YAHOO IQ TRIVIA!

Casual gaming brand design & product strategy

YAHOO GAMES IQ TRIVIA CASE STUDY • 2026
Yahoo! IQ Trivia game cover featuring an owl reading a book with a purple background decorated with light icons of trophies, clocks, and lightbulbs.
Yahoo! IQ Trivia game cover featuring an owl reading a book with a purple background decorated with light icons of trophies, clocks, and lightbulbs.

Redesigning Yahoo Games' IQ Trivia entry experience with a playful visual identity, scalable game-card system, and recognizable owl mascot.

ROLE

Brand & Visual Designer


TIMELINE

2-Week Sprint

Head of Games
Product Manager
Brand Studio
Design Studio

TEAM

Brand Identity, Visual Systems, Illustration

SKILLS
01. OVERVIEW

Designing a playful brand identity for Yahoo's modern trivia audience

Yahoo Games wanted to refresh how IQ Trivia appeared across its homepage and game-card surfaces. The existing design lacked a distinctive visual identity and crucial game context. The brief called for a more playful, recognizable entry experience anchored by a character mascot and a flexible illustration system for trivia topics.

Screenshot of a Yahoo! IQ Trivia advertisement featuring a purple background, an illustrated owl mascot, and playing cards with various icons, promoting a daily trivia game with a 'Play Now' button. 
POLISHED IQ TRIVIA HOMEPAGE ENTRY MODULE (TOP) AND GAME CARD DESIGN (BOTTOM) FEATURING THE BRAND OWL MASCOT AND COLORFUL GAMING COMPONENTS
02. VISUAL RESEARCH & DISCOVERY

Exploring the casual trivia landscape

I reviewed casual trivia and puzzle experiences across mobile and web to understand how games communicate personality, difficulty, and play at a glance. The exploration helped establish a direction centered on bold visual anchors, clear hierarchy, and an approachable game-first experience.

A collage of multiple website and app interface screenshots related to online games, puzzles, quizzes, and entertainment, with elements like game categories, sign-in buttons, advertisements, and user options.
A collage of multiple website and app interface screenshots related to online games, puzzles, quizzes, and entertainment, with elements like game categories, sign-in buttons, advertisements, and user options. 
COMPETITIVE VISUAL ANALYSIS
Black and white digital illustrations of trivia game screens and posters for a daily trivia game, with text indicating questions, game duration, and a "Play Now" button.
Black and white digital illustrations of trivia game screens and posters for a daily trivia game, with text indicating questions, game duration, and a "Play Now" button. 
EARLY VISUAL EXPLORATION AND SKETCHING
03. DESIGN PROCESS

Building a visual language around curiosity and play

The mascot needed to make IQ Trivia feel intelligent without becoming overly academic or serious. After exploring several character directions, the owl emerged as the strongest balance of curiosity, knowledge, and personality.

I refined its proportions, expressions, line weight, and poses while developing a companion system of 10+ topic illustrations spanning science, geography, history, pop culture, and more. Shared outlines, simplified forms, and bold spot colors helped the assets feel cohesive at small UI sizes.

Digital game interface featuring icons of books, an artist palette, a tennis ball, a clapperboard, a globe, a tabletop game, a star with an exclamation mark, a paw print, a music note, a location pin, a flask, a smartphone, and an owl character holding books against a yellow background.
Digital game interface featuring icons of books, an artist palette, a tennis ball, a clapperboard, a globe, a tabletop game, a star with an exclamation mark, a paw print, a music note, a location pin, a flask, a smartphone, and an owl character holding books against a yellow background. 
FINAL CATEGORY TOPIC ICONS AND OWL ASSETS

A flexible illustration system

The system pairs Yahoo's expressive color palette with consistent outlines, simplified geometry, and high-contrast compositions. These constraints created enough consistency to feel like one family while leaving room for each trivia subject to have its own personality.

Diagonal pattern of colorful diamond shapes on a white background, with colors including yellow, orange, purple, blue, green, red, and beige.
Diagonal pattern of colorful diamond shapes on a white background, with colors including yellow, orange, purple, blue, green, red, and beige. 
WORKING WITH YAHOO’S COLOR SYSTEM
04. FINAL SYSTEMS

A scalable visual system for Yahoo Games

The final direction combined bold typography, expressive illustration, and a prominent play action within a repeatable card structure. I designed the system to adapt across three core formats, allowing the identity to remain recognizable as layouts became progressively smaller.

Digital promotional image for Yahoo! IQ Trivia game, featuring cartoon graphics of game cards, a purple background, and various game-themed icons like a paw print, globe, and a character with glasses playing trivia.
Digital promotional image for Yahoo! IQ Trivia game, featuring cartoon graphics of game cards, a purple background, and various game-themed icons like a paw print, globe, and a character with glasses playing trivia. 
GAME CARD DESIGNS IN 3 SIZES: 600x400, 300x400, AND 120x120
05.  EXPANDING THE SYSTEM

From one game to a broader system

The visual framework established for IQ Trivia became a useful foundation for additional Yahoo Games work. I later applied and evolved the approach across Mini Crossword, Pile-Up Poker, Circuits, Ribbit, and SpellTower, adapting each game's personality while maintaining a recognizable family resemblance across the platform. Play the games at Yahoo Games.

Screenshot of Yahoo Games homepage featuring featured games like RIBBIT, SPELL TOWER, CIRCUITS, PILE-UP POKER, and IQ Trivia, with navigation options on the left and top menu.
Screenshot of Yahoo Games homepage featuring featured games like RIBBIT, SPELL TOWER, CIRCUITS, PILE-UP POKER, and IQ Trivia, with navigation options on the left and top menu. 
ALL FIVE OF THE GAME CARDS ON YAHOO'S FEATURED GAMES PAGE. VIEW ON YAHOO!
FULL LINEUP OF ALL SIX TITLES IN THREE DIFFERENT SIZES: 600×400, 300×400, and 120×120
06. IMPACT

Supporting a growing games platform

Yahoo Games continued to see significant audience and engagement growth in 2026 as the company expanded its investment in first-party casual games. My work on IQ Trivia and the broader game-card system contributed to this larger initiative by helping create a more cohesive and recognizable visual presence across the portfolio.

A colorful infographic showing marketing statistics for January 2026. It includes metrics such as Daily Active Users (+60%), Monthly Active Users (250 million), and Engagement (+25%), with the month indicated as January. 
FROM A GAMESBEAT ARTICLE WITH YAHOO’S HEAD OF GAMES, ANDREW PEDERSEN
07. RETROSPECTIVE

Key takeaways

01. Show the game, don't just describe it

Bringing recognizable gameplay elements into the game cards helped communicate each game's mechanics and personality at a glance. Rather than relying on marketing copy alone, the visuals gave players a better sense of what to expect before they started playing.

02. Sketch first, refine later

Starting with black-and-white sketches kept the early design process focused on concepts and composition rather than color. This made it easier to explore ideas, gather meaningful feedback, and align with stakeholders before moving into more polished designs.