Our workBrands building design systems, not just assets

Etsy, with an icon system built to its own brand book.

Client
Etsy
Industry
Marketplace
Team
Internal learning programmes
Scope
Custom Illustration · Icon Design · Copywriting · Video

One of the largest online marketplaces for handmade and vintage goods.

Custom icon system drawn for Etsy's internal learning programmes - Flocksy
01 · The challenge

A brand book is only as good as what follows it.

Large brands have iconography rules. Very few have enough icons. This team needed a library covering abstract internal concepts, growth, trust, collaboration, vulnerability, curiosity, in a visual language that already existed and could not be reinvented.

02 · The work

Three styles. One rulebook.

Each concept was drawn three ways, outline, solid colour and solid black, so the same idea could sit in a slide, a worksheet or an interface without being redrawn. Alongside the library, a set of monochrome line illustrations carried the harder ideas, including programmes on ambiguity and on the difference between complicated and complex.

Project feedback, verbatim

“Great sketch, super responsive and open to our feedback!”
“Super quick, and appreciated getting a few options.”
“Followed all of my criteria for the videos. Quick turnaround.”
“Great copy for the brand guide.”
03 · Before and after

What changed.

Before
With Flocksy
Iconography rules with no library behind them
A working icon set in three styles
New icons commissioned one at a time
One system, extended as needed
Style drifting between whoever drew it
One rulebook held across every icon
Your turn

Same subscription. Your brand.

One dedicated creative team, unlimited design requests, banked hours that roll over, cancel anytime. Flat monthly fee - a fraction of an in-house hire or agency retainer.

Segment
Enterprise & media

Global brand teams using Flocksy as an always-on studio extension.