ISUX Design Trend Report

In this article, we will share the last part of design trends: “the UX design trend”.

User experience is the feelings of users when using products, under the joint action of products, people and the environment. As technologies develop, and new products and services emerge in an endless stream, the behavior and psychology of consumers are constantly changing. We will analyze and summarize the user experience trends from four latitudes: technology, hardware, environment and users. In this changeable industry, we have to understand these trends when we are designing and improving new designs, and preparing for the upcoming future.

In order to better understand why there are these trends, we have summarized some signals from the objective conditions that influence the trend:

2019 is the first year of 5G

The latest research from Cisco shows that, nearly 12% of the world’s mobile data traffic comes from 5G connections in 2022. The 5G extreme high rate makes the content recommendation more personalized and precise. The Internet of everything will bring more intelligent terminals and more subdivision scenarios, and AR will have more application scenarios.

The Post-00s entering 20 years old in 2019

Their characteristics are more diverse, and there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people’s eyes. They like to be more social and interactive, and content is a tool that motivates them to interact and invest more time and money in areas of interest.

AI technology accelerates landing and expands applications

In recent years, AI technology has been widely used in mobile internet. The research report of artificial smart phone indicates that the most commonly used AI functions of consumers are voice assistant, face unlocking, intelligent map, smart shooting and beautifying. The core application scenario technology surrounding by voice and vision will continue to be upgraded.

The differentiation of smart phones

The emergence of the full screen, Face ID gradually replaced the Touch ID; major mobile phone manufacturers also tried to innovate in the form of products, launched a folding screen phone.

Internet products have switched from popularization to personalization, and more and more products are finding new chances via targeting segmentation. The design has changed from the experience of homogenization to a pursuit of personalization and innovation. Designers have to understand the target population that is completely different from their own, conduct segmentation user researches, and improve the product values by excellent user experience to retain users.

In the background of big data, there are multiple individual interests, and with the technical development of machine learning and artificial intelligence, products should focus more on personalized recommendations.

The “More understand you” information stream does not need users to search for songs they like from a bunch of song lists. Douban music map and Google Map For you to make your preferences clear.

Users are often using their phones in different places, and scenarization life characteristics can be perceived by internet devices. Designers need to perceive the current scene of users, and design accurately by understanding the requirements of the current scene, in order to improve the sense of surprise and happiness.

Snapchat can recognize the locations of where people are photographing in a party, and then they can book a taxi to this place online in the app.

McDonald’s has a personalized recommendation technology, which can allow the restaurant to adjust the menu according to the weather, time and order records of consumers.

Users can experience the real viewing angle of the seat when they choose a seat in the cinema. The app will provide the ticket QR code when a user has nearly arrived at the cinema.

As AI voice technologies rapidly popularize, which helps people change habits and concepts, the users are increasingly using voice interaction. According to the report from ComScore, 50% of all searches will be voice searches in 2020; and 72% of users who have a voice assistant said that this has become part of their lives. Lots of tech-companies show their own smart speaker, and AI devices have changed the interaction with interfaces from GUI to VUI, and it doesn’t rely on the touch screen input, and provides the no navigation, no buttons, and no menus interfaces. Currently, domestic AI speakers are still a relatively primitive AI, and are often called by users as an artificial foolish voice system.

With the continuous development of artificial intelligence and machine learning, Google’s intelligent voice assistant has evolved rapidly. From the Continued Conversation published at last year’s I/O, users do not have to say ‘Hi Google’ for every instruction, and this year, the users do not need to say wakeup words, but just pick up the phone and let it help them.

Released last year, Google Duplex can call a restaurant or a barbershop to make a booking for you. This year, it can help you rent a car, reply to messages, find photos to share with friends, write emails, and do other cross-app tasks.

The technological advancement will inevitably lead to efficiency improvement, as AI can more and more completely understand the highly personalized requirements put forward by users, and the voice interaction can be as natural as a human’s, and it can fast process the multi-tasks that are cross-app as well. VUI can reduce user-operating costs and shorten the operation process chains, and it becomes the daily “assistant” of the users.

For the user, the use of voice is not only its convenience, but entertainment is also one of the important factors. Short videos are complemented in voice interaction and speech recognition. Snapchat introduces a sound filter that not only responds to sound volume, but also recognizes voice commands and then triggers corresponding animations.

Live Caption voice recognition technology from Google converts video voice content into text subtitles and displays them in the conversation interface. It also recognizes keywords and forms text links, and then users can click and jump directly.

With the constant rise of the voice-controlled game and voice social media, voice makes the interaction more diverse. Tencent NEXT new work “Mystery Chasing” expresses the story with sound, listens to the sound and makes the reasoning and solve the case, and uses the sound to create an immersive experience.

Login app authentication is optimized from the previous “user name + password” mode to get the mobile phone dynamic verification code. Identity verification is not easy to use in the experience. The receiving and inputting of the verification code requires the user to spend a certain amount of time and effort. The appearance of full-screen phones has replaced Touch ID with Face ID. As the full-screen devices become more popular, more and more apps will be added with face recognition authentication, to achieve real-time and a more accurate one-click login.

In order to mobilize the enthusiasm of consumers, the mobile phone manufacturer has developed it products from the full screen, lifting camera, and double-sided screen to the recent folding screen, and the emergence of new forms of mobile phones will bring a different operating experience.

A foldable screen can make the back of the phone become an additional interactive space, which is convenient for the user, as they can use two screens at the same time for different app operations. For example, a user is playing a game, meanwhile without switching out of the game the user can be directly turning over the screen to process social messages.

Foldable screen expansion can make the space bigger, and has an app running in the smaller screen. The screen can automatically adjust the size to match large layout, and show more functions. It can also perform multi-window operations, to avoid switching back and forth frequently between multiple applications.

The appearance of full-screen phones allows gestures operation to replace physical buttons.With the appearance of a folding-screen, the operation of a dual-screen will have more gesture operations, and it is necessary to simulate the natural, customary gestures of the person in the devices.

AR technology will play more of a valuable role with 5G and create more new scenarios. People can integrate the original fictional digital world into the real physical world via AR. According to the Gartner survey in 2018, about 46% of retailers plan to integrate AR/VR technology into their shopping experience in 2020.

Snapchat can use the camera to scan physical objects, display Amazon’s purchase links, and scan songs or math problems.

The “Scan” of the Nike app can fully scan and evaluate feet, and displays the length and width of the left foot and the right foot. According to the selected sports shoes, the most suitable shoe size will be recommended.

AR makes objects in the digital world more figurative. The user can put the painting into the real scene through AR when they want to search for a painting and want to buy one. The painting can be set in a real scenario via AR, and the user can check out the size, and color and whether it matches their home style.

Google Maps provides AR real-world navigation. The top area of the screen will show the real scene content, while the bottom shows the digital map, and there is a large 3D arrow to guide the orientation. The interactive behavior of AR simulates user behavior in the real world, allowing users to quickly understand how to use it. Therefore, the core information needs to be transmitted through the simplest simulation of the real environment. The design of 3D elements can focus on visually guiding user operations, and produce physical effects, gravity and inertia simulation in real life, by making the 3D elements look more realistic and natural.

Google provides the first app, which supports the multi-user AR interaction, “Just a Line”, according to shoots through the camera, and then taps the screen to draw, and draws the picture you want to express.

In addition to games, there are many products in the 3D display style, such as “ZEPETO” and “IMVU”, which use 3D Avatar to customize the image for users; “BOO!” uses 3D characters as interface design elements, and “ZENLY” uses the gyroscope effect on the interface card to make the card have a stereoscopic effect change. 3D techniques have been used more frequently in product design.

