It’s 1999. Facebook and Reddit are years away.
Entrepreneur Jeffrey Gilbert runs The Dilly, a community forum. He asks me to help with an ambitious redesign, heavily focused on member profiles.
BADGES OF HONOR
Verified members already had profile badges, but we wondered what other kinds of engagement we could incentivize with similar, collectible rewards.
NOT YOUR DAD’S ICONS
Early emoji were basic. We envisioned big, expressive character designs that would reflect the community’s young and rebellious counter-culture.
SCAVENGER HUNT
These trophy avatars would release in secret, with no instructions. When a new one appeared on someone’s profile, members rushed to figure out how to unlock it.
Designs of the Time
“The Rank Icons” became coveted status symbols for members, and brand mascots for the company. At its height, The Dilly had become the underground clubhouse for nearly a million of the Internet’s coolest kids— a quaint number today, but a proud feat for three misfits who didn’t realize they were building one of the first modern social networks.
