Level-Up Logo & Animation
Designed and animated Funlab’s Next Level-Up branding — a pixel art style video and logo series created to celebrate employee promotions, skill growth, and new hires. The assets were to be shared by team members and the People & Culture team across LinkedIn and internal channels.
The design brief called for a playful, energising look that captured the sense of achievement and excitement tied to career progression — all while using Funlab’s core brand colours and tone of voice.
Concept 1
This first direction focused on capturing that classic arcade energy. I used Illustrator’s mosaic feature alongside a carefully set grid, manually shifting blocks to get the detail and rhythm right. Since motion was front-of-mind from the start, I ensured the designs would transition smoothly into animation.
Ultimately, I combined elements from multiple drafts — moving forward with a stacked title treatment and a playful take on the Funlab smile motif, while shelving the arcade machine layout (for now).
Concept 2
This concept was inspired by early 2000s flash games and interactive web modules — a nostalgic aesthetic that still felt cohesive with the pixel art style. I imagined UI elements scrolling and shifting, with a bobbing title treatment and upward-panning arrows that would fade away at the end of their cycle.
While visually interesting, this direction fell slightly outside the brief’s scope and was ultimately sidelined in favour of Concept 1.
Refinement
As the chosen design moved into animation, I found the Illustrator assets didn’t translate cleanly. Still committed to the concept, I rebuilt everything directly in After Effects to achieve crisp pixel clarity and responsive motion.
I delivered five animated variations to give the client flexibility and range — each one capturing a slightly different flavour of "leveling up." and representing the elements in multiple orientations.
Chosen concept
The final concept — featuring an arcade-inspired look and feel — was selected by Funlab’s People team. They loved the energy, calling out the "fun and playful vibe" as a perfect fit for celebrating promotions and personal wins across the company.
It was a rewarding project to work on, and a rare chance to bring pixel art to life through branding and motion.