In addition to a fresher visual experience, 3D’s approach can also better serve the display of “goods”, giving users a more intuitive understanding of the product. We can see more real-world environments or product presentations using a three-dimensional approach.

Designers can also use the expressive power of 3D space to create a more solid and real space for product pages. In the process of the user’s operation of the screen, it brings a smoother and more realistic experience.

There are more and more people who “know that it’s too late but do not sleep at night”, and they have more fragmentation and leisure time to consume content, so the app design needs to be more immersive.

The increasing size of the screen affects the convenience of the user’s daily operations. How can the interface design improve the operating efficiency and experience of large-screen mobile phones? Samsung’s One UI divides the phone display screen into two areas: the upper area for viewing content and the lower area for interactions.

In order to facilitate page level switching, a gesture of a sliding exit is added.

The operations and content on the screen change according to the user’s actions, making it easier for users to notice the completed operation and prompting for the next step. The information is presented when the user needs it, reducing the user’s cognitive load.

More flexible and continuous page transition effects can help users better to remember product routes during page jumps, while providing a more comfortable experience. The conversion between pages is no longer only a simple four directions of entry or pull, but a flexible conversion process related to the content form. A consistent operation experience will be obtained when the user performs a directed operation on the page through gestures.

In order to serve the content better, we saw many products removed from the design of the “color block” at the top area. To bring users to a more immersive experience all “hard” segmentations will no longer be popular. Among them, the white and black full-screen background color can highlight the differentiation of the product content itself, rather than the difference in page performance.

At the end of April, Facebook introduced a new simpler and more immersive “FB5” design style. In addition to removing the heavy top blue block design, the newly added “dark mode” will appear first in the video watching module, which will better serve the watching of video content.

The “dark mode” will appear in more app design. While the “immersion” of the user during browsing the content, the APP can help the user to turn on the “dark mode” at night, serving the user in the dark environment at night, and reducing the visual fatigue of the screen.

The Post-00s likes multiple interactive experiences, and the content+interaction gives new possibilities for content. The interactive video allows users to increase their sense of participation and get a personalized game experience, moreover making the content more entertaining and a dose of novelty.

Movies, games, and online dramas have all launched interactive works, and users have taken the initiative to participate in the selection from the third perspective to the first perspective, and these works are becoming highly personalized content. Interactive videos not only guarantee the quality of the story content, but also guarantee the interactive experience. The interaction of the content must be meaningful and affect the development of the story. This kind of interaction is effective and can touch the user’s emotions.

The Post-00s does not like to watch TV, but mainly use smart phones to get goods and services. Mobile payment changes the user’s payment habits, and users are willing to pay for the content that they are interested in.

The content-based E-commerce provides users with a more information-rich and entertaining experience that allows users to shop while they consume contents.

Young Internet users are growing up in a fast-growing technology and cultural environment. Naturally, these users have made a higher aesthetic pursuit of these products. In recent years, the “small and beautiful” design with a self-personality has also made it easier to impress users.

From the new icon design of Office 365, we can see more abstract and symbolic icon representation. Reduce the proportion of concretization (text areas) on the icon, and use more abstract shapes to express the meaning of the icon. The icon evolves in a more concise and geometric direction, while using rich color and texture changes to satisfy the icon’s recognition.

In addition, the design of the icon is more about the efficiency of the adaptation. Office uses resources in the SVG format to accommodate application extensions on different platforms.

With the advancement of performance techniques, such as the use of 3D elements, and the development of animation implementation technology, the performance of the response animation will be more delicate. The laws of motion that mimic nature will also become more popular, such as “arc motion”, “light perception”, “particle performance”, and “three-dimensional space”, etc., which will also enhance the design performance of products.

For the controllers in the interface, the design of the controllers will be closer to the real physical rules. Designers can give them a more realistic feel by expressing the controllers via animation performance.

Interesting response animation can also give users a more enjoyable and intimate feeling, while the more “human taste” in the animation is the key to providing a pleasant experience. We can feel the emotions and the character conveyed by the icons.

The most intuitive feeling brought about by the improvement of aesthetics is the progress pursued by the graphics itself. Therefore, in the interface illustration, the pursuit of visual art is more important. Users are tired of the same geometric figures or simple linear icons, and a more personalized character performance and painting techniques will be more popular with young people.

There are more and more Easter eggs become popular in movies, a small Easter egg can bring users a sense of surprise and ritual. Some exciting designs can be provided to users while meeting user requirements and creating a user experience.

Google search added the Easter eggs of the Thanos in the “Avengers: Endgame”. Click the Infinity Gauntlet button then the search results will randomly “disappear” half. Google Maps launched a “Snake” Easter egg game for April Fool’s Day, which allows the snake (metro or bus) to become longer via eat the targets on different maps.

Google set up a small Easter egg for Chrome’s birthday and added a party element to the Dino Game: the little dinosaur will wear a birthday hat after it ate the cake.

In 2019, we can see the huge impact of technology on design and experience. The book “The innovator’s dilemma” describes that “every technology from slow to fast to the bottleneck, another subversive technology will quietly sprout and replace the previous technology.” Therefore, some design trends will suddenly disappear due to being technology-driven, and may also disappear due to the subversion of technology. As a designer, we should to learn how to recognize changes and constants in design trends for innovation and design improvement.

Technology and products are ultimately returning to becoming people-oriented, so designers need to understand the requirements of the bottom of human nature, not only to focusing on the design inside the screen, but also to pay attention to the design outside the screen, and improving the design for people using products or services is the future trend.

ISUX Design Trend Report

In this article, we will share our insights about avatar services which become popular again recently. As the IT world has become as a new dimensional social place, the presence and importance of avatar representing me in the virtual world is increasing day by day. Similar to reality, users invest time and money in decorating avatar to gain self-gratification or to appeal to others, move their avatar around the virtual space to meet and communicate with other users. The avatars which were partially used from a specific games or portal site profiles, has recently began to come closer to our lives according to the development of smartphones.

The word ‘avatar’ originates in Hinduism, where it stands for the ‘descent’ of a God in a earthly form. In mass media, the term ‘avatar’ was first used in 1992 in the science novel Snow Crash written by Neal Stephenson. It meant a one’s fictional other self in the virtual world, named ‘Metaverse’. In IT field, avatar means the visualized form of computer users themselves. The first avatar in online game was LucasArts’ online RPG Habitat in 1985. This was the first case which many users could control their avatar and interact with other users. (Wikipedia, NamuWiki)

Now, after changing the meaning from origin, the shape of the person that represents oneself in a game or a portal site is collectively referred to as avatar. Avatars have been mainly used for chatting and online games, but now its usage is expanded to cyber shopping mall, virtual education, virtual office(conference). An avatar connects the real world with a virtual space, and has characteristics that exist between anonymity and autonym. In the past, users were fascinated by the anonymity of cyberspace, but now they also have the desire to express themselves, and the avatars that satisfy both sides are attracting the attention. (NAVER Encyclopedia)

The avatar service coincides with the advance of technologies such as the appearance of GUI, the development of display technology and the development of communication technology. In the early days of IT industry, avatars were expressed in the form of rough pixels in a small resolution screen. However, since the performance of the computer and the quality of the communication line have been gradually improved, it is possible to express avatars using high quality graphic materials. In 2007, a high-performance mobile PC, smartphone, was introduced and we can meet high-quality avatars that were available only on the desktop in the hand nowadays. In addition, with the development of smartphone cameras and processors and the appearance of AR and VR technologies, it has reached a level where 3D avatars can be synthesized with real images in real time.

