BeFunky: Brand & Product Design

BeFunky is an online creative platform that combines photo editing, graphic design, and collage making. Its accessible tools and customizable templates help people create everything from personal photo projects to social content and small-business marketing materials. Users range from casual creators to business owners, marketers, and experienced designers.

As Senior Brand & Product Designer, I spent seven years designing across brand, web, product, marketing, and content—including more than three years as the sole in-house brand designer.

BeFunky was preparing to launch a new mobile app alongside a refreshed, responsive web app, giving users access to the same tools, files, and projects across devices. The launch was an opportunity to unify apps that had looked and behaved differently and bring a consistent visual direction to the website.

While the UX/UI lead developed the interface components, I focused on evolving BeFunky’s visual direction across the broader experience. Collaborating with UX/UI, engineering, and leadership, I explored how the existing brand could become more consistent, expressive, and adaptable as the platform expanded.

Client

BeFunky

Role

Senior Brand & Product Designer

Deliverables

Brand Refresh, Visual Direction, Web Design, Product UI, Iconography, Illustration,  Marketing & Content

01. Web Refresh

Rather than reinventing BeFunky’s identity, I focused on strengthening what was already recognizable. Existing dot patterns and abstract shapes became more deliberate elements of the brand, creating a stronger foundation that could carry across the updated website and app while retaining its distinctive character.

The original BeFunky identity, explorations, and the final direction.

Color & Imagery

I explored higher-contrast accent colors through landing-page designs, presenting multiple directions to leadership for selection. The final accent palette complemented Slate Blue and Jet Black from the product UI direction.

I established a playful and vibrant photography direction to match BeFunky’s personality, then curated an approved stock-image collection featuring saturated colors and diverse people. When possible, I selected imagery with colors that echoed the brand palette, helping the photography feel more integrated with the surrounding design.

Web Applications

Across more than 60 landing pages, I developed a flexible visual approach that balanced brand consistency with the distinct needs of individual tools and features. Shared graphic elements created continuity across the site, while tool-specific imagery and examples showed users what each feature could actually do.

Choosing the right source imagery was often part of the design problem: I tested multiple photos to find examples that clearly demonstrated a particular effect, filter, or editing tool.

Selected page sections from the original website (top) and refreshed design (bottom).

Account & Subscription

I extended the visual direction into registration, cancellation, and subscription touchpoints, pairing expressive photography with brand colors, shapes, and patterns so these functional moments still felt distinctly BeFunky.

02. Iconography

I designed 250+ custom icons for BeFunky’s navigation and editing tools, establishing construction rules that could accommodate a growing range of features. Related functions, such as Blur and Blur Edges, needed distinct symbols that remained clear at small sizes.

Icons in Use

The icons appear throughout the product, from navigation and tool menus to layer controls and editing options.

Custom iconography applied throughout BeFunky's editing tools and interface.

Process & Construction

I established a 28 × 28 px grid with a 2 px rounded stroke, using fills selectively for clarity or emphasis. The grid guided proportions, while optical adjustments balanced icons with different shapes and densities. Some extended beyond the grid to maintain equal visual weight.

I explored alternate symbols and tested them at actual interface size and in the product. Team feedback helped me refine shapes and resolve confusing similarities.

Icon explorations and construction grids showing the shared geometry and optical adjustments behind the family.

03. Illustrations

I established BeFunky’s illustration style using simple outlines to keep subjects readable, with brand colors and abstract shapes adding personality. This approach accommodated both recognizable objects and abstract concepts without relying on detailed scenes.

Selected illustrations developed for product features, empty states, and supporting content.

Illustrations in Use

The illustrations appeared across product screens, navigation, and instructional content, representing tools and destinations such as What’s New and Tutorials. They needed to work on light and dark backgrounds; desaturating the colors for dark mode helped them sit comfortably within the interface.

Illustrations in context across web and mobile experiences.

Process & Exploration

I explored different visual metaphors for prompts such as refreshing the browser, contacting support, and reporting abuse. I refined the concepts to communicate each action clearly while keeping the style consistent.

Selected explorations showing the development of individual illustrations and visual treatments.