DUOLINGO
OVERVIEW
Over two summers at Duolingo's Design Studio, I created vector illustrations of the brand's world characters for in-app challenges, marketing events, and campaigns like the SAW x Duolingo Halloween crossover, Year in Review, and the 2024 “Owlympics” splash ad on the Google Play Store. Working closely with product and marketing teams, I adapted to Duolingo’s style guide to deliver simple, character-driven visuals with heart.
ROLE
Illustration Intern (2024)
Art Thrive Intern (2023)
tools
Figma
Adobe Photoshop
CONTEXT
Adapting to the brand's style guidelines
Working within Duolingo’s shape-driven style meant simplifying in a way that still felt expressive. The tricky part about “simplicity is key” is that nothing can hide — small inconsistencies become obvious fast. Balancing clarity while keeping the character’s personality intact required careful editing and a lot of attention to detail.
PROJECT 1
MONTHLY CHALLENGES
Duolingo's Monthly Challenges invite users to complete a certain number of lessons within a month, and doing so wins them a badge! Each month has a different theme. I conceptualized two illustrations for the months of August and October, the former being "Owlympics" and the latter being Halloween.
PROJECT 1: PROCESS
PIVOTING the illustration to focus on BRAND VISIBILITY.
With the 2024 Summer Olympics taking place in August, the theme naturally evolved into “Owlympics.”
Early concepts featured another world character as the athlete, but feedback highlighted the importance of centering Duo to reinforce brand recognition, especially given the “owl” wordplay.
original sketch felt unclear in terms of perspective
It wasn’t obvious if we were looking down at the swimmer or up from underwater. I wanted the more dramatic choice: viewing him from below. Rim lighting alone wasn’t enough to sell it, so after multiple iterations, I introduced visible sunbeams filtering through the water.
PIVOTING THE CONCEPT TO INTRODUCE BETTER VISUAL LEGIBILITY
Eventually, I pivoted from swimming to tennis, which is a sport more visually legible in a single frame and more closely associated with France through Roland Garros.
PROJECT 1: FINAL
TAKEN FROM PIXEL TO VECTOR
After several refinement rounds, it was shipped in August 2024. I then collaborated with the marketing to adapt it into a Google Play Store splash, extending the campaign across platforms.
PROJECT 2
2024 YEAR-IN-REVIEW CAMPAIGN
Inspired by Spotify Wrapped, Duolingo’s Year in Review celebrated users' cumulative stats through a bold, meme-forward campaign embracing the “unhinged Duo” persona, born from the brand’s famously guilt-tripping notifications
PROJECT 2: PROCESS
PUSHING THE TYPICAL IN-APP PERSONALITY FURTHER and balancing it with brand recognition
For the more extreme users who put in lots of hours on the app, I pulled inspiration directly from the iconic Squidward meme from Spongebob. I explored multiple sketch iterations, gradually exaggerating the pose and expression until the joke landed clearly.
PROJECT 2: FINAL
VECTORIZED AND SHIPPED
The final version was vectorized in Figma and shipped as part of the in-app campaign.
SKETCHES THAT DIDN'T MAKE THE CUT
