Less detail. More signal.
Reduce linework and competing elements so the person and their action stay readable.
LITHIA × DRIVEWAYVISUAL DESIGN CASE STUDY
Making a car-buying experience feel a little more human. A study in illustration, skin tone, and the details that make us feel represented.
Explore the thinking behind the pixelsArt directionCharacter designVisual systems
THE EVERYDAY, ILLUSTRATED.01 / 06
Every character has a story.Original illustration collectiond.
Different people.
One visual language.A broader spectrum
01THE BRIEF
Pixels second.
Before someone buys a car, they need to understand the journey—and feel comfortable taking the next step.
Driveway’s illustrations supported FAQs, guidance, and transaction stories. The opportunity was to create a visual language that felt approachable, represented a wider range of people, and stayed clear in smaller product spaces.
My contribution centered on translating character narratives into illustrations, exploring style and color, and refining the work through critique.
A wider human spectrum.
Explore skin tone and hair color deliberately, alongside pose, context, and personality.
Many stories. One family.
Let each character feel distinct without losing a consistent brand language.
THE DESIGN QUESTION
How can an illustration feel unmistakably on brand
and meaningfully human?
02EXPLORATION & CRITIQUE
of deliberate choices.
Study 1 explored how to simplify the style. Study 2 explored how characters and settings could make the story more personal.
The refined direction
Let shape and color do more of the work.
Reducing lines preserved depth while simplifying the visual. Review feedback favored its comfort and simplicity, with an expectation that it would read better at smaller sizes.
Fewer linesClear silhouetteDepth through color
A visual inspection aid, not a readability test.
FROM THE DESIGN REVIEW“There’s more depth with this style but it’s not more complex.”
03COLOR & IDENTITY
Representation is intentional.
Skin tone became an explicit review topic. The project referenced the ten-shade Monk Skin Tone scale and explored a separate hair-color range alongside the brand palette.
REFERENCE PALETTE10 SHADES
Select a swatch. Change its surroundings. Notice how the same color can read differently.
VIEW AGAINST
Swatches sampled from the project’s reference board; not official color specifications. This explorer was created for the case study.
REFERENCE 05#A58965
Separate identity from role.
Skin tone does not define a person’s goals or behavior. Gesture, context, and story communicate what the character is doing.
Review the whole composition.
Read skin, hair, clothing, and background together. A wider palette still needs clear separation and visual balance.
Make range a repeatable decision.
A shared reference makes color choices easier to discuss and revisit across the illustration family.
04THE COLLECTION
Stay for their stories.
Explore six character stories from the original collection. Each expands from an individual into a setting, an action, or a product moment.
CHARACTER 01 / 06
Stephanie.
A moment of discovery
A relaxed posture, a familiar device, and an everyday setting give an abstract shopping journey a human point of entry.
01 / 04
Character poses↳THE CRAFT BEHIND THE SCENE
A little less
background.
A lot more story.
The review favored quieter environments that let the person and the product carry the narrative. A device can bridge the illustrated world and the actual task, while small details add personality without taking over.
01Subdued setting. Clear focal point.
From feedback to visual decisions
Feedback: Quieter backgrounds helped the foreground tell the story.
Design rationale: Lower the environment’s visual emphasis so the character, device, and action form the first read.
05OUTCOME & REFLECTION
The value is a visual logic.
The work brought style exploration, color references, stakeholder critique, and character storytelling into one illustration collection.
02Documented visual studies
10Shades in the skin-tone reference
06Character stories featured here
These describe the project artifacts. Engagement or conversion impact was not verified for this case study.
WHAT THIS WORK TAUGHT ME
Good visual design makes its choices visible.
A compelling character is more than a color treatment. The strongest result comes from balancing representation, readable form, a consistent brand language, and a story that makes sense in the product.
Design for the journey.Remember the people.
Original project artwork and critique materials by Priyansh Gandhi and the Lithia / Driveway project team. This retrospective organizes the documented explorations into a decision-led narrative; interactive inspection tools are additions for this presentation.
Original project archive