My name is Joan Brand designer at the intersection of Product and Systems. I lead Core Brand Foundations team at Qonto after co-founding PhotoPills — zero to a million downloads with a team of three — and working brand-side at Uber Freelancing has taken me through United Nations, Panasonic Well, Herewith, Axios, CloudKitchens and others Take a look Optimist. Father of two. Songwriter. Runner. Happiest near the ocean. Let’s connect

PhotoPills

2013–2020–2024

PhotoPills is the planning app for nature photographers: tools, calculators, inspiration, and its best-known feature, the Planner. I co-founded it in 2013, designed part time until 2020, then joined full time. A team of three, over a million downloads. Then the next chapter: helping photographers find the right place and conditions for legendary photos. As the only designer, I worked across brand, product and design system.

The PhotoPills app icon beside the line Shoot legendary photos
Moonrise and sunset frames with the sun and moon positions PhotoPills calculates
Total Eclipse of the Heart lyrics set with eclipse phases
The PhotoPills app icon in an iPhone dock
A yellow PhotoPills notebook: Take Legendary Notes
A photographer and tripod silhouetted against the dusk sky
PhotoPills Go strategy deck: market research, vision, features, audience, business model and growth
The northern lights over snowy mountains and the sea
A setting sun lined up behind a lighthouse
A full moon rising behind the Golden Gate Bridge

Snapshots

  • Sitting under the Milky Way on a night shoot
  • A small dog on a sandy beach by the sea
  • A talk to a full room
  • The team together at a party under a starry ceiling
  • Driving a dark road at night
  • The PhotoPills Camp 2022 group photo on a rocky coast
  • Two hikers on a coastal path through the pines

In App Experience

Rebuilt from scratch: strategy, vision, one consolidated platform, a simpler architecture. Every decision answered to one promise: explore, capture and share the world's greatest photo opportunities.

The PhotoPills home feed: meteor showers, moon and sun cards, and articles, between two planets
Navigation, dashboard, plan, explore, learn and profile principles, each with its screens
Columns of PhotoPills screens: map planner, eclipses, feed, calendar and plans
An iPhone with the PhotoPills home: What would you like to photograph?
An iPhone with a PhotoPills plan: sun and moon lines over a map

Meteor Design System

Complex tools, simple to use. Meteor, our cosmos-inspired design system, made both possible across phone, tablet and desktop.

Meteor, the PhotoPills design system: a comet streaking across the night sky
Meteor components: moon calendar, planet, time bar, map pin, labels, buttons, icons, colour tokens and a dropdown
Meteor layouts across phone, tablet and desktop sizes