I would like to represent a file status (i.e. "needs to be reviewed", "done" etc.) through an icon. However, in flat UI you can't distinguish an actionable from a non-actionable icon due to lack of affordance like some chrome.
So far, I belive I have to stick to text represented information that comes in with more real estate and more turbulent layout due to different text lenghts. I thought of putting a little bit of chrome around actionable icons, but it would violate i.e. Googles Material Design that we use as a draft for our own interface conventions. Also, I believe that flat UI is here to stay so I don't want to break conventions too much.
My conclusion so far is that I lost the possibility to represent information through icons since they now need to be always actionable or does anyone has an idea how to solve this dilemma?