New Font Awesome Features: PNG Downloads, Color Picker, and User Blender

Mar 24, 2026

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In this episode of Podcast Awesome, Matt sits down with Ed and Francis to talk through three newly shipped Font Awesome features that are small, practical, and just the right amount of fun. They dig into individual PNG downloads, a new global color picker for previewing icons in brand colors, and the wonderfully playful User Blender, which lets you mix and match heads, bodies, and styles to create custom user icons for your kit.

Along the way, they unpack the thinking behind each feature, how these updates connect to Icon Wizard and the broader Font Awesome 7.2 release, and why shaving off a few annoying workflow steps can make life noticeably better for designers and developers. There’s also an unexpected side quest into Ed’s cameo in his son’s YouTube channel, because apparently every product update deserves a B-plot. 🎬

If you want to actually see these features in action, there’s also an extended video version on YouTube with demos. But this audio-only episode still gives you the full behind-the-scenes story, the practical use cases, and all the delightful nerdery you’d expect from the Awesomeverse.

What We Cover in This Episode

🎨 How the new global color picker makes previewing icon colors much easier
🖼️ Why individual PNG downloads are a handy addition for quick icon grabs
🧑‍🚀 How User Blender lets you create custom user icons with random and manual combinations
🧩 How these features build on ideas from Icon Wizard
💻 Why small workflow improvements can have a big impact for teams
🧪 How playful side projects sometimes turn into genuinely useful features
🎬 Ed’s surprise side quest into low-budget cinematic glory

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome to Podcast Awesome
00:20 Introducing the episode and today’s guests
00:45 The three new features: PNG downloads, color picker, and User Blender
01:10 Francis makes a Podcast Awesome debut
01:40 Looking back at Ed’s previous appearances and Icon Wizard history
02:10 Why individual PNG downloads were added
03:00 When and why someone might want PNG instead of SVG
04:10 The idea behind the new global color picker
05:00 Previewing brand colors across icon search results
05:40 Using the color picker on category pages and kits
06:10 Duotone controls, secondary colors, opacity, reset, and swatches
07:10 Reusing Web Awesome tools inside Font Awesome
07:50 How color settings carry over across different areas
08:20 How the color picker affects code snippets and icon styling
08:55 Meet User Blender
09:20 How randomizing and mixing custom user icons works
10:00 Available styles and future expansion plans
10:40 Why User Blender is both useful and toy-like in the best possible way
11:15 How the feature grew out of a snuggle and Icon Wizard success
12:00 A call for community creations and creative icon mashups
12:40 How these features fit into the Font Awesome 7.2 release
13:10 Ed’s unexpected acting career and his son’s YouTube side quest
14:00 Wrap-up and where to share your creations

YouTube episode with visual examples: https://youtu.be/NDsqZozkn3A

Font Awesome: https://fontawesome.com/
Browse Font Awesome Icons: https://fontawesome.com/icons
Learn about Kits: https://fontawesome.com/kits
Explore Web Awesome: https://webawesome.com/
Contact the team: hello@fontawesome.com
Theme music by Ronnie Martin: https://ronniemartin.org/
Interstitial music by Zach Malm: https://muzach.bandcamp.com/

BowziTV: https://www.youtube.com/@BowziTV

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