Since it was launched in September 2018, ZEPETO was ranked # 1 in the free app category in app stores of 35 countries. In just three months after its release, MAU has increased five-fold and total downloads have exceeded 12 million. (As of December 20, 2018)

Although avatar related services have been steadily developed, 2018 was a particularly remarkable year for avatar services. Thanks to the development of smartphone devices and AR technology, Apple and SAMSUNG announced 3D emoji combined with face recognition and AR technology. And ZEPETO, an avatar service developed in Korea, attracted tremendous popularity in Asia. With their distinctive features and style, they herald a fierce competition in the avatar market. As the development capabilities of each company are leveled up to some extent, differentiated points such as attractive style, interesting functions, and user convenience will make or break their long-term success.

The table below shows the status of major avatar services now in service.

The following is a positioning map that arranges avatars according to their visual characteristics.

In this section, we are going to explore what trends are reflected in the current service avatar services and how they are appealing to users through their strengths.

Because avatars have to maintain the visual completeness while realistically capturing the face of the user due to the nature of the service, designing an attractive avatar that satisfies these conditions at the same time is a difficult task. When the distortion, the styling, and the reality are blended in harmonious proportions on the style of the avatar, that service can attract many users. Most recently, most of the services are watching on 3D avatars, which are excellent in three-dimensional and realistic feeling, capable of producing individual styles.

We would like to briefly compare the visual differences that the some representative avatars have.

ZEPETO zepeto pursues an ideal and balanced appearance. They reduced the thinning and volume of the eyelashes according to the characteristics of the face of Asian people, and set the slope of the eyes to a gentle degree to give a warm impression. Also, the size of the head and the hands were greatly exaggerated so that the facial expressions and the hand movements can be seen well at various views.

Apple focuses on simplicity, clarity and rich emotions. Memoji is designed to simplify the shape of the face and maximize the use of the face recognition technology by moving all the parts dynamically. A simplified and rounded face gives a cartoon-like and cute impression.

SAMSUNG focuses on creating an avatar that looks almost the same with the user to promote their high-technology. All the elements such as a face, skins texture, a hair are designed to enhance its reality.

One of the QQ services, CM Show(厘米秀) has designed 3D avatar style in existing 2D avatars. Also, a new service using 3D avatars will be released soon. CM Show’s 3D avatars are designed to give a cute, unique and lovely feeling to match the taste of 10–20s who are the target users of the CM Show service. Unlike other avatars, it has a manga-style appeal. 3D version avatars will be applied on July, 2019.

The bodies of avatars also vary in shape and proportion. So, it is difficult to classify avatars’ body proportions according to exact criteria. But in general, avatars used in media with high resolution display devices have more higher body proportions. Avatars used in high-performance game machines and HD animation (such as Xbox) have relatively high body proportions. On the other hand, avatars used in mobile devices and small game machines usually have low body proportions.

Most avatar services have provided various palette for users to create their own avatars. Users can create a number of face combinations by selecting hair and eyebrows from a palette, and then selecting the most appropriate (usually self-similar) result. Like this, the existing 2D avatar was made by selecting images prepared in the library and combining them. However, in case of 3D avatar, with the advance of 3D technology, the user can adjust the detailed size and position of the face parts directly. This made it possible for each user to have his or her own avatar differentiated from others. This provides users with greater immersion and higher satisfaction.

Customization is one of the most important parts of the game industry in recent years. It has evolved from the way that the user has selected one of several pre-made faces, and now the user can ‘design’ the whole body by adjusting the each part one by one. This Customization allows users to create more diverse and personalized faces and many users were enthusiastic about this feature.. Users spend a considerable amount of time Customization as well as actual gameplay, even there’re some communities for users share and trade their Customization files. Now, Customization has become another new game in the game. Users want a system that allows them to modify their own faces freely, not limited options that developers have provided. On this account, most avatar service providers are trying to understand and apply a trend and user’s needs like these.

Is it possible to create an avatar by pressing shutter only once? Some services provide the automatic avatar generating function through facial recognition system. SAMSUNG AR emoji, SNOW’s ZEPETO, and kwai’s kmoji recognize the users’ pictures with their own technology and automatically create 3D avatars. Of course, after the creation, the user can make further modifications. In addition to the fresh concept, this kind of service also provides convenience to users by combining many things such as face shape and features. The new technology ‘Face Recognition’ has contributed in particular to introducing these avatar services to the public.

ZEPETO put a lot of effort into the photo shoot part compared to other services. It provides many systematically classfied poses and situations templates. Users can import their friend’s avatar to take a picture together, or they can import more friends to shoot a group photo. It also provides the ability to combine photos with solid color or realistic photo backgrounds.

The light, color, composition, and pose of the 3D avatar images are well adjusted so that they can blend naturally with various real photo backgrounds. With these features and detailed settings, users can bring ZEPETO’s avatars to their real world and create a realistic image, and this experience gives users a fresh feeling and interest.

These functions make it easy for users to create various secondary creations. Because it is easy to 1) synthesize the background through the alpha matte, 2) express various emotions by using many facial expressions and gestures already provided, 3) generate various characters through customization function. By using these functions in a complex way, users can create and share photographs and videos of their own stories. (There are many channels that share only such creations.) ZEPETO drama is a new genre that has been popular among teenage girls. Through ZEPETO application, users participate in both creation and sharing processes and actively enjoy this culture.

Based on these functions, ZEPETO has progressed many collaborations with various brands. Through collaboration, users can take pictures using specially prepared backgrounds, gestures, and items. And users actively share those pictures through social media. Collaboration with BTS in the early days of operation helped ZEPETO gain popularity. (It recorded a million shares on social media in a short period.)

ZEPETO focuses on how 3D characters are synthesized on the real world, there are also services that provide AR cameras using avatars. AR camera function has been used in various camera applications before avatar service. However, when this function was combined with the avatar service, it brought more powerful synergy. In the pa17st, animals, masks, and other characters have been synthesized on their faces, but these services can now be used to put avatars resembling the user directly on their faces. This gives users a stronger sense of differentiation and immersion.

The AR camera recognizes not only the still image but also the user’s facial expression in real time, and can record on the video. As the technology advances, it is now possible to express even more detailed and realistic movements, such as being able to track the shape of the mouth and tongue while the user is speaking. In case of facebook VR avatar, which is currently under development, is able to communicate and interact in real time by gathering colleagues’ avatars in a virtual space. In addition to this, Using VR lens allows for a more extended experience as if it were directly in the space. With this technology, avatar service has almost unlimited potential to be used in various fields such as telecommunication, game field.

The most important element in avatar service is ‘My Room’. My Room plays an important role in giving the avatar a sense of reality as a space where the avatar exists at the user interface point. However, it does not just function as a background image, but also complement the avatar’s visual style. In many of the services, the interior design function is added to allow the user to purchase items and decorate the space directly, which is also a major profit model of the service. Users can design their own space to match their avatar style, visit other people’s spaces, exchange messages, and evaluate each other’s space.

ZEPETO’s ‘my room’ function takes up a significant portion of the interface. It has a visually large area, so it can express the personality of the user more strongly by arranging additional items in accordance with the fashion and appearance of the avatar. (like a profile page for visual supplementation) But ZEPETO has an additional communication space called ZEPETO WORLD, so it does not provide any special playable functions other than comment functions. However, it functions as a representative page for accessing other users.

My Room is one of the main functions of LINE PLAY. It is the actual living space of the avatar in the game, and it is possible to interact with various objects purchased and arranged. In this space, the user can get the goods as rewards through the quests. It is also a space where collaboration with famous brands and celebrities is held. The Gacha system for getting adroable interior items is one the most important profit model of LINE PLAY.

