How is Facebook's visual system developed?

When I started working on Facebook in 2008, it had done a lot of research on visual identity. They chose a simple and bold color scheme, using carefully designed simple well word standard, it is fortunate to avoid the web2.0 era of popular aesthetics. But I believe there are still great opportunities for improvement. Such opportunities and corporate culture are the main reasons why I have to work there.

Unfortunately, in the list of priorities, refining the better VI ranking is not high. As we try to keep up with Facebook's rapid growth, designers often simply design new products or proposals, so in this inefficient situation, it leads to very fragmented visual effects. The first solution to this problem was in 2009, when Everett Katigbak and Mark Bixby, my co-designer, joined the Facebook text I had considered in peacetime. I followed up on this by describing Facebook's identity guidelines, illustration guidelines, and wiki design resources.

2009 Everett Katigbak, Mark Bixby and I began to rethink the use of Facebook word labels.

This is the first time I've tried to redraw a word label.

Early attempts to map the Facebook brand

Over the years, I have made progress on every version of the system, and of course I have failed. I have always believed that our efforts are not enough. Facebook seems to me to have a long history and enthusiastic staff who usually initiate projects spontaneously. So in 2012, I also decided to develop a comprehensive, unified VI system.

2012--based on the audience and the background, I'm thinking about the Facebook visual landscape.

Camera app

The first chance was in 2012, when I noticed the upcoming camera app loop like Oak's layout, which was done by a design simulation tool shared internally by Facebook. Product designers recommend the use of camera text body Klavika. Although Klavika is really good, I have always felt that the font is too stiff, the Facebook brand is too mechanized to use. I think this is an opportunity, so I contacted them, they also gave me the point of view, so soon, I began to redraw the camera Klavika, making this font more humane.

Modified Klavika

Klavika of redrawing

The final version of the word label

Font

Despite the limited success of the camera app, we decided to negotiate with the original designer of Eric Olson--klavika to develop a complete font for the modified Klavika. Currently, there are two types of fonts-Normal and bold two versions, and support for more than 75 languages.

Facebook Regular edition

Implementation of this font layout

Small Icons

Shortly after this font was developed, I began to instill this idea into other parts. Although this icon has become Facebook's main logo, people are still trying to replace the new icon in the product. Then Facebook began to offer these revised tags to the public, and in the end, we found the official Two-color design and many people began to modify the icons. All of this is the result of imagination.

Google image search in the Facebook icon

Even though Facebook itself is not consistent, such a design will not always be as bad. The two main icon designs that it uses are shown below.

Old icons

We are trying to solve this problem by creating new icons that need to be strong and flexible enough to work in any context. Working with the first icon of designer Aaron Sitti, our approach is to redraw the "F" adjustment scale and remove the bottom highlight bar. So the new icon is a simple color glyph.

New icon

Compared to previous icons, the obvious advantage of a color glyph is that it can be used as a positive or negative shape.

I am with designer Jorn van Dijk, Brandon Walkin hinted at all dimensions required in the Product interface icon.

Another important consideration to design a new icon is the problem of a modular boundary radius. As long as possible, we would like to use the default radius, but to satisfy some interface or context, like iOS, you can ideally adjust the different radius of the icon.

The last new icon also designs different visual styles. Although the shape and proportions should not be modified except for the boundary radius, the icon itself has a visual beauty that matches the context. This shows the difference between the iOS and Android icons.

All of this is modified to allow them to incorporate more content, and below are some of the new icons that will be included in the typography.

Before the iphoto

After the iphoto

Before the WINDOWS8

After the WINDOWS8

Previous INS

After the INS

Sub Brand

With the development of fonts and new icons, you can set standards for sub brands and create new templates. A child brand serves only any subordinate product, service, team, group, page, and so on. For years, designers of every child brand have solved the same problem over and over again. This not only creates a very confusing visual design, but also makes the designer's work very inefficient.

A VI sample of a Facebook existing sub-brand

My view of the whole system can be summed up as irregular, and we are trying to create a flexible and practical system as much as possible. One of the necessary rules is to never put this icon into a brand new logo, it is a hypocritical way, the new logo needs to turn around and do it yourself.

With that in mind, Jorn van Dijk and I started creating a new icon for the Sub brand. Although it is a color glyph, each icon that it needs can also be rendered in a Full-color illustrated version.

After a detailed survey of the existing Facebook brand, I tried to create a sub brand and not try to do a very restrictive brand.

One of the places where these sub brands make public appearances is on the Facebook page, so we want to update the icons in the System page. So these simple monochrome glyphs must be adapted to the size of the product interface.