Who's the winner - 2D icons or 3D icons?

Basic differences between 2D and 3D web icons design

Speaking about 3d Icons we should point out that the light source plays a very important role for creating authentic three-dimensional images. No doubt the using several light sources in website design today is more effective but take into account that they should follow fundamental laws of physics and be truthful. So if you would like to make 3D icons look softer and more realistic - use several lights.

Both 2D and 3D icons represent the volume found in the three-dimensional world but use various ways of creating this illusion. 2D Icons can definitely represent volume to less extent than 3D Icons. Usually the images are flat and present just one perspective. Detailed highlights and imperceptible soft shadows are missing as a rule. The shades usage is restricted as well.

3D web icons have got all these functions instead. Nevertheless don't forget that 3D is nothing but mathematical replication of the data that unfortunately limits its usage. In some cases you can easily replace 3D Icons by 2D ones or by the videos with the sounds - but all this depends on situation. The sounds give some extra dimensionality to the videos that actually use 2D images.3D dimension can be achieved due to the software used for 3D modeling. Just remember that, 3D icons need to be depicted in correlation with the other objects and the environment they are placed into.