Indeed
Indeed illustration rebrand:
“Paper Stories”
In early 2021, I began working with Indeed’s in-house brand team on the illustration portion of a larger on-going rebrand. I was tasked with developing a new illustrative POV for the Indeed brand, focused on diversity, inclusion and accessibility.
As part of that mandate, we wanted to make a shift away from an initial style that embodied an oversaturated norm of corporate tech illustration (exaggerated limbs, odd proportions, cutesy rendering), and towards a more authentic portrayal of our decidedly human users.
This pursuit of meeting real people where they’re at lead us to a style that drew inspiration from the imperfection and tactile nature of cut paper. We worked to figure out how to convey 3D construction in 2D space, and how to make it scale along with the entire rebrand. Thus, “Paper Stories” was born.
The problem
Authentic portrayals of people were at the center of this rebrand, but that could be tricky when you’re when you’re building from “paper.” In fact, all the elements that made cut paper such and appealing aesthetic also posed huge technical problems to solve.
How do you make 3D scenes for a 2D platform?
People vs. paper
Our references for cut paper art styles tended to minimize the individuality of its subjects, resulting in a “paper doll” aesthetic. This inherent trait of the medium was in direct conflict a core tenet of Indeed’s brand mission: be human.
We needed to figure out a way to make paper dolls feel like real people.
Photo or illustration?
While we were definitely designing illustration assets, we needed to figure out how to effectively mimic a 3D scene.
Furthermore, we needed to develop and standardize effect parameters for lighting, shadow, and textures so that designer could create consistent illustration assets.
Solutions
After multiple iterations, we landed on an illustration style that celebrated its subjects by drawing from real humans. We built the appropriate lighting, shadow, and texture into the style, so that designers could focus on creating realistic figures that represented the authentic jobseeker + employer journey.
Style, baked-in
In collaboration with dev teams, we developed a system of gradients, bevels, drop shadows and texture effects, built into our figma library.
This allowed ourselves and outside designers alike to consistently apply these all important brand features consistently across platforms.
Real people, made of paper
In collaboration with dev teams, we developed a system of gradients, bevels, drop shadows and texture effects, built into our figma library.
This allowed ourselves and outside designers alike to consistently apply these all important brand features consistently across platforms.