iconography

name	iconography
description	Icon system for Power BI design. Fluent line style — 20px viewBox, 1.5px stroke, currentColor. Covers naming conventions, sizing grid, semantic color application, inline SVG embedding in DAX measures, full asset index, and accessibility requirements.
version	2

Iconography

Overview

The iconography system provides a consistent set of Fluent-style line icons for use in Power BI reports and SVG DAX measures. Icons follow Microsoft's Fluent UI System aesthetic: clean outlines, rounded caps, 1.5px stroke weight, and currentColor so the icon inherits its color from the context it is placed in.

Icons are never used as the sole communication channel. Always pair an icon with a text label, data value, or tooltip.

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Style Specification

Property	Value
Style	Fluent line (outline)
ViewBox	0 0 20 20
Stroke	currentColor
Stroke-width	1.5
Stroke-linecap	round
Stroke-linejoin	round
Fill	none (line icons) or semantic color (status dots only)

currentColor means the icon inherits its color from the CSS color property (or SVG fill/stroke on a parent element). This makes it trivial to colorize icons in DAX SVG measures — set the color on the wrapping <svg> element and all strokes inherit it.

What NOT to do

<!-- ✗ Hardcoded fill — can't be recolored -->
<path fill="#107C10" d="M10 4 L10 16..."/>

<!-- ✓ currentColor — inherits from parent -->
<svg color="#107C10">
  <path stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="1.5" fill="none" d="M10 4 L10 16..."/>
</svg>

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Naming Convention

{concept}-{modifier}.svg

Segment	Rules	Examples
concept	Lowercase noun or verb	arrow, chev, caret, dot
modifier	Lowercase direction abbreviation or color role	up, dn, lt, rt, flat

Use the short forms: dn not down, lt not left, rt not right. This aligns with the design system tool display names.

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Sizing Grid

All icons use a 20×20 viewBox as the master (Fluent UI System standard for the 20px size). Scale via width and height attributes only — never change the viewBox.

Render size	Use case
16px	Inline with body text (12pt), table cells
20px	Default — inline with labels, slicer values, KPI labels
24px	Standalone status indicators, KPI card trend icons

<!-- 16px render -->
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 20 20" width="16" height="16">...</svg>

<!-- 20px render (default) -->
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 20 20" width="20" height="20">...</svg>

---

Color Application

Icons use currentColor. Apply semantic color by setting color or wrapping the icon in a parent with the relevant fill.

Use case	Color token	Hex
Positive trend (arrow-up)	--color-good	#107C10
Negative trend (arrow-dn)	--color-bad	#D13438
Flat / no change (flat)	--color-neutral	#605E5C
Warning	--color-warning	#FFB900
Success / confirmed (check)	--color-good	#107C10
Informational (info)	--color-primary	#0078D4
UI chrome (filter, search, etc.)	--color-text-primary	#201F1E
Status dots	Semantic fill color (see dot assets)	—

Status dots (dot-green, dot-amber, dot-red) are the only filled icons in the set. They use a solid fill (no stroke) because a 1.5px stroke circle at small sizes is too thin to read at a glance.

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Asset Index

All icons are in iconography/assets/. Line icons use currentColor; status dots use semantic fill.

Line Icons (Fluent style · stroke · currentColor)

File	Glyph	Use case
arrow-up.svg	↑	Positive trend, growth, increase
arrow-dn.svg	↓	Negative trend, decline, decrease
flat.svg	→	No change, flat trend
caret-dn.svg	▾	Dropdown toggle, expand
chev-lt.svg	‹	Navigate back, previous
chev-rt.svg	›	Navigate forward, next
filter.svg	⊽	Filter panel toggle
refresh.svg	↺	Refresh data, reload
search.svg	⌕	Search input
warning.svg	⚠	Caution, alert — apply color="#FFB900"
check.svg	✓	Success, confirmed — apply color="#107C10"
info.svg	ⓘ	Informational — apply color="#0078D4"
grid.svg	⊞	Grid/table view toggle
export.svg	↑□	Export data, share

Status Dots (filled · semantic color)

File	Fill	Use case
dot-green.svg	#107C10	Healthy, on track
dot-amber.svg	#FFB900	Warning, at risk
dot-red.svg	#D13438	Critical, off track

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Embedding Icons in SVG DAX Measures

Power BI SVG measures run in a sandboxed environment. No external image references load. Icons must be inlined as SVG path data.

