PanPalz
Case study of a social platform forming genuine connections
Role: UI Designer, Illustrator, Art Lead
Timeframe: Sep 2023 - Apr 2025
Design Tool: Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Clip Studio Paint
Introduction
PanPalz is a new take on a social platform dedicated to reinventing social connections by providing a community that fosters meaningful connections and shares thoughts within a safe space. Founded by Joe Thomas, a former Executive Escalations team member at Peloton, PanPalz was brought about during the 2020 pandemic and inspired by the way people use social media. Despite many people actively using social media, many aren’t as connected with one another as they could be. The goal of PanPalz was then dedicated to rekindling authentic connections worldwide.
Concept Creation
I was initially brought on to the project as one of the UI Designers. However, due to the additional need for a designer who also possesses artistic skills, I was soon tasked with helping create characters to represent the PanPalz brand. The project lead, Joe,
had a fascination with different types of birds and wanted to have various anthropomorphic bird characters be the face of PanPalz. He then came up with the idea to base these characters on well-known individuals.
I was told the illustration style should be simplistic and inviting, referring to the illustrations used for the insurance company site Lemonade as primary inspiration.
New users entering their preferred name and username
The first official character I designed was a Yellow-Crowned Amazon bird gym buff. This was the first bird character featured in the app, guiding users through the onboarding section.
Users receiving their one-time authentication code
Regular Badges
After gathering various references and inspiration for the look of future characters, I designed a couple of initial bird characters used as avatars in PanPalz. An illustration team was created to work on creating other characters. I was in charge of five in particular.
A bald parrot character who is described as a cut-throat entrepreneur who wears a green suit, connecting to his love of money.
Along with creating specific characters, I was also tasked with creating images for all the badges available for earning by reaching certain achievements, such as following PanPalz on various social media or interacting with other users.
Undiscovered Badges
Social Badges
These badges are initially hidden and only revealed once the conditions are met.
Registration confirmation screen
I also created a cockatiel bird character described as the “Life of the party.”
Giving him shades and a casual white T-shirt was meant to convey the “party guy” aspect.
These are the badges achieved by following PanPalz on various social media platforms.
A pink Cockatoo character with a colorful exterior.
These are the initial badges that can be viewed by default.
Lastly, a crimson rosella scientist character.
Several months after our initial collaboration, Joe reached out to commission a new set of illustrations for a recently added PanPalz feature: customizable scenes. This feature allows users to personalize scenes by selecting from a range of backgrounds and character expressions.
These scenes serve as a visual indicator of user status and can be accessed via the app’s profile screen. This time around, I opted to create the illustrations using Clip Studio Paint as opposed to Adobe Illustrator.
For example, the first scene I designed was an office for users to choose from.
Once the user has created their custom scene, they can set their status, indicating where they are and their availability to reach out with friends.
Examples of other scenes I provided illustrations for include:
At the beach
Cooking dinner
At the farm
Running errands
On a walk
At the library / studying
At home
Conclusion
In closing, my involvement with PanPalz served as an enriching journey. Not only did I get the chance to further broaden my expertise as a UI Designer, but also to exhibit my proficiency when it comes to visual arts.
Delving into the creation of the bird characters through Adobe Illustrator and creating scenes in Clip Studio Paint was also enjoyable and fulfilling, despite the challenge of balancing multiple tasks at once.
Crafting mascot characters and contributing to brand identity development were highlights of the experience, as was collaborating with a development team to meet their requirements. I am glad to have contributed to this project and eagerly anticipate where the future takes it.