There are various accessories for decorating the room. Special package sets are continually added for special events (like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, etc.) and collaborations(with fashion companies, celebrities, etc.). In order to keep users interested, it needs to constantly update items in this part, following trends and user’s preferences.

After created an own avatar, you can create a set of emoticons stickers that you can use in social media. At the click of a button, more than 10 stickers are automatically created according to the template. If there is no sticker you want, you can create your own unique stickers by combining various visual elements in the provided library. These stickers can be used freely on various platforms including messaging apps. A set of stickers made using avatars resembling users has a different charm than other common character stickers.

Most services only provide the ability to export the stickers created as image files. However, some services, especially SAMSUNG AR emoji and Apple’s Memoji, can be used by adding the avatar and sticker directly as additional emoji keyboard in the OS message app because the service is already included in the OS itself. (because they produce the hardware themselves.) Bitmoji can use its own stickers in the instant messenger app ‘Snapchat’ with the official linkage.

What if you could live another life in virtual space? In fact, there are many game services that focus more on these ideas. In particular, these types of games are developed and serviced mainly in the US and Europe. In the game, the user has his/her avatar and house (or must buy the land). Based on these, it is possible to have a kind of social life with a lot of other users. From social activities such as parties, swimming and meetings to various socio-economic activities such as labor and trade. It is more multidimensional than simple avatar game, but all of these activities are centered on avatar which represents the user.

In the case of ZEPETO and LINE PLAY, you can do simple communication based on the chat system in the space rather than playing specific activities using an avatar. (It provides a few simple gestures and actions to enrich chat.) ZEPETO WORLD is still in its early stages. However, service provider announced that they will expand the area continuously such as by adding games that can be played by several people in the future. (Actually this part is being updated at frequent intervals).

An avatar was a service that its use was limited to a specific site or a specific game. However, through the development of smart phones, popularity of 3D characters, and the installation in two biggest mobile OS, avatar services seem to almost completed preparations for popularization. Now, more attention will be focused on what you can do with your avatar, not just about what an avatar is. Let’s look forward to the endless transformation of avatars that can do many things instead of me in the potentially unlimited IT virtual reality.

Thank you for reading to the end, and the next report about UX design trend will be coming soon.

ISUX Design Trend Report

In this article, we will share our insight about the character industry, the second theme of the ISUX Design Trend Report. Characters are frequently used as a marketing tool because they can provide friendly and positive images by applying them to services or products. As the number of ‘Kidults’ has increased, the character market is expanding a lot recently. In the past, while characters were treated as things for young children, now the culture of consuming character-related products is more focused on the 20–30s. People are eager to buy the limited editions of character items designed by character collaborations.

This research will first share the overall flow of the character market and introduce some recent character branding cases along with notable character collaborations.

As all the countries have their own culture and emotions, popular characters in each country can be different. But when we look through the characters that are popular in various countries, we can see that well-branded characters can get global popularity. Traditionally, characters in animation, comics, and games have become popular but nowadays, characters from online messenger stickers are loved by many people regard to the usage of messenger apps. The characters created from online messengers are not only staying online but they are applied to various products and compete with traditional characters in the offline market.

According to the Korea Creative Content Agency, the global character market grew about 180.6 billion dollars in 2018, which increased about 20 percent from 2009 (151 billion dollars).

We’ve found there are 4 characteristics of the character market. First, unique storytelling is very important. Second, it is easier to cross borders and be loved than simple consumer goods, so multicultural sensitivity is important. Third, the license business is very important because it accounts for more than 50% of the total sales. Fourth, there are many cases of ‘One source multi use’ that transforms and expands original content into various forms.

Traditionally, characters born in comic books, TVs, and games have been very popular for a long time. But recently, online sticker characters that help express emotions on messengers are becoming more popular as the use of messenger apps such as Kakao and LINE increases. In addition, as the character industry develops, artist-based companies create character brands with unique stories which a lot of brands wants to collaborations with. China’s Molly, Korea’s Sticky Monster Lab and Super Fiction are the representative examples.

If you look at the characteristics of popular characters, there is a unique and easy-to-remember story that is not so different from our everyday life which we can easily sympathize with. Niniz and BT21 characters which were designed recently also have interesting background stories.

As the characters are used as online stickers, witty characters that can convey various emotions are becoming more popular. Rather than simply a cute character, somewhat nerdy and unique characters are popular.

A simple and cute shaped character is popular. A simple looking character is not only cute and pretty in shape, but also can be applied to various products using the basic character shape.

As 3D technology develops, 3D characters with vivid textures are also loved by people. 3D characters with detailed textures can be attractive even for adults.

China

1)Various animal characters are popular. 2) Characters from other countries are also popular in China.

Korea

1)Characters from online stickers in messenger apps are popular. 2) There are many characters family brands rather than an individual character brands.

USA

1)Characters from animation are popular. 2) It is a somewhat in rough form, but funny characters are popular in internet memes.

Japan

1)There are many characters in unique hand drawing style. 2) Many characters are from games and animations. 3) Characters are used in various field of industries such as local governments and transportation cards.

Recently, there are many cases in which character businesses are expanded by collaborating with various industries. And there has been a collaboration with trendy fashion brands, popular artists or products with state-of-the-art technology which tend to expand character’s brand images. From the standpoint of a company or a brand, it is possible to convey a friendly and positive image through a character. We have summarized the noticeable cases of character collaboration.

This is a collaboration of Korea’s street brand Covernat and Ryan, which is one of the most popular character of Kakao Friends. A character collaboration can easily become cute but since they only applied Ryan which has with no expression on his face, it matched well with Covernat’s unique street brand image.

Anti Socal Social Club has used their flexible logo applying various phrases or brand names. In this collaboration, they applied their logo with the BT21 character, brand name and logo which is not too cute or awkward and harmonized well with the ASSC’s unique brand style.

This is a campaign that Nike collaborated with Super Fiction on 2019 Airmax day. The user can create a character lottery ticket taste and can upload it on the instagram with a hash tag. The character identity of the Super fiction was applied well on Nike, and the campaign using SNS attracted the young consumers.

Global fashion brand Uniqlo has launched the KAWS X SESAME STREET UT collection, which is a collaboration between global pop artist KAWS and a popular children’s TV program SESAME STREET. UT (UNIQLO T-Shirt) is a unique T-shirt applying the pop culture concept such as music, art, film and animation which Uniqlo has selected.

Korea’s leading cosmetics brand Etude House collaborated with Disney’s lovely pig character Piglet to celebrate the golden pig year of 2019. ‘Happy with Piglet Collection’ is a limited edition, offering a cute package and various products that can create a lovely makeup which will bring good luck to the new year.

As K-beauty market grew, VT Cosmetics applied BT21 and BTS as the main models for their brand. They used BT21 characters in package designs and recently opened a pop-up store.

The fashion magazine Esquire described Ryan as a real selves and applied him as their cover model. They designed the cover by compositing the 3D Ryan with a real background which make the character feel more like a real model.

This was a collaboration project of Super Fiction and global fashion brand Maison Kitsune. They designed a toy figure reflecting the identity of fox character of Maison Kitsune. In front of the first Maison Kitsune store in Korea, a large sculpture of this fox is being exhibited.

LINE Friends had a very unique collaboration with Helvetica, the font that represents Swiss modernism. This collaboration has got attention from the design industry and also gave consumers a fresh impression since it was the first collaboration between un-materialized font and a character brand.

