63 comments

  • Account deleted over 5 years ago

    This feel like this is some silly college project but this time somebody got paid really good.

    30 points
  • Account deleted over 5 years ago

    It's great. Memorable and bold. It's different from the American safe and modest business design.

    21 points
    • Daniel De LaneyDaniel De Laney, over 5 years ago

      It's definitely memorable, bold, and different. We agree on all of those descriptors. The trouble is that they're not necessarily positive adjectives. Category 5 hurricanes are memorable, bold, and different. So are drunk children, biological weapons attacks, and racial slurs in business meetings.

      If your visual design is different because it supports a good strategy that empowers your users, you're designing and exercising your gifts as an adult human to good effect. If it's different for the sake of being different, you're throwing shit at a wall in the hopes that an interesting pattern will emerge, which is monkey-grade work.

      88 points
      • Interested Curious, over 5 years ago

        Holy shit you really really really are super negative towards an empty state Illustration. You'd think it robbed you at gunpoint.

        How is this actively detracting from the goal of letting you know it's empty?

        Comparing an illustration to fucking hurricanes we've had that have ravished and destroyed lives, fucking racial slurs and fucking biological weapons just shows how stuck up , full of yourself disconnected you are.

        14 points
        • Daniel De LaneyDaniel De Laney, over 5 years ago

          I'm not mad at illustrations. My morning is going really well, actually. Just illustrating a point. I hope that even if you think my comment inappropriate, you at least find it memorable, bold, and different. Have a nice day.

          87 points
        • Mattan IngramMattan Ingram, over 5 years ago

          I dunno, the empty state is a drawing of a mountain. Mountains don't really feel empty to me. If I opened an "empty" closet and found a mountain in there, I'd think to myself "Hm this closet isn't empty".

          Kind of like nuclear war, which robbed me at gunpoint one time.

          4 points
        • Ryan Hicks, over 5 years ago

          If only downvotes existed. Yes, solely for you.

          2 points
      • Brendon AvalosBrendon Avalos, over 5 years ago

        Is this just a critique of personal taste? If this looked aesthetically different but was the exact same concept I don't think anyone here would be talking about it.

        Underneath the illustration it tells you exactly what is going on from a user perspective. So that's pretty clear.

        Are illustrations not added to give something personality? Well this one has personality, maybe not the one you want to see from Dropbox, but to me their brand from the beginning has been naive drawings to tell a simple story, so downplaying someones work as "monkey grade" because you don't like it is not only belittling but unnecessary.

        5 points
        • Mattan IngramMattan Ingram, over 5 years ago

          I agree that the "monkey grade" comment is belittling, but I don't see this drawing as telling a story about offline files or even referring to offline files at all.

          Heck I don't mind the aesthetics of the illustrations, some of them are great, I just don't see how they help the user experience or interface.

          0 points
      • Ryan RushingRyan Rushing, over 5 years ago

        Since I can't "star" comments, I'm starring this DN post to refer to this critique later. Great thoughts!

        1 point
      • Joey BrennanJoey Brennan, over 5 years ago

        If you opinion of a good strategy is to bore the user with cliche illustrations that mirror current trends and instantly hand you the meaning then I can see why this illustration terrifies you like a hurricane. If your opinion of a good strategy is to inspire creativity by provoking imagination and empowering users to think differently then I'd expect you to be delighted by this charming illustration. Illustration in digital isn't a new anymore. They typically trend toward being simple, literal and clearly illustrate the subject. Its works because its safe. But is safe how you inspire creativity and empower users?

        3 points
        • Peter Lundblad, over 5 years ago

          well said. I actually came across this piece a couple days ago and felt just that, delight and inspiration. I wasn't confused or thrown off. I actually felt like making something! I know my experience is anecdotal but wanted to put it out there. cheers

          0 points
      • Jrtorrents Dorman , over 5 years ago

        Bro, you’re too uptight.. loosen up.

        0 points
    • Mike StevensonMike Stevenson, over 5 years ago

      When is the “bold” fad going to end?

      1 point
  • Eli SchiffEli Schiff, over 5 years ago

    It gets worse when you look at the before and after: https://twitter.com/eli_schiff/status/917948008150466560

    20 points
  • Duke CavinskiDuke Cavinski, over 5 years ago

    It's brilliant because it should inspire you to draw something better.

    14 points
  • Ivan C.Ivan C., over 5 years ago

    Is AI generating these images?

    10 points
  • Andy StoneAndy Stone, over 5 years ago

    "No Dropbox, I won't put your art up on my fridge. Just sync my goddamn files."

    — funny internet comment circa 2017 that I saw but can't remember the source.

    8 points
    • Suganth SSuganth S, over 5 years ago

      But isn’t that what they are trying to fix?

      0 points
      • Andrew C, over 5 years ago

        If it ain't broke...?

        0 points
        • Suganth SSuganth S, over 5 years ago

          If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just allow yourself to be acquired by someone.

          If it ain't broke, don't fix it culture don't work in Products, unfortunately. If Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, Google Maps remained the same as 5 years back, they would have either get shut down or get replaced by something superior.

          Dropbox has a bigger problem. Apple, Google, Box, Microsoft are trying to squeeze their business share through their own cloud storage services, some of them are prebaked into the ecosystem and relatively cheaper. They will essentially get wiped out of their core product in few years because their product is well just "sync my goddamn files" and anyone could do that in 2017

          This rebranding is essentially intended to get next million users who would see the product differently. These users will see it as a product they can't live without every day and they will remember using it to get things done. While the rebranding itself is a separate topic, I just want to highlight why it's important for them today than tomorrow when they are close to being eliminated from the market they started with.

