Amanda
Chan

 


WORK

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT

ABOUT

The Estée Lauder Companies -
Bumble and bumble.

Translating abstract concepts into playful icons

ROLE
Digital Design Intern
TIMELINE
June 2025 - August 2025
TEAM
Senior Art Director
Digital Design Director

TOOLS & SKILLS
Photoshop, Illustrator
Figma
Graphic Design
Visual Identity & Branding
Production Design

THE PROBLEMHaircare benefits are abstract, describing effects that aren’t visible until after using the product. Bumble and Bumble's icon system exists to close that gap: playful, immediately legible symbols that help consumers identify which products address their specific concerns, used across product display pages and marketing infographics.

For the launch of a new thickening hair foam, three benefits needed to enter the library: volumizing root lift, visible density, and thickens hair. The challenge was finding visual metaphors that were simple enough to read at a glance, specific enough to communicate the right benefit, and coherent enough to sit alongside a system that already had a clear visual voice.


Existing Icons on a Product’s Display Page (PDP)


RESEARCH INSIGHTS Looking at the existing icon library and other luxury haircare brands, a clear pattern emerged. 

Icons are rarely used well within the competitive landscape. Few brands represent specific product benefits visually, and those that do reach for standardized, generic forms. While functionally adequate, they are often completely forgettable and do little to enhance the brand. 

In contrast, Bumble and bumble had an existing system with a clear visual identity: hand-drawn line weight, organic forms and a tone that aligned perfectly with the brand’s balance of playful and precise. These icons laid the foundation for which I would begin to design the new benefits.

PROCESS
  • Paper & Pen - began with hand-sketched elements to foster exploration and ideation

  • Figma - vectorized selected sketches, referencing the icon library for stroke weight and canvas size consistency

  • Design Reviews - two rounds of structured critiques with the Senior Art Director and the Digital Design Director for feedback on alignment with brand voice and coherence with existing library to drive iterations
    DESIGN DECISION
    Imagery that evokes the feelings of the benefit, not just illustrates it.  The goal across all three icons was to find imagery that made consumers feel something about the benefit, rather than simply diagramming it.  

    This principle drove the direction for the strongest icon in the set. A wilting flower transforming into a bloom communicates the benefit of visible root lift without depicting it literally. The associations the natural world brings with it—renewal, vitality, growth—do the work that a standard interpretation couldn’t. 

    Volumizing Root Lift Iterations (1 - 3); #2 advanced to final after design review



    DESIGN DECISION
    The iteration that changed what the icon meant. Visible density presented the largest challenge. Along the lines of the root lift icon, early versions incorporated botanical imagery that felt on-brand but difficult for viewers to interpret quickly. Feedback from design review pushed toward something that demonstrated the concept rather than evoked a feeling around it.

    The solution came from an unexpected place. Originally designed to represent the “thickens hair” benefit, an expanding hair strand icon was recognized in review as a stronger fit for visible density. The benefit works to communicate the idea of filling in space and expansion, which is captured by the hair strand. 


    Thickens Hair Iterations

    Visible Density Iterations; #3 selected as final from Thickens Hair


    SOLUTION Two icons shipped for use across Bumble and Bumble product display pages and marketing infographics. Each integrates into the existing library without breaking its visual logic. One icon evokes the emotional feeling of a benefit, the other demonstrates the concept directly.

    The project established a working principle for extending the library further: lead with imagery that evokes the feeling of the benefit, and know when a benefit is too abstract to evoke — when it needs to be shown instead.




    REFLECTION

    Scalability within designs is non-negotiable. Early sketches that looked strong at a larger size fell apart when scaled down. For icons that would be used in a variety of applications, ensuring legibility at every size was crucial.  Building in scale testing earlier would have sharpened decisions faster.  Good process surfaces better problems. The most useful outcome of design reviews went beyond polishing details, instead recognizing that an icon designed for one benefit was actually better at solving a different one. Reframing the design wouldn’t have happened without regular feedback and iterations.
    What I’d do differently With more time, I would test with real shoppers earlier. A handful of five-second tests asking how they interpreted the icon would have confirmed or challenged the legibility assumptions that drove every version decision, faster than another internal review.

    © 2026
    AMANDA CHAN