Kakao Friends had a collaboration between calligraphy artist Kelly Park and Apeach to open Kakao Friends Tokyo store. Kakao Friends Tokyo runs ‘Studio Kakao Friends’, which collaborate with creators from various fields around the world. The first project was with Korean calligraphy artist Kelly Park. Apeach’s lovely pink identity and Kelly Park’s powerful and stylish calligraphy were combined and created trendy and unique products.

This is a collaboration between Japan’s camping brand Snowpeak and LINE Friends. Snowpeak is well known for their craftsmanship in the camping equipment industry and also famous for excellent design quality and nature-loving spirit. Snowpeak tried to apply the warm and friendly brand tone of LINE Friends into the their products which was outstanding.

This is collaboration between LINE Friends and french stationary brand Rhodia, which is a especially loved by artists and designers. This is a case that LINE Friends’ lovely character image was well applied to Rhodia’s luxury and artistic brand image.

Café and bakery Quartet opened their second shop on the third floor of the Kakao Friends Gangnam flagship store and released the collaboration menu and goods. In addition to all the packages used in the cafe, the bakery also applied Kakao Friends’ characters, which gave the fun and wit to the Quartet brand.

This is a collaboration between Tencent ISUX’s new character ‘PUPU’ and Naixue, a popular fruit tea brand in China. It is introduced along with the PUPU Fantasy Travel exhibition and is being sold at Naixue stores throughout Shenzhen, China.

This is a collaboration project between Brown and Bang & Olufsen, a Danish company that manufactures expensive audio devices. Brown’s symbolic color and face were restrictively applied to the minimal design of Bang & Olufsen to maintain their high-end brand image.

This is a collaboration between Xiaomi and Line Friends which is based on Xiaomi’s “Super Me (SUPER MI) concept. This edition applies the story of Brown, who has gained superpowers and became ‘Super Brown’ after he met Xiami. Xiaomi and LINE Friends will continue to have various collaboration.

Clova Friends is an AI speaker brand made by LINE Friends’ mother company, Naver. Using the LINE Friends character Brown and Sally, they designed a cute and friendly artificial intelligence speaker. A lot of cute characters are tend to be applied to AI speakers since characters can make people feel more friendly to the device and have emotional access to it. Recently, they have designed some special editions through collaboration with Doraemon and Minions which were very popular.

A collaboration of the popular PC game Battle Ground, which is being serviced by Kakao Games. Kakao Friends designed a Ryan doll who dressed like a character in the game and also few items that fans of Battle Ground game would love.

Supercell’s famous game Clash Royale and Kakao Friends made a snack game together in which the characters of Clash Royale were redesigned with Kakao Friends characters.

Mobile games using Walt Disney’s IP are being released one after another. Sundaytoz has released ‘Disney Pop’ which is a mobile casual puzzle game.

As various characters are created, there are a lot of attempts to make each characters distinctive from other brands since character business is getting more and more competitive. We have summarized the most prominent cases of character branding and also organized the characteristics of character-related businesses.

Recently, there were few cases to design a character resembling a star or develop new characters by participating in an idol star for the making character concept. The fans of the star naturally become a fan of the character so the character brand can easily get the popularity. By using a star in the brand strategy, it can also help to give a story to the character which makes the brand more interesting. Recently, the BT21 character is very popular which was developed by LINE Friends with the world-renowned K-pop artist group BTS.

LINE Friends created a character brand based on the sketches of BTS members, and this BT21 characters were able to use the worldwide fandom of BTS to enhance the popularity. Over a year, BTS members participated in all the processes from initial sketch of the character to the overall design, character personality and the background story. As the process was revealed in a making film, BT21 received explosive responses from domestic and foreign fans even before its launch. The number of SNS followers for BT21 already reached 16 million on January of 2019. The fashion brands such as Converse and Antisocial Social Clubs collaborated with BT21 characters and those products were sold-out 1–2 hours after their release.

Roy 6 character was created by LINE Friends with China’s next-generation idol 王源 Roy Wang. Roy Wang participated in the character development with LINE Friends and first launched the Roy6 in China. The campaign song of Roy6 ‘Will you’ was a big hit that it took the first place on the main music charts of China right after it was released.

This is a 3D animation that LINE Friends made with the ‘Running Man’, an TV entertainment program which is very popular. Each of the characters were designed based on the real stars in the program. Based on the popularity of the program, animation has also become popular all over the world. In addition, a mobile game was also made with this 3D animation characters.

A character made by YG Entertainment, Korea’s leading agency that produces a lot of stars. Krunk can be easily seen in music videos and events or advertisements related to YG, with the concept of being a star singer. And various goods and figures of Krunk which is for promotion of YG artists are also popular.

Popular characters are also tend to be loved globally, so character brands try to promote their characters by opening offline shops or holding events in overseas. We have researched the cases that have recently succeeded in globalization of the character brand.

Kakao Friends opened a character brand shop in Omotesando, Tokyo, with the theme of Apeach. The Apeach character released in Japan is different from the original character which was modified to suit the unique sensibility of Japan. People can experience the character brand through various desserts and large sculptures of Apeach character in Apeach Omotesando shop. Based on its popularity in Japan, Apeach was selected as a main character of Tokyo Tourism Corporation.

Recently, Kakao Friends opened a pop-up store in Shanghai which was a start for their business in China. This pop-up store had a concept of a ‘first trip to China’ that they placed big character figures around for people to have photos with it. China is one of the country where there is a big potential in character business so Kakao Friends will be also looking forward for their success in China market.

Line Friends opened a small theme park called “LINE Village” in Thailand last year using their chaaracters.When people visit this world’s first indoor attraction,they can see in real size characters and enjoy 23 rooms with different theme.The LINNE Friends store is a place not just for selling goods,but a place where people can have fun and have a new experience .They are also ready to open another theme park in Shanghai this year.

Kakao Friends designed a baby version character family ‘Kakao Little Friends’ which is not much different from the original characters, but has more soft and warm image. This version is applied to various products of Kakao Friends and especially goes well with the children related products.

Various characters were newly designed for BT21, conveying the concept of designing the family and friends of BT21. These various character versions were also loved by BTS fans.

By collecting character figures, consumers can possess their favorite characters in the most complete form. The value of a well-made figures is increasing rapidly as the number of Kidults are growing. A lot of special editions are designed and people love collecting them. Following this trend, character brands make their characters in to a toy figure, allowing people to feel more affection for their characters by possessing it.

Bearbrick is a collectable toy designed and produced by the Japanese company MediCom Toy. They design various editions through collaboration with famous brands and artists in bear-shaped figures which become their signatures, and they are loved by the collectors for a long time.

Molly is a character created by Hong Kong designer Kenny Wang, and is produced as a toy figure through collaboration with various brands. This grumpy but cute-looking girl character has a lot of fans around the world, and they are enthusiastic about Molly’s limited edition.

Super Fiction makes a lot of high quality figures of their characters and also designs a large size of sculptures as an art piece.

Avofriends is a character brand designed by a small studio in Korea, and it is recently getting popular in China and Hong Kong. They had a collaboration with one of the electronic payment system in Korea, Lpay which used Avofriends for their promotion.

By opening a character exhibitions in offline, it can make people understand more deeply about the character brand. And since people like to take photos in an interesting places to share on their SNS, a lot of character brands tend to open an exhibition to promote their characters and let people take photos with their favorite characters.

Celebrating their 25th anniversary, street brand Bape opened a large collaboration exhibition in Tokyo. 10 artists customized baby Milo characters which was placed in the exhibition and various brand collaboration products were introduced.

