Font Awesome's Icon Wizard just got a serious upgrade, and it's now powerful enough to make genuinely great icons (or, per Mike's own admission, genuinely terrible ones, if that's more your speed). In this episode of Podcast Awesome, host Matt Johnson sits down with Mike, Ed, and Jory (a rare full-team appearance) to talk about the launch of Icon Wizard 2.0. But it's not just a new coat of paint. You can now mix and match icons across styles, layer up to 20 elements at once with full control over size and position, build custom "user" characters by blending heads and bodies, and for the first time run Power Transforms in web fonts, not just SVG. The crew traces the whole story: how the original Wizard grew out of an internal project once nicknamed F.A.R.Ts (Font Awesome Reusable Tidbits and Shapes, obviously), why this version was almost called the "Icon Genie," and how a customer's offhand feature request turned into a real, shippable icon built live in the tool. There's also a real-time demo (a thumbs-up icon that grows a seedling), a debate over the correct number of poop-icon swirls, and a very serious 1-to-10 disappointment scale about the road not taken with "Icon F.A.R.Ts." The team is also running an Icon Wizard Contest through September 7, so if you want your creation featured in the gallery, this is your excuse to go play. What We Cover What's actually new in Icon Wizard 2.0: mixing icon styles, layering up to 20 elements, add/subtract/stroke operations, and letters and numbers you can punch out of badgesHow Power Transforms — previously an SVG-only capability — now work in web fonts too, and the auto-generated cutouts that made it possibleThe origin story: F.A.R.Ts, the original modifier-only Wizard, and "Snuggles," the team's space for proof-of-concept projectsWhy the team loosened creative control in version 2, and what that trade-off means for good icons (and bad ones)Real community creations from the gallery, including a Starry Night icon, a centaur, a potted cactus, and a live green-thumb demoThe near-miss name "Icon Genie" and how the team landed back on "Wizard"How to enter the Icon Wizard Contest (running through September 7) and where to send feedback during the beta Timestamps 00:00 — Cold open: bad icons, good icons, and Jory's grim optimism 00:01 — Welcome to the show and episode overview 00:02 — The Icon Wizard Contest, explained 00:04 — Community favorites: Starry Night, the user blender, and more 00:05 — Where this all started: FARTs and the original pitch 00:07 — "Snuggles," the team's space for proof-of-concept projects 00:08 — The real origin story: bringing Power Transforms to web fonts 00:10 — What "gooder" actually means in Icon Wizard 2.0 00:12 — Ed breaks down what's new: mixing styles, 20 layers, and more 00:14 — The real pain point Icon Wizard solves 00:17 — Why the Starry Night icon is a different kind of creation 00:18 — It's basically a full design tool now 00:20 — A customer feature request, solved live with the Wizard 00:21 — How v2 actually started: automating the cutouts 00:23 — Live demo: building a green thumb icon in real time 00:26 — Wizard walkthrough: the four tabs (icons, modifiers, elements, user) 00:28 — Add, subtract, stroke: how the Boolean operations work 00:31 — Where to send feedback, and how the gallery and sharing work 00:33 — Speed round: favorite modifiers 00:34 — The secret difference between the poop icon and the poop modifier 00:35 — The "Icon FARTs" disappointment scale 00:37 — Almost-names: Icon Genie, Icon Deity, and (sadly, no) Icon Gandalf 00:40 — Icon Wizard earns its spot in the main nav 00:41 — Wrap-up and Mike's sign-off Credits Hosted by Matt JohnsonFeaturing Mike, Ed, and JoryProduced and edited by Matt JohnsonTheme song by Ronnie MartinMusic interstitials by Zach MalmVideo editing by Isaac Chase Links Icon Wizard: Icon Wizard gallery and contestFeedback: feedback@fontawesome.comFont Awesome: https://fontawesome.comStay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!
