Navatars

Client Google Maps
Studio BUCK
Role Creative Director
Google Maps launched customizable navigation avatars, or Navatars —a fun way for users to engage with the app —and BUCK was along for the ride to design the fleet. There were many design considerations.

Make and Model: 

BUCK needed to design the five vehicles to be generic while still evoking traits of popular brands, while also incorporating Google Maps' visual brand language and giving each car a distinct personality to appeal to different user personas.

Tiny but not Tots: 

The vehicles needed to be legible over the various map backgrounds plus day and night mode. To achieve this, BUCK exaggerated some elements' proportions and developed a glossy car paint that evoked jewelers' enamel. Small but luxurious was the goal, not looking too cute.

Showroom vs Testdrive: 

There are two versions of each vehicle: the preview render that users select from the menu and the 3D element that moves around the map. This element needed to look sufficiently like the preview render while meeting size and technical specifications to perform in real-time. 

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Additional Links

Google Map’s Instagram
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Disciplines

Creative Technology
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