Microsoft’s brand aesthetic is evolving very fast in recent years.
The Cloud + AI studio’s product icons are required to become more delightful, friendly and enjoyable. My team and I engaged redesign of the product icons to help the organization transition to a new era of design.
_ New office icons
Microsoft’s Office365 is one of the earliest suites that update their product icons to the new style.
_ Power Platform icons were old
The power platform is one of the product groups in the C+AI suite. Their product icons were so outdated. I was asked to design the new icon set for the group.
I decoded the new office product icons.
Based on my research and study, I started sketch shapes and explore colors of the icons.
_ New Power Platform icons
Through multiple rounds of reviews and iterations, we were able to find perfect balance between aesthetic and original brand heritage.
_ C+AI icon ecosystem
With the successful launch of the Power Platform product icons, the OST icon charter got bigger. We started building a product icon ecosystem.
_ OST icon playbook
Bringing consistency into icon design with system and process
_ Azure icon project
OST’s successful delivery of product icons for C+AI, senior leaderships finally want to update the suite level icons. Azure is one of the Microsoft’s core businesses and my team and I got the opportunity to redesign it.
_ The old Azure icon isn’t the best one.
_ OST explored more than 1,000 shapes of A and tried a variety of colors based on competitive research
_ The new Azure icon
With excessive reviews and competitive research, we delivered the new Azure icon to the studio. Not only us but also Azure’s users are so excited about the new symbol.
_ Design a product icon is fun because you design the face of the product. However, if you underestimate what it takes to get to the finish line, you might get frustrated. When the process is more challenging, the return would be sweeter.
