Creating a window into the possibilities of tomorrow
How (and why) we developed a brand identity with inspiration at the heart
Written by Andreas Helin and Simon Blockley
It’s no secret that nowadays we spend most of our screen time scrolling and comparing our lives to others. And too often feeling like we’re coming up short. Social feeds have led visual culture to become passive and mindless.
We believe there’s a different path forward. Pinterest strives to be a place where people can find inspiration for their future, rather than seek validation of their past.
We hear Pinners say this all the time — the inspiration on Pinterest is the catalyst for their activity and creativity. That’s why we made inspiration core to our company’s mission — and now also the center of our brand identity.
In a collaboration with MadeThought we set out to create a visual system as fluid, personal and creative as Pinterest itself — driven by the meandering choices and ever-evolving dreams of those who come to the platform.
Seeing through Pinners’ eyes
By putting each Pinner’s shifting spectrum of interests and dreams at the heart of the identity, we allow for a living ecosystem that can flex into an infinite number of expressions. Just as within our platform, the brand can jump into immersive worlds that portray the beautiful journey of self-discovery, endless possibilities and the joy of finding inspiration.
That might be venturing down a visual rabbit hole to stumble on something unexpected. To combine disparate findings into something unique and personal. Or to even unpack the curated and eclectic minds of those who come to Pinterest.
We can capture the beauty and possibility of inspiration through the eyes of a Pinner by colliding and collaging these worlds into an ever-evolving visual language.
The five dimensions of inspiration
With imagery at the forefront of the identity, we also wanted to understand what makes something inspiring in the first place. Following a study with Pinners we discovered five key attributes that make up any great idea on Pinterest: visually appealing, novel, relevant, positive and actionable. These became our five guiding principles for how to choose, combine and collage visuals throughout brand communications. Following these principles ensures we always stay true to what makes Pinterest an inspirational home for all aspects of life.
To scale this image-centric identity we’ve developed a tool that enables anyone to create dynamic curations of Pins in a variety of manners:
An inspired approach to color
Color is central to the idea of inspiration — even in the absence of visuals, any word, sound or taste can spark an imaginative sense of color. To capture inspiration through our use of color, the brand approach is not derived from a set palette but dynamically from an inspiration source that radiates its personality all around it. Palettes are influenced by their surroundings — ever-changing, unexpected and emotive. And that’s not limited to imagery; the words and terms that spark our journeys can also spur color creation.
To make this theory easy for people to use and apply — regardless of design expertise — we’ve built a color picker tool that can draw contextual and accessible palettes from any image, word or phrase.
→ We’ve got much more to share about our color approach and picker tool in our color article.
A typeface for tomorrow’s ideas
We worked with Grilli Type to tie it all together with Pinterest Sans, a bespoke typeface that naturally complements the visual world of tomorrow’s ideas. It combines playful human touches with a literal lean into the future — reinforcing the forward-thinking Pinner mindset.
→ Learn more about Pinterest Sans and its UI counterpart in our Pinterest Sans deep dive.
These visual components are the seeds for a diverse and ever-evolving identity. An ecosystem that encourages expression and perpetual change.
The brand, similar to the product, should move people not to scroll but to plan, play and dream. An identity that inspires us to put down our devices and turn ideas into realities.