The global character brand LINE Friends opened the exhibition ‘I am Sally’ at the Shanghai landmark Oriental Pearl Tower in China. This first solo character exhibition of LINE Friends was opened on the birthday of Sally, and more than 60,000 local fans and tourists visited over the weekend. In particular, 4.6 meter tall mega Sally placed in the exhibition attracted attention and various exhibition booths and pop-up stores on Sally’s theme were designed.

Momo Planet opened an art exhibition in China with their newly designed graphic posters which delivers different image from their original character brand.

As we know, a lot of character brands try to expand their business by collaborating with various brands. But in recent years, companies who owns their IP have started different businesses with their original field, especially in F&B business.

Kakao Friends launched ‘Sunday cheezzzball’, a unique snack brand which used Ryan as the main model. Started with a background story that Ryan loves cheese ball, Kakao Friends expanded its distribution network to offline with their own snack brand ‘Sunday Cheese Ball’. They also designed a pop-up store with the concept of ‘A healing snack for people who feel somewhat lonely in the busy daily life’.

In addition, based on this cheese ball theme, Kakao Friends are preparing to open the first VR adventure park in Namsan N tower in Seoul. People can enjoy VR attraction as well as various food, drinks and goods applying Sunday Cheezzzball story.

LINE Friends’ first ‘Brown and Friends’ theme restaurant ‘BITE & BITE with LINE Friends’ was opened in Hong Kong International Airport. LINE Friends’ partnership based F&B business brand was designed to provide the best taste and enjoyable experience with LINE Friends characters. LINE Friends has been introducing a various of popular beverages and snack products, and has continued to expand its F&B business capabilities by operating cafés such as ‘BROUND’ in Korea and China.

Naver Webtoon has made ‘Babi Snack’ which was part of the story in the popular webtoon ‘Yumi’s cell’. ‘Babi Snack’ is a product that tried to make the same taste with the 30-year-old traditional tteokbokki that appears in the webtoon. Yumi’s cells attracted readers with their philosophy of tteokbokki and its excellent taste description in the story. Currently, they are selling this tteokbokki in the online store and Barbie food trucks have traveled throughout the country for six months for their fans.

— — — — —

Now the character is no longer a thing that appears in children’s movies or animation. There are high-quality characters that can be treated even as an art, and many Kidults with purchasing power are enthusiastic about it.

The 3D technology or VR allows the characters to be expressed in a high quality, and it is possible to show the characters more vivid and realistic. We are looking forward to the growth of the character industry which is rapidly developing and changing.

Thank you for reading to the end, and the next report about avatar design trend will be coming soon.

ISUX Design Trend Report

ISUX has done a design trend research to share insights on 2019 – 2020 design trends. It is not necessary to follow the annual design trend report, but it is important whether the designer is aware of the trend.First, we summarized the overall graphic designtrends and then went through the recent expansion of the character market.Also, we have researched the avatar design trends started from the Zepeto appand Memoji and analyzed the UX trend for the last.

In this article, we would like to share ‘Graphic Design Trends’, the first part of the ISUX design trend report. ‘Graphic Design Trends’ shows the recent branding and motion graphic cases and summarizes 12 notable trends in overall graphic design.

Typography is constantly an important element in design and is used as a method of delivering strong brand messages. Since last year, a lot of brands applied bold San-serif fonts or used strong typography on their designs which has made this become a part of graphic design trend. In addition, there are a lot of typography cases that applying motions and can also find cases applying three-dimensional effect to typography reflecting 3D trends.

@Andrei Robu

This is a moving poster design with a kinetic typography concept. Beyond simply placing image and text, three dimensionally moving text over a fixed image conveys a new impression. These graphics are mainly shared through SNS in forms of short looping video.

@Wolffolins

Uber developed San-Serif brand fonts along with logo redesign and applied them throughout the brand system. Uber’s moving posters designed with their brand font delivers Uber’s brand messages more strongly.

@Dia studio

Dia studio often applies kinetic typography to their branding projects. This ’Squarespace’ branding is one of their representative portfolio.

@Practica Studio

A typography design case which contains event information applied in 3D form as if it were a gift wrapping. A looping gif was applied as a main graphic of the design system.

@Wieden & Kennedy Tokyo

The Nike Women’s advertising campaign in which Korean celebrities appear to support the subjective life of women, also applied bold gothic for their font. This font which is designed by Design Studio Guteform, basically has an extended form and also has a system that extends to a wider format to match with the proportion of the media. Dynamic and intense typography delivers messages of the campaign and interacts with other design elements which maximizes the graphic effect.

As Instagram applied colorful gradient for their brand color, color gradient trends have been going on for several years. Recently, bright and strong contrasted colors have been used in all graphics of branding, UI, and package design and this trend is applied not only to graphics but also to photography. The strong color combination, dreamy color tone and colorful gradient are expected to be applied to overall design in 2019–2020.

Recently, a lot of mobile apps apply colorful gradients on their icon design.

@DixonBaxi

Eurosport’s 2018 Pyeong Chang olympic broadcast also applied strong color gradient to all the application designs including logos, graphics and photography. Especially, the contrast of fluorescent graphic and the dark background emphasis the atmosphere of winter sports.

@Notreal

This is a rebranding project of NBA news broadcasting company which reflects the latest trends like using colorful gradients and bold typography. They applied a system which various graphic outputs can be produced by applying various colors, fonts and layouts.

@Plus X

A branding for Tencent Video and Wajijiwa’s idol audition program ‘Mingri Zhi Zi’, expressing the talents of the participants with colorful gradients in different forms of circles. The graphic motifs change with participants as the program goes on.

Recently, asymmetric layout which only shows a part of the entire image has been applied a lot compared to the past when it was often designed based on the fixed grid system. Although each application seems to show only a part of the entire image, designers can apply the graphics to each applications that extend infinitely in a large system. By applying asymmetric layout, designer can have more freedom about applying the graphics elements which can convey a strong impression.

@Vasjen Katro

Graphic designer Vaszen Katro keep tries experiments with shapes, colors and layouts reflecting recent trends. Especially, there are many graphic outputs using asymmetrical and open layouts which are recent trends.

@CFC

Korea’s leading cosmetics company(Amore)’s independent cosmetic brand ‘easy peasy’ tried to make this color cosmetics brand feel easier and more familiar based on their brand keywords easy, active, fun, bold and chat. In particular, the curves that seem to be drawn freely by hand applied throughout the branding system make all the graphics asymmetrical and express free and friendly brand image.

@George&Harrison

It is an example of identity that can expand the shape into various graphics and patterns using a simple square as a basic unit. The basic graphic elements are maintained simple, maximizing the effect of interactive image.

@CFC

SM Entertainment, one of Korea’s largest entertainment agencies has developed a new brand identity that can reflect their expanding business. It is a flexible identity which basic circle changes it’s shape continuously making forms like connected S and M. The flexible symbol and the circular pattern of various colors are the core of SM Entertainment’s visual identity system.

@Beetroot Design

This is an interesting branding case of a movie festival, designed with the images of film reel tangled instead of using a formal logo. It is a complex tangled film form which is not fixed, reflecting various colors and images in a complex way expressing various stories and emotions that movies can share to people which is the main purpose of the festival.

@Another Design

The basic rectangle unit conveying the core message of the exhibition is repeatedly copied in to three dimensional space which expresses the identity of the exhibition. This identity system has applied in interactive and modified forms throughout the exhibition, which has also been applied to various applications in different shapes.

3D trend has been so popular that graphic trends can not be discussed without it. Nowadays there are many attempts to show more vivid and fresh impression by applying sophisticated texture to 3D images. People are defining a new realism by adding a realistic texture to the geometric 3D forms which creates graphics that can not exist in reality.