Pattern: currentColor in DAX

Trend Icon =
VAR _gap = [$ Revenue] - [$ Revenue Target]
VAR _color =
    IF( _gap > 0, "#107C10",
    IF( _gap < 0, "#D13438", "#605E5C" ))
VAR _path =
    IF( _gap > 0,
        -- arrow-up path
        "M10 15 L10 5 M6 9 L10 5 L14 9",
        IF( _gap < 0,
        -- arrow-dn path
        "M10 5 L10 15 M6 11 L10 15 L14 11",
        -- flat path
        "M4 10 L16 10 M12 6 L16 10 L12 14"
        )
    )
VAR _svg =
    "<svg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 20 20' width='20' height='20'>"
    & "<path d='" & _path & "' stroke='" & _color & "' stroke-width='1.5' stroke-linecap='round' stroke-linejoin='round' fill='none'/>"
    & "</svg>"
RETURN _svg

Rules for SVG in DAX

1. Single quotes inside the SVG string — DAX uses double-quoted strings; XML attributes inside use single quotes.
2. Always set width and height — Power BI renders at wrong size without explicit dimensions.
3. One <svg> root element per measure return value.
4. No external href or src — sandbox blocks all external references.
5. No <style> with @import or url() — same sandbox restriction.
6. Font stack for any text elements: font-family='Segoe UI, Arial, Calibri, sans-serif'

Combining Icon + Text

KPI Badge =
VAR _gap = [$ Revenue] - [$ Revenue Target]
VAR _color = IF( _gap >= 0, "#107C10", "#D13438" )
VAR _path = IF( _gap >= 0,
    "M10 15 L10 5 M6 9 L10 5 L14 9",
    "M10 5 L10 15 M6 11 L10 15 L14 11" )
VAR _label = FORMAT( ABS( _gap ), "$#,0" )
RETURN
"<svg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 120 20' width='120' height='20'>"
& "<svg x='0' y='0' viewBox='0 0 20 20' width='20' height='20'>"
& "<path d='" & _path & "' stroke='" & _color & "' stroke-width='1.5' stroke-linecap='round' stroke-linejoin='round' fill='none'/>"
& "</svg>"
& "<text x='24' y='14' font-family='Segoe UI, Arial, sans-serif' font-size='12' fill='" & _color & "'>" & _label & "</text>"
& "</svg>"

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Accessibility Requirements

1. Never icon-only — always pair with a text label, value, or tooltip.
2. Add <title> for standalone icons:

   <svg viewBox="0 0 20 20" width="20" height="20" role="img" aria-label="Positive trend">
     <title>Positive trend</title>
     <path d="M10 15 L10 5 M6 9 L10 5 L14 9"
           stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="1.5" stroke-linecap="round" fill="none"/>
   </svg>
   

3. Minimum render size: 16px — below this Fluent line icons lose legibility.
4. Contrast: currentColor inherits from context. Ensure the applied color meets WCAG AA (4.5:1) against background.
5. Status dots: always pair with a text label — a dot communicates status via color only.

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Substitution Note

These icons are Fluent-style placeholders. For production parity, substitute with the official Microsoft Fluent UI System Icons library (MIT license, available at github.com/microsoft/fluentui-system-icons). Match by name and size variant (20px Regular).

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Adding New Icons

1. Follow naming convention: {concept}-{modifier}.svg
2. ViewBox 0 0 20 20, stroke currentColor, stroke-width 1.5, fill none
3. Design system colors only
4. Add to the Asset Index table above
5. Test inline in a DAX measure in Power BI Desktop before committing

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Related References

• colors.md — Semantic color tokens and hex values
• typography.md — SVG font rules (system fonts only)
• components.md — KPI card patterns that use trend icons
• wordmark/SKILL.md — Wordmark SVG assets (light and dark)

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Version: 2.0 Last Updated: 2026-05-02