August Nguyen

SeaTalk

SeaTalk is a business communication and managing platform, originally developed by Sea Labs. It facilitates all of Sea employees’ communications. Sea Talk has also been offered to merchants on Shopee and other SMEs in Southeast Asia

FEATURE DESIGNS

SeaTalk’s design language emphasises on simplicity. Its interface makes a rich set of features simple, sets itself apart from several competitors on the market. It combines conventional component design, minimal design style, and well-experimented layout. A great deal of competitor researches and try-outs were carried out for UX and UI design of every feature.

 

GRAPHIC DESIGNS

SeaTalk’s tone of voice is young, fun and smart. When applied to graphic designs, it is also fine-tuned depending on the medium, audience and message. Being an essential part of the brand and interface, SeaTalk’s graphics must also conform to SeaTalk’s design language, to ensure a cohesive look & feel for the product.

 

MOTION GRAPHICS

Animations and pop-ups designed for SeaTalk follows its graphic design language. The same elements from the static graphics were made alive by applying meticulous physical effects like bouncing, gravity, pull-back and micro-animations.

As of 2021, SeaTalk has been used by more than 22,000 users across 14 countries in Southeast Asia, East Asia and Latin America. The app has also been downloaded more than 100,000 times from Google Play.
Learn more about SeaTalk here

Sea Hackathon

Sea Hackathon is the biggest annual innovation event organised by Sea Labs. Despite being a signature of Sea Labs, the event has never have a clear visual identity.

OBSERVATION ANALYSIS

It was unclear whether a holistic visual identity is necessary, and how should it be done. Visual designs for similar events from biggest tech companies in the world were analysed to identify the common practice. The results were categorised into several design directions and levels of effort-consumption.
It is reasonable to assume that the more important an event is, the more high-effort the design will be. As Hackathon’s significance is high, the two most low-effort options were eliminated.


 

BRAND POSITIONING

The design directions were also ranked in terms of design consistency and customisability. While higher consistency enforces identities, customisability provides the room for themes and messages. As Hackathon requires a clear identity and medium flexibility, the Adaptive Logo direction was chosen as a result.


 

DESIGN RESEARCH

Three main goals for the logo design were set out. The logo must be derivable, distinctive to Sea, and closely linked with Hackathon’s nature. Keywords related to the goals were listed out, and a secondary research was conducted to gather the elements that respond to each keyword.


 

PENCIL SKETCHES

From 9 main categories of logo designs, unfit options were eliminated. All potential keyword combinations for the feasible categories, as well as their associated elements, were listed out as a basis of the pencil sketches.


 

DIGITAL DRAFTS

Three sketches were picked out for digitisation, with symmetry and signature elements kept in mind. Besides, the final drafts also require a logical construction that is easy for reproduction.


The final candidates were then applied into graphic representation. Their flexibility and identity strength were carefully evaluated.

 



CONVERGENCE

Combining letter H with the idea of teamwork and programming, this option carries large positive and negative space, with very strong central gravity. Its complex geometry, however, may limit possibilities.



INTERSECTION

This option carries large positive, with strong central gravity and simple geometry.


CUBE

This option carries very large positive space and little negative space. Its isometric design and off-centred focal point may reduce the number of potential composition.


Intersection was selected, for it is simple, stable and flexible. The most matured key visual was also chosen to catch up with the imminent production timeline.

 


 

CREDIT

The pencil sketch stage and web design were partially assisted by Wen Yiran, Senior UI Designer, Labs

Sea Brand Illustrations

Internal communications of Sea are enhanced by colourful graphics. Based on Sea Illustration Library — a collection of pre-made elements, they are perfected with lots of customisations. The final products are friendly, lively, and express Sea’s brand personality.

CHARACTERS & ELEMENTS

Pre-made characters come with a limited set of postures, costume and expression. They are then spiced up with more diverse and natural poses for application. Their clothing is also tailored to the occasion. Custom elements are also added in. These improvements make the designs closer to life.


 

COMPOSITION

In its original form, the Illustration Library only endorsed full-body composition. However, designs for major festivals and events were made an exception. Close-up composition is used, bringing forward friendly feel and the significance of the event it’s meant for.

 

Featured designs


CHRISTMAS

2021


 

HARI RAYA HAJI

2022


 

MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL

2022