TagCons

A year of creating expressive, custom icons for the user.

In 2024, Bear asked me to expand their iconic TagCons. Tiny icons designed to bring personality, customisation and self-expression into the product.

Each icon needed to work at just 16px, across dozens of colour themes, with a duotone system adding an extra layer of depth and personality. TagCons are a small but much-loved part of Bear, giving users another way to make the app feel like their own.

• Iconography

• Systems Design

Services

Year

2024 - 2025

Finding the Formula

The original TagCon set was smaller and lacked cohesion, so establishing a consistent style was my first focus. The duotone treatment was central to this, creating depth and dynamism while giving the icons their own distinct personality.

The exploration centred around a few key questions: How much detail is too much? How can duotone help carry that detail? How should the icons show depth and perspective? And how could angles, corners and linework give the set its own distinct character?

After some stress testing, the client and I aligned on the style direction which allowed me to put some guidelines and rules in place for the wider set.

𖧧 System Building ಄

World Building

I developed a set of guidelines that allow for consistency and structure, while creating space for customisation, personality and fun. The set is robust in its ability to make space for unconventional icons, all while living within the world of Bear and aligning with the brand.

Bear’s icons and visual assets use SVGs, allowing elements like colour to be controlled in code and adapt across the app’s various themes.

“Vic is one of those awesome people you can hand a brief to and know you’ll get back quality. Her experience allows her to both adapt to feedback and to lead when needed. I can’t imagine the Teamwork rebrand without her”