Cash App Illustration System

2023

We partnered with Cash App’s in-house team to create a clever, spot illustration system that appeals to the app’s growing user base. From thousands of sketches came hundreds of illustrations and a robust set of guidelines.

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Cash App has always been known for its irreverent, ad campaigns and bright, colorful graphics. But as the app’s user base grew (and grew up), it needed to evolve beyond being “the fun one” — the messaging had to mature to position Cash App as a trustworthy place where users could manage their money.

After a research phase around illustration and reliability, we stress-tested our findings against the app’s humorous brand voice that we all know and love. (i.e. we made a lot of drawings.)

Tone

What makes an illustration system work? We used word associations to figure out the system’s boundaries — charming, but not cute, simple, but not plain, specific, but not complicated, etc. Then, we set out to build an illustration system that incorporated this tone, along with design guidelines that took inspiration from the kind of drawings you see in sophisticated, editorial magazines.

Function

We also considered the role illustration plays within the UI, knowing that every illustration did not necessarily have the same purpose. With in-situ surfaces as our guide, we plotted illustrations against the spectrum below.