@George Stoyanov

George Stoyanov expressed the beauty of shape by compositing various geometric forms. This kind of visual attempts are interesting because it is difficult to make in reality.

@Omar aqil design

This image was designed with geometric objects of different shapes, textures and colors expressing the identity of Adobe Think Tank which is a forum containing various topics.

@Universal everything

By applying various materials and colors on the form of walking people, this advertisement conveys an unrealistic and fresh impression.

@GRIF

The main copy “cozy” feeling is applied as soft fur material which give a new impression. This unrealistic graphics in a realistic texture gives a fresh feeling.

Using organic shapes is not a new trend that also can be found a lot recently on various graphics. It is sometimes used as a graphic motifs of brand identity, but also applied to short motion graphic videos or designed in 3D forms. This organic shape with strong colors or gradients conveys a sophisticated and dreamy atmosphere.

@cmttat

Organic forms are often applied in 3D, and this trend is widely applied in short video works shared on SNS. Especially for this year, there are many cases which transparent texture is applied to 3D organism form. This transparent material reflects the surrounding color and creates a mysterious atmosphere by applying various colors.

@Irradie

By applying bright and colorful gradient to organic shapes, this graphics express the identity of electronic music festivals in Paris.

Illustrations once had been backed up in trend by various graphics using photographs but now became a strong design trend. Lot of brands are trying to use graphics that can give a new impression to their brands by hiring famous illustrators. In addition to 2D illustrations, 3D character illustrations have become a trend since last year and more cases are being used for branding.

@Leo Natsume

The illustration style applied in Uber’s new identity are the fun elements in the concisely organized brand system.

这是Spotify运用了2D插画的品牌视频。手绘质感，色彩简单，人形的四肢都很大是最近的插画趋势。

@Superfiction

This is an example of 2D pattern design based on 3D character which is applied on package design and to the brand video.

Isometric is a method to draw 2D graphics in to three dimension which has been a trend widely applied in graphics and motion videos recently. A lot of designers use this technique to give a new impression by showing the whole graphic in one frame, creating a playful and unique atmosphere. It seems that isometric will be also popular this year as last year.

@Mohamed Samir

The illustrator Mohamed Samir who often uses isometric techniques and colorful gradients designed a series of interesting posters.

@Matthieu BRACCINI @Panic Studio

The isometric method can give an impression that objects become like a miniature. Recently, a lot of cases can be seen which have made the screen more special and interesting using this isometric technique.

Combining various type of graphics from different media was a common way to have an interesting effect from the past. Recently, there are lots of graphic cases that gives fresh impression by combining bold colors, realistic photographs or 3D images. Realistic images or videos combined with flat elements are considered to be one of the major trends of 2019–2020.

@Sergio Fuego @giantantstagram

When 2D and 3D images are combined, three dimensional effect can be more prominent and special. These videos are good cases using this method.\

@+CRUZ

This campaign video of Converse is a good design reference which contains the mixture of live action videos and 2D graphics.

@blottermedia @jamiethraves

By adding glowing scribble animations to live-action videos, the videos can be more dynamic and interesting. Recently, more videos of dancers and singers in SNS platform apply this kind of effect.

@phellaz @blublustudios

There are a lot of work that is hard to know whether it is 2D or 3D. These videos can convey a new feeling by expressing the motion of the object in three dimensions rather than simply using 2D graphics.

As sharing graphics and images through SNS has become very common, short and repetitive motion graphics can be easily seen. A brand logo, illustration and various graphics are all shared in a short looping animation form.

@motionmarkus

These short videos convey unique and fun image by repeatedly applying short actions to a simple and flat illustrations.

@arbenl1berateme

As 3D become a main trend, short and repetitive images using 3D are also noticeable. Adding the real texture and 3D effects can convey unique atmosphere.

The development of AR/VR technology had a great impact on graphic and multimedia design trends. Recently, these new technologies lead people to have three dimensional brand experience.

@Laura Normand

Even though it is printed on a paper, this poster allows people to have interactive experience using 3D AR technology. The poster only contains simple geometric graphics and minimal information, but when it is seen through mobile, people can get more information and see three dimensional shapes.

@Apple

Apple used the memoji to advertise Apple music which is based on AR technology. The famous artists such as Ariana Grande promoted their latest songs, while Apple had advertised Apple Music and memoji together through this ad.

@AKQA

This is a Shanghai Nike’s 360 degree online retail shop project through VR technology that allows you to purchase and experience services based on the amount of sweat that you made through exercise.

@POL

It is Audi’s project that use AR technology to bring the car to its own place and allow the consumers to actively experience driving the car.

@League of Legends

The real singers who sang POP/Stars on the opening stage of the League of Legends 2018 and the characters of K/DA had stage together using AR technology. The characters were tracked in real time and gave the effect of performing on the actual stage.

New retro, which interprets retro in a modern sense, has became a new trend. New retro is a word that combines ‘New’ and ‘Retro’, a modern interpretation of nostalgia for the past. It has become a new trend not only in design but also in various fields such as fashion, architecture and pop culture.

@dennybusyet @thekidzzzzz

Retro graphics and videos that reinterpret video games and Hollywood movies that were popular in the 80s and 90s became popular again.

@Jo In Hyuk

As well known cafe branding case in Korea, Firtz Coffee created a unique brand identity with retro logo and graphics.

A trend does not flow in one direction but can extend to various ways as we see how latest design trend reflects technologies such as 3D and AR/VR but also contains the retro style. I hope that these various graphic design trends will be applied in a new way, so that creative and interesting design outputs can be created.

Thanks for your reading and it comes to the end of Graphic Trends. IP Character Design Trends are coming soon…

Last year, Michael Gough had an idea. Actually, he had 77 of them — 77 thoughts and insights that he’d developed over a lifetime spent crafting his design thinking, including stints at Adobe and Microsoft and working as an architect. Now, as Uber’s new head of design, we found an opportunity to share these ideas with the world.

The timing couldn’t have been better. Our Brand team had recently started rethinking Uber’s brand positioning, creating a new visual identity system — typefaces, color palette, grid, layout, photography, and motion. Using Uber’s new system to share Michael’s thoughts on design seemed like a perfect collaboration.

As Senior Brand Designer, I worked with Chad Balanza and Mason Field, under the direction of Peter Markatos, to realize Michael’s vision.

The result was 77 Things — a design-forward, aesthetic exploration of some core principles of design.

This book is not for sale. The only way to get a copy is to come to our Uber design events or by joining our team. In the meantime, get the Google Chrome extension on your computer.

The challenge

The book required us to explore the boundaries of Uber’s new visual identity system. Our goal was to showcase examples of how to place the whole range of our new identity to use.

What’s interesting is the book was shaped by its own content. After all, if you are going to put forth 77 design principles, you’d better live up to them. A central theme of the book is designing for pattern. Throughout the book, we followed one of the principles most critically:

“Pattern recognition is an essential skill for creators. See the patterns in user behavior and how to change them. Understand the implicit patterns of use, layout, and function in your work. Then, make them explicit.” — 77/77 Things

We decided to put these practices into designing the book — looking for the patterns in these principles and thinking about how not only to spotlight but to interact with them. In short, we would make them explicit.

The first step of the process

The first step was to figure out the patterns and elements we wanted to use to exemplify our brand. Once we had a clear vision of a grid, type rules, and everything figured out, we were able to place each page quickly. In just four months we went from concept to final print.

We also had to balance the intention of the pace at which someone will read the book. We wanted to create a book that didn’t insist on being read front-to-back or all in one go. Ideally, the book reads as well by flipping to a random page as it does reading from the beginning. We used images to give the reader a break — to pause and think about what was just read — as well as to serve as visual associations to the text, references that would be more significant than a page number.

