DESIGN STRATEGY
The vision for the Facebook app is that it is regarded by people — and Young Adults in particular — as an uplifting and inspiring space where they can see themselves and get a feeling of belonging. To achieve that we’ve transitioned from tight illustration guidelines to flexible Creative Territories—a critical piece of the effort to build a more meaningful, modern and relevant Facebook.
VISUAL LANGUAGE
The Visual System allows content to be easily understood and to speak to the user in a design language that feels authentic to the content it serves. The Creative Territories are lenses to visualize and inspire concept development, augmenting it to align with current visual trends. We worked with Closer&Closer and Animade to test the system across a few selected product surfaces. The goal was to instigate authentic ways to connect with the audience.
RESEARCH PROCESS
Alongside It’s Nice That, we developed a focused trend study to discover and better understand visual culture through the lens of the young adults audience. The results were 5 initial distinct creative territories that included successful brand audits, summary profiles of creators/influencers, key insights and strategic approach - each supported by case studies and visual examples.
The Creative Territories were developed to inspire and inform new aesthetic approaches. They were not meant to instruct with strict guidance. They can be nuanced if it's a good fit for the product surface. It influences the concept and vice-versa. The guidance was to use them as a starting point and apply its aesthetics philosophies with moderation.
Jun Cen — New Futures
Sua Balac — New Futures
Michael Eugene — Raw DIY
Sua Balac + ANIMADE — Y2K Modernism
Boltron — New Futures
Helen Li — Y2K Modernism
Sua Balac — Raw DIY
Michael Eugene + ANIMADE — Raw DIY
Estudio Santa Rita — New Futures
Carmi Grau — Raw DIY
Helen Li + ANIMADE — Y2K Modernism
Bene Rohlmann + ANIMADE — Mysticism
Creative Territories — Product Applications
Role: Creative Direction
Research by It's Nice That. Illustrations by Jun Cen and Closer&Closer artists: Sua Balac, Helen Li, Michael Eugene, Estudio Santa Rita, David Milan, Bene Rohlmann, Carmi Grau, Raúl Soria. 3D Design by Boltron via Agent Pekka. Animations: ANIMADE.