Need help integrating the icons into your build? Just ask, we collaborate directly with developers and internal design teams to ensure a seamless handover. You can also read our SVG icon best practices guide for tips on getting the most from scalable formats.
SVG, PNG, ICO, XAML and BMP icon file types supported
Mini Case Study: QinetiQ Paramarine
Paramarine is a specialised CAD application used globally for submarine and marine vessel design, supporting everything from buoyancy simulations to survivability assessments. The software is a vital tool in defence and marine engineering, where visual clarity and fast operator response are critical.
We designed a complete icon set overhaul, replacing outdated visuals with over 1,200 custom designed icons to support an expanding range of features and modules. Each icon delivers clarity in dense toolbars and remains intuitive for technically trained users.
We collaborated with QinetiQ’s internal team to define icon categories, manage phases, and align visuals with interface logic. Our Icon Manager platform streamlined feedback, versioning, and stakeholder reviews across departments.
The result is a modernised UI that feels consistent, easier to learn, and better suited to the technical nature of the platform, delivered on time and with minimal disruption.
CAD & CAE Icon FAQs
- Can you match or replace our existing CAD icons?
- Yes. We can replicate your current visual style, or evolve it into something more modern and scalable, without disrupting user familiarity.
- Do you design icons for CAE simulation and analysis tools?
- Yes. We routinely deliver icons for simulation, analysis, and testing environments where precision and legibility at small sizes are essential.
- What platforms do you support?
- We deliver icons for desktop, web, and mobile platforms, including Windows, WPF/XAML, Electron, Qt, and embedded systems.
- How many icons can you produce?
- From 10 to 10,000+, we scale to your needs. Our team of professional icon designers can ramp up production fast, ideal for large scale CAD and CAE rollouts.
- Do you offer fixed pricing or phased projects?
- We offer both, typically fixed cost per icon for the entire project. Many clients break large projects into phases with clear milestones and deliverables.
Still have questions? We’re happy to help. Whether you’re scoping a full icon redesign or need expert input on file formats and workflow, we’ll make the process simple and stress free.
