High-quality vector symbols, free for commercial use
544 vector symbols and counting, representing the visual language of the world, is what you’ll find at the NounProject. Clicking on an individual icon will reveal what the icon means (when known) and allow you to download it. All superbly created vector icons are free for personal and commercial use. The only downside to the site is there is no way to download a single archive of all the icons.
Download the Special Symbols Keyboard Shortcuts Chart in PDF format
Ever find yourself trying to remember the keyboard shortcut for a funky symbol like ‡ (dagger) or ∞ (infinity), or perhaps the elusive ¡ or ¿ for Spanish text? There are a ton of special characters included in many fonts that you can use if you could only remember the keyboard shortcut to access them.
Download the special symbols keyboard shortcut chart and print it out to keep near your computer for quick reference. The 600k PDF chart is 5 x 7 inches in size.
The complete set of 50 passenger/pedestrian symbols developed by the AIGA is available for download, free of charge, in EPS format. You can download individual symbols, or the whole set from the AIGA Web site. This system of 50 symbols was developed for use at the crossroads of modern life: in airports and other transportation hubs, as well as large international events. Produced through a collaboration between the AIGA and the U.S. Department of Transportation, they are an example of how public-minded designers can address a universal communication need.
Symbols are simply stored objects created or placed in Adobe Illustrator that you can retrieve easily from the Symbol palette. This includes mesh objects, raster images, text, regular and compound paths or groups of objects. (You cannot, however, create a symbol from a linked piece of art or graphs) To create a symbol, select the object you want to make a symbol and either drag the object to the Symbols palette or click the New Symbol button in the Symbol palette. Symbols are especially useful for designers who do their layout in Illustrator, as you can store frequently used Logos and text as a symbol for easy retrieval.