Comment icon replacement

I’m struggling with that huge comment icon. While I understand that this icon adds consistency to the design, with commenter icons replacing them in the actual comments section, they are big and ugly, especially when you see them repetitively listed next to a bunch of stories.

I’m exploring two changes:

1. Words – Replace the “pencil” icon with actual words, like “To comment, click here!,” which would make the action required far more easily understood. But this might also become boring and repetitive.

2. Category icons – Replace the icon with a story-specific category icon, i.e. “economy” articles with a mini chart icon, etc.

Please let me know where in the code I would have to make these changes.