The stories of Atlassian’s featured customers span the world. When building the visual language for these customer stories, it was discovered that some stories would need to be more elevated than others and 3D illustration was used to give them a special treatment. Keeping consistency in mind, the team decided to lean more on the in-house illustration style instead of being at the mercy of provided visuals from each individual company.

The solution was to develop a flexible 3D style that could be used for featured hero stories. This direction allowed our team to keep a unified approach to composition, colors, and illustration styles.

My role was to translate the super-flat illustration style into an engaging and striking look. Keeping with Atlassian’s friendly and humanistic aesthetic, I started exploring material and lighting that felt tactile, soft, and approachable–something almost tangible. The vibe was continued through the modeling phase, favoring gentle curves and beveled edges over sharp points. Careful attention was paid to keeping colors consistent and matching with the rest of the illustration-heavy house style.

The style was embraced both externally and internally. I continued to develop templates, guidelines, and training to expand our capabilities to other designers and vendors.

Visual Design: Sara VanSlyke
Illustration: Vania Wat
3D Illustration: Kimball Denetso
Additional 3D Illustration: Melissa Mathieson

Original flat Illustration