I've been using KISS for a couple years now very successfully and I love it.

Should you decide to stick with it, here's two tiny tips:

• Should the custom icons ever actually give you trouble, most issues can be fixed by going to the KISS Launcher options → Advanced → Restart KISS. It will reload all items from scratch.
• You can actually have a couple more 'quick access' apps set by going to KISS Launcher options → User experience → Gestures and defining 'Launch...' actions. For example, I launch my messaging app with a right swipe, my e-mails with a left swipe and note-taking with a long hold anywhere on the launcher.