Instagram aimed to establish a cohesive brand story across its product and marketing with the refreshed brand identity. As a Design Lead, I was tasked with exploring the brand-in-product experience.
This was not a rebrand, but a refresh designed to infuse the brand with relevance and energy through a focused idea that works seamlessly throughout the all of Instagram.
Our team, comprised of Product Brand Design and Creative Marketing, worked towards three goals: activate strategy into brand identity, ensure clear brand attribution, and make a scalable system for the entire company’s needs.
Looking back at 2016—we had an inconsistent brand making it difficult to drive attribution back to Instagram.
To where we are today—we’ve simplified the system, applied more rigor, and established our iconic and timeless elements.
System Overview
Rooted in heritage, guided by the future:
Instagram Sans is a contemporary remix of grotesque and geometric styles. The type is designed with accessibility and global scripts at the core, able to express a range of styles in any language.
Instagram Sans comes in three different styles: Regular, Condensed, and Headline.
Regular is our marketing typeface used across all communications. Condensed is used for our in-product creator tools, as well as referring to product in marketing, such as handles and hashtags. Headline is rooted in our wordmark heritage and is used for a spark of creative expression.
I was responsible for the development of Instagram Sans Condensed and the product application of the typeface.
Instagram Sans Condensed in creator tools, stickers and text tool.
The gradient is one of Instagram’s most iconic brand cues. We refreshed the gradient—turning it from static to active—and infused it with new energy.
The DNA of the hero gradient is comprised of our five brand colors: Yellow, Orange, Pink, Lavender, and Purple.
I led the development of our core palette + gradient behaviors — which was the first ever unified color palette across product and marketing.
We also introduced focused three-color gradients into the system, for additional flexibility and increased legibility.
Creative Directors:
Cynthia Pratomo, Product Brand Design
Daniel Soederstedt, Creative Marketing
Design Leads:
Brett Itaya, Product Brand Design
Christy Silva, Creative Marketing
Producers:
Hannah May, Product Brand Design
Carmen Candelario, Creative Marketing
Creative Partners:
2x4, Brand System
Colophon Foundry, Type Development
Rose Pilkington, Gradient Development