Sofya Polyakov, co-founder and chief executive of Culver City-based Noun Project Inc., moved to Des Moines, Iowa, from Russia at age 11. She didn’t know a word of English and had no particular connection to a Russian-speaking community in the area.

“It was sink or swim — at least it was when I was growing up,” Polyakov said during a recent Business Journal visit to the company’s offices in the Helms Bakery District complex. “It forces you to learn quickly.”

Polyakov said the experience led to a lifelong interest in visual communication that can be understood without language and perhaps was the catalyst to her co-founding Noun Project.

Created in 2011, the company offers a platform for nearly 3 million icons created by designers from around the world. Polyakov said Noun Project’s prime users include people in creative businesses, health care providers and educators.

The collection includes public domain images as well as images that are licensed through Creative Commons Corp., a Silicon Valley-based nonprofit that allows sharing of creative content.

Icons and symbols licensed through Creative Commons can be used for free if the user credits the designer. In instances where the symbol cannot include a credit or is altered by the user, the user pays a fee of $2.99, which is shared by the designer and Noun Project. For example, someone creating a sign or billboard might choose to purchase the icon rather than including attribution on the sign.

Polyakov said the platform is carefully curated, considering such characteristics as uniqueness and simplicity. “Is it something that already exists on our platform or is this a new representation?” she said. “For example, right now we have over 38,000 icons for the word ‘house.’ … We probably don’t need any more houses on our platform.”

Polyakov said Noun Project is taking the lead on making sure that common symbols reflect diversity. The company recently held a three-city “iconathon” workshop for designers to contribute to its Redefining Women Icon Collection of more than 60 symbols available for public domain use.

“Right now, if you search Google or other platforms and look up ‘CEO’ or ‘movie director,’ you are going to find images of men — and mostly white men — and that’s something we want to change,” Polyakov said. She added that the collection also breaks stereotypes for men with an icon for parental leave featuring a male parent.

Polyakov said her personal tastes reflect the simplicity of the icons that are her company’s stock-in-trade. For the office, she said she prefers the clean line of midcentury modern furniture. And as the busy parent of two small boys, she prefers uncomplicated clothing as well.

“I need things to be simple and clean-cut, things that will last a long time, staple pieces that can be mixed and matched easily,” she said. “I have about 15 minutes to get ready in the morning.”

Polyakov laughed as she indicated the elegant navy dress with red trim she had chosen for the day. “This is not my norm,” she confessed.