The second step of the process

Next, we began testing readability and trying to push the new brand identity to its limits. We wanted to know a few key things:

• Is this easy to read?
• Are we showing the full range of the beauty and functionality of our typeface?
• Are we striking the right balance between headlines and copy?
• Are we using our secondary colors in a subtle but effective way?
• Is the contrast too much?
• Are the colors working well with black and white?
• Are we making the book interactive in a way that complements the content rather than distracting from it?

The overall aesthetic of 77 Things followed our new design system, and that system was heavily influenced by modernist design. We didn’t try to reinvent the wheel. Josef Muller Brockmann, Massimo Vignelli, Otl Aicher, and Alexandre Wollner were key sources of inspiration.

For example, we loved how Vignelli uses typography, layout, and composition to draw focus or pace the reader’s attention. I tested different layouts to influence the pace at which someone would read this book.

What didn’t work?

We developed many concepts for the cover. One particular design utilized a combination of craft paper and white foil that the team favored initially. We were intrigued by the contrast of materials and loved that the book would have a grit to it in hand. It would feel raw and unfinished — like a workbook of sorts. This played nicely with the idea that this was by no means a completed work: designers would be encouraged to add to it, write notes in it, and further develop these theories we design by.

But ultimately, the master brand system helped us determine the right approach, and we felt it was inconsistent with our original thinking. Craft paper was not a material or texture that best represented the new Uber. This book would be the first artifact produced after the launch of our new visual identity system; it was imperative that it embodies the principles of the brand moving forward.

The inspiration for the book title came from an essay by Wendell Barry titled “Solving for Pattern.” Our original name, “Designing for Pattern,” was intended to pay tribute to it. We wanted the book to inspire and be shared amongst our audience. We didn’t want the book to end up dusty on a coffee table or tucked away in a drawer. Ultimately, our desire for simplicity and accessibility won out over our effort of homage. The title “77 Things” is an attempt to remind the designer that this book should be picked up and read from time to time: each of these 77 things can help you hone the craft of design at any point throughout your career.

The third step of the process

The print process required us to think about paper. We first chose an uncoated paper with a nice texture. We had a really analog feeling about the book but outside of the cover, we didn’t have a lot of extra fancy stuff going on in the book.

The printing itself was a challenge. We used PMS (Pantone Matching System) colors for our solid background color) to ensure 100% accuracy with our new secondary palette. We had tried using CMYK to cut down costs, but the first print just didn’t look right. One page, in particular, that was tricky was the flyout page with the desert photo. The inserted page was printed at a different moment in the production. In any print run, small variations in color are typical, but for this page, we needed the insert to match exactly with the main page. In addition, the cut of the page made it difficult to align perfectly. It took a few times before we got it right.

Anatomy of the Book

Typeface

“Understand type and how to use it.” — 51/77 Things

The Uber Move typeface is one of our identity’s strongest assets. Thinking on that, we use every single weight of the Uber move display and text fonts, in different body sizes. This is not the way we use Uber Move in our daily work, but this book is a great opportunity to show off the beautiful shape of our exclusive typeface.

The main rules of the typeface

1st: Weight Jump

The first way to create hierarchy is to use the right pairing of fonts. For example, if we’re using ‘bold’ for the principle, we use ‘regular’ for the text.

2nd: Weight Jump + Size

Another way to create hierarchy is to find the right balance of sizes between a headline (in our case, each principle, in bold) and the corresponding body copy. Each principle is either the same size as its body copy or else at least twice the body copy’s size. This is a good rule of thumb for sizing. If body copy is just a little smaller than a headline (80% the size, say) then the difference between the two is hazy, and the end result feels sloppy. We wanted either identity (with the headline and the copy the same size, which is visually pleasing) or a discernible difference (2x or more) that was clear and clearly intentional.

3rd: Size

Inspired by a quote from Massimo Vignelli, the first spread layout starts with a different hierarchy set. We use a medium weight for both the principle and the body copy. However, the principle is 13 times bigger than the body copy. This creates an obvious, pleasing contrast.

4th: Space

A classical way to build hierarchy through a well-organized grid system is to allow for the right negative space between each element. One of our spread pages was also inspired by classical design posters from great designers such as Josef Müller-Brockmann and Otl Aicher.

7 Photos

“Don’t demand attention and don’t distract.” — 74/77

We chose 7 photos in the book for their pattern, texture repetition, movement, and alternation between city environments and nature.

7 Colors

“Embrace diversity.” — 16/77

We use our 6 secondary colors as the backgrounds for the 6 sections of the book. To complete the pattern, the 7th background color is one of our main colors: black.

7 Layouts

“Know the grid. Use the grid.” — 35/77

To maintain a pattern, we laid out a grid-based on multiples of seven. The most important part of the grid was the baseline. After some exercises, we decided to use 7pt, which is a tight baseline. This allowed us to create several different body copy sizes and to always set the leading to fit multiples of seven. This will be obvious to people who are more experienced with layout, but for those who aren’t, a good tip is to really give a lot of attention to the leading — it’s not just about making your type big to be easily readable, the right space between the lines makes the reading experience more elegant and comfortable for the reader. It makes all the difference on a project.

With the baseline and the margins set, we defined the six columns, and then the gutters and rolls, which we set at 14pt. With those combinations, we created the different modules we had available for the main content of the book:

It’s important to note that 77 Things was not an orthodox editorial project. For insights on using grids for more traditional design, I would highly recommend Grid Systems in Graphic Design by Josef Müller-Brockmann. I’d also recommend Visual Design: 50 Years by Alexandre Wollner, which isn’t specifically about editorial design but is full of great stuff about modernist brand identity design, including a step-by-step explanation of how the book itself is designed, which is a really good demonstration of the grid system at work.

Interactions

“Interactions are relationships” — 32/77

With 77 Things, we created some interactions between the reader and the book, some of them really simple, like changing the orientation of the book, and others a little bit more complex: using cut-outs to mask, reveal, or hide.

The finale

For the 77th principle, we created a special interaction, and the 76th principle leads to it.

The poster

At the end of the book, we inserted a detachable, folded page that opens into a poster with all 77 principles.

My reflections

Personally, designing 77 Things has been a deeply rewarding experience. Feedback has been positive, which is always nice, but past that, working on this project helped reinforce design skills I already had and to practice some new ones as well. Eight months later, I’m still using the techniques I learned from this experience and I don’t see that stopping any time soon.

Thanks for reading. I am excited to hear your feedback. If you have any questions please comment below. This book is not for sale. The only way to get a copy is to come to our Uber design events or by joining our team. In the meantime, get the Google Chrome extension on your computer. If you are interested in joining our team, please check out the current job listings.

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77 Things

Written by Michael Gough with contributions from Eric Schlakman, Erik Klimczak, and Roy West, with support from Christopher Starr, Dana Beatty, and Lori Mann.

Designed by Braz de Pina, Mason Field, and Chad Balanza, under the direction of Peter Markatos.

Design production by Lori Mann.

Composed in Adobe® InDesign®.

Set in Uber Move, a typeface created for Uber by Jeremy Mickel / MCKL. Uber Move was inspired by the international language of transportation.

Printed in California with John Litster and Echelon Fine Printing on Mohawk Superfine Ultrawhite

Eggshell cover and text.

Includes content and ideas from “57 Things” by Adobe Systems, © Adobe Systems 2011, written by Michael Gough with contributions by Shawn Cheris, Ethan Eismann, and Ty Lettau.