TikTok Avatars
Digital presence. Creative expression.
TikTok's first 3D avatar system. The brief was simple: let people make the best digital version of themselves. The reality was harder. Building from zero, we had to create a visual language that could express identity across millions of combinations, feel inclusive across 150+ countries, and still read as unmistakably TikTok.
My Role
Art Director. Led a 10+ designer team, defined the visual style and asset library, built the production pipeline behind launch, and partnered with product, engineering, and the avatar tech team to deliver the 0→1.
Key Decisions
Visual Style
Stylized 3D, built to serve a global market. A visual language that feels universal while capturing each user's resemblance and expressiveness. Soft forms, hand-drawn line work, intentionally chunky proportions, readable at thumbnail and distinct from Bitmoji and Memoji.
Across the Product
The avatar system was built to plug into TikTok's three main product channels: camera effects, social DMs, and Live. One asset library, designed to scale across every creator-facing surface of the platform.
System Architecture
A modular library of base shapes, hair, features, and accessories, designed so users can flexibly compose the version of themselves they want to show. Every new asset had to pass a worst-case combinatorial check before it shipped.
Cultural Representation
Hair textures, skin tones, and features were treated as first-class problems, not adjustments. Clothing followed the same logic: outfits that reflected real regional styles and everyday wear, not a single cultural default. Multiple regional review rounds before launch.
Expression & Role-Play
A deep library of expressions, outfits, and props gives each avatar the range to play many roles. But rich expression wasn't just about assets. Careful rigging and blendshape work let facial muscles move and blend naturally, driven by an in-house expression algorithm that translated the user's real face in real time. Users found roleplay angles we never wrote into the spec.
Outcome
Shipped to 150+ countries in 2022. The system became the foundation for follow-on avatar features and the visual layer AI-driven effects later built on top of.
As a flagship 0→1 launch, it also moved core infrastructure forward: a complex technical pipeline across front-end and back-end, foundational capability for the effect engine, and an asset management system built for a library at this scale.
Credits
Art Direction / 2D Lead: DingDing Chung
3D Lead: Wei Shan Yu
Character Design: Michelle Catalanotto, Britt Anderson
2D: Carmen Worthge, Dustin Dahlman, Phoebe Tang, Yo Jeong Ko, Julia Yellow, Jefrain Gallipoli
3D: Matt Waggle, Nikolaus Evangelista, Sang Lee, Jeffrey Lee, Spyridon Boviatsos
TA: Tina Liao, Sam De Lara