MICROSOFT - Fluent Illustration
Illustrations enhance experiences, cross language barriers, and evoke emotion. Microsoft’s new Fluent style simplifies and unifies products with a distinct, engaging aesthetic.
*The announcement video was made by Microsoft in-house team.
I was invited by Buck to take part in the project’s R&D phase. During this stage, the team received a briefing with ideas and references, and guided by a defined set of rules for color, size, and proportion an initial sketch was created that later evolved into multiple 3D explorations with varied colors and textures.
Color and Gradients
Color deeply affects emotion, so we moved from muted, product-specific palettes to a vibrant, unified Microsoft palette. This boosts brand cohesion and reduces workload. Diverse, playful color pairings and intentional gradients create a unique, dynamic, and recognizable Microsoft look.
Dimensionality
We moved from using illustrations as simple decorations to integrating 3D forms into the interface itself. Fluent’s Elevation system guides space, depth, and angles to create tactile, human-centered designs with movement, interactivity, and clear visual connections.
Playful
While maintaining sophistication, our new direction embraces playfulness through fluid, organic shapes, curves, and asymmetry. This shift moves us away from rigid, literal styles toward more expressive, rhythmic visuals. Subtle motion and dynamic elements add life, spark curiosity, and encourage exploration.
Process
Building a large-scale 3D illustration system is demanding, so we start with quick sketches based on Fluent’s geometric principles. This ensures efficiency and creates cohesive, harmonious experiences across the user journey and marketing.
Credits:
This was a very long project involving the collaboration of many artists from around the world and multiple companies. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to the full list of names. If you were part of this project, please feel free to reach out. I’d love to include your name here. Special thanks to the amazing group of artists across Microsoft, Buck, and Indigo Slate who came together to bring all of this to life.
Creative Directors: Alexis Copeland, Ana Bernaus, Chris Palazzo
Animation Lead: Leitin Pedro Editor: Leitin Pedro
Technical Art Director: Rudy Vessup
3D Design: Tati Astua, Horacio Gutierrez, Leitin Pedro, Yulia Makhmudova, Dani Barros. Marcio Flausino, Emiko Inskeep.
3D Animation: Aaron Martinez Garcia, Alexey Sasov, Felipe Medina Contreras, Francesco Stucchi, Horacio Gutierrez, Leitin Pedro, Ryan Gagnier, Rudy Vessup, You Zhang
Music & Sound: Don Diekneite, Laura Parra Rangel, and Nicolas Kasha
Producer: Brian Drouin and Jana Huskey
The full project details can be found at Microsoft's Behance page