Facebook Business Illustration Refresh
Context
In 2019, Facebook introduced FACEBOOK the company. FACEBOOK would be a parent brand to house Instagram, Whatsapp, Oculus, and of course the original Facebook app. I was tasked with adapting this nascent visual brand to business products. This included creating an engaging and scalable language for in product illustration.
The Style
We developed our refreshed style based on the visual primitives of the new Facebook company brand, including color, artistic textures, and more down-to-earth narratives. The end result combines human warmth with scalable simplicity, specifically to suit the needs of business products and audiences.
The Style Guide
Our style guide details how we achieve a humanistic visual quality while maintaining clarity and scalability. It’s a detailed for resource for freelance vendors and new hires alike.
Illustration Spectrum
The system includes a flexible illustration spectrum, enabling it to seamlessly adapt to various product contexts, catering to diverse user needs.
In addition, we developed a tonal framework to help our team and partner teams understand how to use illustration more strategically based on the needs of the end user.
In-Product Examples
Business Products Before Refresh
Business Products After Refresh
Results
We’ve shipped this illustration style to 100% of our Facebook business products, developing a library of over 1200 unique illustration and animation assets. This iteration of the Facebook visual brand has led to significant usability and brand sentiment improvements and we will continue to refine and expand the system as the needs of our partners change.
Full Project Credits
Creative Director, Illustrator: Trace Byrd
Illustrators: Sara Wong, Susan Lee,
Animators: Nick Staab, Benjamin Paras