Create Space for Gen-Z's Messy
When I joined Instagram, Gen Z didn’t identify with the platform. Too polished, too perfect, too performative—and just too late. It felt deeply at odds with their own identity, which they saw as messy, experimental, and not entirely figured out. For Instagram to keep growing with this new generation, we needed to make it stand for more than just a photo app.
New Generation, New Brand System
The app’s surface look was not helping the appeal to a new generation. It had started to look the same as many other brands who copied its once ahead-of-its-time identity. What followed was a fully refreshed identity.
A custom typeface. A living gradient. A system that flexed with culture and made room for expression, creation, and fun, messy ideas.
A Platform that is Yours to Make
The idea of Yours to Make was a shift in ownership. We handed creators their phones and the mic and celebrated the beautiful, unpredictable messiness of big and small things from identity to youth to getting dressed in the morning. As new products like Reels launched, we said the same thing – make it yours.
The platform didn’t become less designed, but it became less precious. Multi-channel, culturally resonant media ran across six markets: US, UK, Japan, South Korea, India and Brazil.
Made with our friends and partners at Johannes Leonardo.
