illustration • brand systems
Zello Illustration Library
Since the 2021 rebrand I've drawn and grown the Zello illustration library to 100+ pieces. The style has evolved over the years, from flat monochromatic outlines into full color with tinted strokes and shading, and the system underneath keeps all of it consistent.
A picture for that
Built for both themes
The same illustrations that run everywhere else also live inside the product, where they have to hold up in both light and dark themes. What reads on a light screen can fall apart on a dark one - so I tune each one for both themes and then work with PMs and engineering to fit them into real product flows.
Zello on iOS screens designed by Wil Nichols, Angela Cerillo, and Daniel In
Finding the style
Zello wanted to show the product without leaning on screenshots, and to picture the more human parts of the work. I looked at hundreds of illustration styles from other companies, ran workshops to agree on a direction, and created concept sketches on an iPad. Those sketches were the unlock: they showed the team almost exactly how a final would look, and I could iterate on them as fast as pencil.
iPad Sketch
Outlines
Completed Illustration
Making the work repeatable
Every illustration is built in Adobe Illustrator from the same modular parts: separate layers for outline, fill, and shading. That structure is what lets the library grow and restyle without redrawing everything, and it’s what made the style teachable. I wrote the documentation and trained the other designers to draw in it, so everyone can add to the library.