Nugget: Illustration and Email Design

As Nugget’s first in-house designer, it was my role to develop our visual brand guidelines — including shaping the illustration style and training new team members on how to execute it. Vector illustration is at the heart of Nugget’s visual system, internally and externally. The style needed to be polished, modern, and flexible enough to adapt to different aesthetics for new color releases, while remaining recognizable from a brand perspective. 

Nugget designs are characterized by rounded corners and a sense of dynamism. Builds are represented in perspectives that are clear and true-to-life, and illustrations are built primarily with standard vector shapes (with slight modifications). The shape language had to have charm and character, but be quick for new hires to pick up.

Over the years I’ve worked on illustrations for the company website, social channels, employee apparel, printed collateral, paid ads, and more.

✷ Illustration
✷ Visual branding/Brand identity
✷ Digital advertising
✷ Design Direction

New Release Illustrations

A few illustrations and email design layouts I created for Nugget’s new color releases.

Brand Carousels

Sample Illustrations from the Nugget blog and Instagram Grid.

A Year in Numbers Carousel

“It was a banner year over at Nugget!”
Illustrations for a blog of annual highlights.

Design Exercises

As Design Manager, I’ve assigned simple monthly drawing prompts to our team of illustrators. This was started with the intention to further unify our work while still allowing us to flex our creativity — thinking about how we can each interpret regular objects into something distinctly “Nuggety.” We’ve continued these exercises as the team has found it to be a great way to express one of our four company values: Just For Fun. Below are some of my contributions!

Ex. Prompts ︎

• “Everyone draws from the same reference photo!”
• “Create a blog divider based on a randomly generated word.”
  
• “Create a Visual Design Language and Nugget color name inspired by a random hex code”
• “Create a suite of design elements inspired by your favorite snack.”
• “It’s a Nugget potluck! Draw what you’re bringing.”
• “Re-draw an old illustration of yours — how can you improve it?”
• “Illustrate yourself as a Nuggety Gingerbread Person! Don't forget any edible accessories that make you, well, YOU.”
  
• “What would your dream robot look like in Nugget-style? What function would it serve?