          4 points
          • Juan J. RamirezJuan J. Ramirez, over 5 years ago

            Other services are not cheaper but definitely better priced. I get 50 GB of iCloud for 1 USD a month. Dropbox gives 1TB for 10 USD a month. So Dropbox is largely cheaper but also more inconvient because cloud storage has an aggressive value decline once you don't need the extra capacity.

            That's Dropbox problem. They are no longer the incumbent and perhaps they never were.

            Dropbox hasn't gone public because they would be crushed in the public market. A company that sells a highly commoditized resource, that depends heavily on their B2C revenue and has no extra sources of incomes.

            And this is why we are seeing what we are seeing. It seems that Dropbox wants to make a push in the design market and establish a new source of revenue. They seem to have the internal talent + the data to backup this move.

            This is just my personal speculation but I think overall it's pretty clear that's what's happening. They are even creating landing pages asking their customers about their interest on design tools.

            0 points
            • Suganth SSuganth S, over 5 years ago

              Not sure how Dropbox is better priced since I can get 2TB for $9.99 in iCloud. Dropbox literally charging twice for the price and that's just with their old plan.

              But I agree with all your other points. Dropbox's vision is changing/getting broader. That is a bigger change compared to the brand change that we see.

              1 point
          • Andrew C, over 5 years ago

            This is fine. What does it have to do with with making empty state illustrations less understandable or instructive? I guess we could discuss hypotheticals about how solid of a foundation Dropbox had to begin with? Too bad. I like them... but I do just use Drive for my shit since it's in the flow of all the other apps I use.

            1 point
  • Brett BergeronBrett Bergeron, over 5 years ago

    I think it's pretty tight.

    6 points
  • Jim SilvermanJim Silverman, over 5 years ago

    style aside, i have no idea what this illustration is meant to convey.

    4 points
    • Oleg SerediucOleg Serediuc, over 5 years ago

      Well, based on the message underneath, I think it means to create an impression that you can access your files while climbing on a mountain, place that is mostly associated with absence of internet.

      5 points
  • perfume lperfume l, over 5 years ago

    I kinda like it because it's not the same overly-happy-super-user-friendly style of illustration that many of other company use.

    Now you all remember Dropbox for these kind of wacky illustrations, but can you say the same for other company that use illustration? I doubt it. That's the win for Dropbox in my book. Because the decision to go full banana without conforming to 'trend' or bashing like 'different for the sake of being different'

    2 points
  • Oana Dusa, over 5 years ago

    (I hope nobody posted this already)

    Here are more icons on Dropbox's Dribbble account. :) They are pretty interesting actually, maybe a biiit too childish, but I do appreciate the 'out of the box' thinking. Who knows, maybe in half a year they'll change them. I personally take these as 'having fun at work'.

    https://dribbble.com/shots/3846927--Dropbox-Illustration-Style/attachments/874212

    2 points
    • Federico Carra, over 5 years ago

      They look really nice as a system and very unique, that's what I like the most about them. It is not just the style but the way they communicate branding with those illustrations.

      1 point
    • Joe TurnerJoe Turner, over 5 years ago

      They're great but thy remind me of Captain Underpants.

      0 points
  • Richard BallermannRichard Ballermann, over 5 years ago

    At first, I absolutely hated these. Almost wrote a strongly worded email in disgust. And now, after a week of seeing these goofy empty states ... my god, I think I like them.

    2 points
  • Federico Carra, over 5 years ago

    Fantastic style, unique and bold! well done Dropbox!

    2 points
  • Thomas Michael SemmlerThomas Michael Semmler, over 5 years ago

    I don't have any issue with that. I think it looks nice.

    2 points
  • Dan Boland, over 5 years ago

    How does it help users to confound them by pairing explanatory interface copy with illustrations that make no sense?

    1 point
  • Bruno BarrosBruno Barros, over 5 years ago

    I love it. The only problem with these illustrations is that conflicts with the overall generic-and-too-clean look of Dropbox. I think using bolder fonts and brighter colors somewhere in the UI would help.

    1 point
  • Ivan C.Ivan C., over 5 years ago

    WTF. https://imgur.com/a/FYVd6

    1 point
  • Danny ArarDanny Arar, over 5 years ago

    it's dope, stop bitching about it

    1 point
  • Davin M., over 5 years ago

    Teens would like it.

    1 point
  • Adam FerchAdam Ferch, over 5 years ago

    Dig it

    0 points
  • ja krish, over 5 years ago

    And someday the user get used to it.

    0 points
  • Dean HaydenDean Hayden, over 5 years ago

    Throws in a box a kittens to chill things out… they’re the wrong kind of kitten, I like dogs, the kittens don’t have the same markings, I use different kittens in the office, I only like startup kittens, I only accept kittens from LinkedIn, this kitten bit me, that kitten tasted funny, the ginger kitten wasn’t kit from nightrider, can this kitten code, I don’t get kittens, kittens, KITTENS!!!!

    0 points
  • Kyle PierceKyle Pierce, over 5 years ago

    I assume the A/B or multivariate testing at Dropbox is intense. Either this is a test or has been proven to increase a KPI.

    0 points