Twitch.tv occasionally runs promotions known as MegaComs to boost engagement between its over 15 million viewers and streamers.
Part of the promotion is offering special-edition, unlockable emotes — icons and emojis used on live stream chats — for spending certain amounts on the platform during a limited time.
As one of the featured illustrators chosen to design the emotes for the Holiday Hindsight 2020 MegaCom, the job was to design a batch of emotes that balance a broad holiday appeal with tongue-in-cheek nods to the year's events while offering some year-round relevancy.
Striking the right amount of reference to the events of the year without being insensitive was key.
Representing the cultural diversity of the Holidays on Twitch was also a priority.
Of course, relevance to the gaming and social media trends of the time couldn't be left behind.
In total, I contributed 8 of the 20 emotes in the limited edition set to commemorate the bizarre year that was 2020.
Official promotions during this time regularly featured the emotes to drive engagement from users with limited-time giveaways and other incentives.