Notion Faces

2025

When Notion wanted to offer more authentic representation within their visual universe, BUCK leapt at the challenge to refresh their avatar system. The result is a flexible, versatile, and inclusive system capable of reflecting the likeness and personality of any one of Notion’s 100 million users worldwide. Capturing Notion's expressive personality, found throughout their branding and illustration language, was our highest priority. So we created a system that captures more than just physical traits, allowing their audience to create avatars that reflect the full spectrum of personality and depth.

faces.notion.com

Built to Reflect Everyone

How do you craft a tool that's representative of 100 million users? With a ton of representation options — give skin tones more steps. Give hair styles and colors more variety. Let users choose from a library of facial features. Give them cultural accessories galore. Hats, head adornments, glasses, piercings, tattoos, and a third eye for good measure. You want a monocle? You got it.

We also tested screen tone layering so facial hair would sit properly on all skin tones. We made sure sipping boba tea worked with every face.

And finally, we lined up everything visually across the system.

Aligned and Elevated

This system is based on the distinct illustration style of Notion’s in-house Art Director, Roman Muradov, who teamed up with several BUCK illustrators to hand-draw every component we added to the overall system. The expressiveness we infused into these avatars create moments of play and delight, instead of on physical likeness. The warmth and craft behind this work comes through in the final result.

Beyond Notion

The love doesn’t stop there. Our characters have transcended Notion, with creators using them in Notion Marketplace, Notion Mail, and Notion Calendar, as well as becoming part of people’s digital lives on LinkedIn, Instagram, and more. They've even crossed into the physical world, appearing on everything from tote bags to irresistibly charming cookies.

Credits

BUCK

Group Creative Director

Michelle Higa Fox

Creative Director

Kendra Ryan

Producer

Jess Pierik

Art Director

Jacob Myrick

Associate Producer

Khadim Dieng

Strategy Director

Surabhi Rathi

Strategist

Asia Hunt

Madison Caprara

Designer

Cari Vander Yacht

Sam Lee

Thea Glad

Lead Creative Technologist

Matt Kenefick

Additional Design

Jose Flores

Notion

Head of Creative

Rob Giampietro

Creative Lead (Studio)

Huy Vu

Art Director/Illustrator

Roman Muradov

Creative Producer

Lila Murphy

Illustrator

Iris Chiang

Interaction Designer

April Qi

Sam Baldwin