Retro Modern Social Media Revamp for My Thrift

My Thrift is a Nigerian thrift marketplace that connects sellers and buyers in one place. It is built for young women aged 17–24, especially students and creatives. The mission is to make thrifting more affordable, easier to navigate, and fully centralized.

My Thrift had established its brand positioning but needed a consistent visual presence across social platforms. My challenge was to translate the brand's retro-modern aesthetic into scroll-stopping social content that would resonate with Gen Z Nigerian women across Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook.​​​​​​​

Design Principle: People > Products > Polish

I executed and refined a retro-modern visual identity guided by a human-centered approach that prioritizes authenticity over perfection. The goal was to make secondhand fashion feel warm, aspirational, and approachable without looking cheap or corporate.

The brand leans into warm nostalgia rather than costume vintage. Human-focused imagery takes priority over polished editorial shots, creating a relatable and inviting feel across all platforms.

• Retro-modern aesthetic

• Human-centered, candid imagery

• ​​​​​​​Warm, approachable, non-corporate tone

To establish My Thrift's retro-modern aesthetic, I curated a moodboard on Pinterest exploring visual references that would appeal to Gen Z Nigerian women. I focused on finding imagery that felt warm and nostalgic without looking costume-y or dated.

• Lead Graphic Designer responsible for all social media content

• Collaborated with Product Manager, Social Media Manager, Growth Manger and CEO to refine brand guidelines

• Translated brand strategy into visual content across 4 platforms: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok

• Developed templates and systems to maintain consistency

• ​​​​​​​Created 100+ branded assets over 4 months

Core Brand Elements: Applied consistent color palette, typography, and visual style notes to guide the look and feel

Social Media Assets: Instagram posts, story templates, reel covers and promotional visuals showcasing vendor products

Photography & Imagery: Selected and integrated vendor-provided product photos into designs to highlight offers and create an authentic, relatable brand presence

As Lead Graphic Designer, I was responsible for creating all visual content for My Thrift's social media presence across four platforms. This required not just design execution, but strategic systems-building to maintain brand consistency while meeting demanding weekly production schedules.

• 5-7 feed posts per week (static posts, product showcases, educational content)

• 1-3 Instagram Stories daily (polls, bingo cards, "this or that" templates, vendor highlights)

• Product showcase carousels (multi-slide storytelling with vendor products)

• Instagram Reels and reel cover designs optimized for feed discovery

• Campaign graphics for special promotions, sales, and seasonal events

• Instagram Highlights covers maintaining brand aesthetic

• TikTok content design adapted from Instagram assets

• Twitter graphics optimized for the platform's aspect ratio

• Facebook promotional posts

• WhatsApp vendor community graphics for education and announcements

• Holiday campaigns (Christmas, New Year)

• Promotional materials for web app (promo cards, feature highlights)

• Logo variations for seasonal branding

• Special event graphics and limited-time offers

Producing this volume of content weekly while maintaining:

• Brand consistency across all platforms and content types

• Visual quality that stands out in crowded social feeds

• Strategic alignment with product launches and business goals

• Flexibility to adapt to vendor-provided photography of varying quality

• Creative freshness to avoid repetitive or stale content

These designs were used across Instagram, Facebook, X (Formerly Twitter) and Vendor community on WhatsApp to educate on how to use the platform and inform customers and clients alike of trending products available

As at the time this document is being prepared this is the current look and feel of the Instagram grid

There were times that called for me designing clean animated Instagram Reels to highlight products. These animations were made in Canva and kept simple.

To keep the Instagram feed consistent, I designed Instagram Reel templates. This made it easier to showcase different products and services while maintaining a clean look across the feed.

Not every concept made the final cut, and for valid reasons. Here are a few designs I revisited and refined based on feedback. I reported directly to the product manager who gave feedback.

In four months, I took My Thrift from visually inconsistent to cohesively branded:

Before: No clear visual direction, inconsistent social content, designs that didn't connect with Gen Z audience, no scalable systems

• 100+ branded assets maintaining consistent retro-modern aesthetic across 4 platforms

• Complete design system with 25+ templates, asset libraries, and documented brand guidelines

• Increased efficiency in content production through systematic workflow optimization

• Recognizable brand presence that resonates with budget-conscious Gen Z Nigerian women

• Sustainable foundation enabling ongoing content production as the marketplace scales

• Cross-platform cohesion from Instagram to TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook

• Educational content improving user platform navigation and reducing support needs

This project demonstrates my ability to think strategically about design and not just making things look good, but understanding who I'm designing for and why it matters.

I designed with restraint, using retro elements intentionally rather than decoratively. I knew when to follow the brand guidelines strictly (for consistency) and when to break the rules for visibility (like the promo cards using high-contrast colors to grab attention).

Most importantly, I kept the audience—budget-conscious, fashion-forward Gen Z Nigerian women—at the center of every decision. 

Every color choice, every texture, every typography treatment was filtered through: "Does this make thrifting feel warm, accessible, and aspirational to them?"

• Brand Identity 

• Social Media Design 

• Design Systems 

• Typography 

• Multi-Platform Design 

• User-Centered Design 

• Content Strategy 

• Design Operations

I'm passionate about projects where design makes a real impact—whether that's building a brand from scratch, refreshing an existing identity, or creating content that genuinely connects with people. 

Currently open for:   - Freelance brand identity projects  - Social media design (retainer or project-based)   - Full-time design roles

GET IN TOUCH: 

📧 emeelya941@gmail.com 

💼 linkedin.com/in/emeelya-urueshe 

🎨 behance.net/emeelyaurueshe 

📱 +234 912 496 9648