Why I ditched the icon I hadn't changed in two and a half years, despite having 60,000 followers

January 1, 2026: Saying goodbye to the icon I used for about two and a half years

On New Year's Day 2026, I took the plunge and changed my social media icon. Supported by a total of 60,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok, I had been using a self-drawn illustration icon that I loved for a long time.

It was a hand-drawn icon I created myself when I first started Instagram. At the time, I modeled it after an account that was gaining momentum in cryptocurrency, choosing a 'yellow background x illustration' combination. I spent two days drawing it because I was determined to have an original icon.

When I started operating seriously on X, these words were quite a shock to me.

'Given your background, Mato-san, you should be posting from a higher level.'

This was said during an account review by Rojin-san, an X branding consultant.

I had always assumed that my 20-year professional background would be intimidating and make me hard to approach, so I convinced myself that the right position was to be like a 'friendly mom friend who has experience.' However, to get people to follow your account, you must first present an overwhelming sense of utility in your icon and profile bio that says, 'This person seems amazing, I can gain something from them.'

Why you stay a 'nice person' but don't get followed

Try to remember the moment you follow someone on social media. You only hit the follow button after you feel the expectation that 'if I follow this person, I might be able to change myself' the moment you see their icon, profile, and videos.

If you want to use your skills to post content, you cannot avoid branding design. Even as a design professional, I deeply felt the difficulty of viewing myself objectively. Even if I had created a sense of approachability, it wasn't leading to a 'reason to follow.'

Words that reveal you are 'still learning' are forbidden

Do you have phrases like 'studying design' or 'looking for people to connect with' in your profile? While these certainly provide a sense of comfort, they simultaneously push away the audience that wants to 'learn from a pro.'

It might sound harsh, but readers rarely decide to 'follow this person's content' when they see someone who is still in the middle of learning. You might connect as peers at the same level, but they won't be willing to pay for the value you provide. At best, they will buy from you as part of a circle of friends. It's similar to making handmade goods and only having sales from friends and family. You are positioned as a friend or family member, not as an influencer of your own.

What is important is to present the future of what they can specifically achieve by following you, using words that don't leave them lost.

Narrow your entry point (strength) to one, and clarify the exit (the future they can gain)

Many people tend to write vague, all-encompassing text like 'I can do this, and I'm working hard on that too.' However, in branding, 'being able to do anything' is synonymous with 'not excelling at anything.'

Decisively narrow your current strengths down to one. 'How to achieve 1 million yen in the first month by systematizing design x AI' or 'Skills to polish your writing and write a Note that gets read.'

Place specific, exit-oriented words like these. Rather than abstract terms like 'verbalization,' expressions that lower the perspective while addressing the reader's pain points—such as how you want to be seen or organizing your thoughts—will resonate more deeply in the end.

What readers are looking for is not a companion to walk alongside them, but a clear banner that will lift them one step ahead.

Everything is calculated. A complete dissection of icon branding design

Creating an icon with AI is not just about image generation. It is a process of embedding logic into every single element to pierce the target's heart.

Let's look back at the components of this new icon.

First, for the color scheme, I kept the yellow from the original icon while using a two-tone background with pink to create a sense of professional creativity.

The yellow in the illustration icon was quite high in both brightness and saturation, but I changed it to a slightly more subdued tone of yellow.

As for accessories and attire, I am holding a MacBook, my work tool, and wearing the thin-rimmed round glasses I usually wear to create an intellectual and stylish vibe. I specified light-tinted yellow lenses for the glasses. By choosing tinted lenses instead of just regular glasses, I added a sense of attention to detail.

Don't you have an image of designers or creators as people who have 'signature items'?

I do.

However, in reality, I'm quite sloppy; I break my glasses easily and scratch the lenses, so I wear reasonable glasses I can get at JINS.
I also love AMERICAN HOLIC for clothes; I'm the type who buys cheap, simple items that suit my body type in bulk before the season and wears them out for the whole season.
I frequently wear black skinny jeans or wide-leg denim pants.

There is a big gap between the real me and the image from the icon, haha, but the point is that it's important to create the image that the general public has of designers and creators!

Back to the topic.
For clothing, I'm wearing a chunky black turtleneck knit (chunky knit/low-gauge knit). This is the same item I wore in the previous illustration icon. Since the illustration icon was solid black, those details weren't visible.

In other words, I embedded 'professional symbols' through the items, tools, and posture I gave the icon.

And another point I was particular about is the composition of the shot.

I intentionally chose a 'waist-up' (from the waist up) wide shot so that people would want to tap the icon to check my face.

I go to such lengths to solidify these elements not to pursue my own ideals, but to build a concept of how I want to be perceived.

The prompt used to create the actual icon

Actually, the first prompt was just this. I set it to be a little younger than my actual age. (Sorry...)

From here, I went back and forth with it several times.

In the end, I also made some adjustments using Photoshop.

I will introduce how to create an icon using AI image generation with branding in mind in another article, so please look forward to it.

AI is a translator of 'thought'

Now that anyone can create beautiful images using AI, the key to differentiation lies in the density of thought before the prompt.

You need to train yourself to verbalize the 'vague feelings' you have by repeating the input and output process, asking yourself why you chose this lighting or why you chose this expression.

After a lot of input, you need to put your feelings into words and output them. By doing this, you will acquire a meta-perspective (*), which allows you to separate your inner self from the image, thinking, 'This kind of persona would be good for this icon,' rather than just shaping your inner self as it is. It's like producing a character that is different from your actual self.

*Meta-perspective...https://gemini.google.com/share/e2dea1f9435f

Only with a blueprint does AI become the ultimate translator that embodies your identity.

Design is a skill to 'organize' your thoughts

No one gets the right answer for SNS management from the start. Even those called professionals have reached their current form through countless trials and errors and brainstorming sessions behind the scenes.

This is also true for those who share information about AI and distribute wonderful prompts. They are not just handing out magic spells. They are touching AI themselves, deeply understanding its nature, and accumulating a vast amount of verification results on how to use it to achieve specific goals.

While the speed of AI evolution is too fast, I am grateful to those who summarize various information at an incredible speed, and I think that perhaps it is precisely because of AI that they are able to release information at this speed.

At the root of that trial and error is always a clear goal setting of how you want to be and how you want to be seen. Without a goal, no matter how excellent the AI tool or how magical the prompt is, it will lose its way.

You should acquire the ultimate weapon called design thinking

The essence of design lies in this [design] part, that is, the organization of information toward a goal. When you try to learn design, you have to face this blueprint whether you like it or not. That is why I believe that learning design thinking is the best choice for improving skills in any job.

I don't think everyone needs to be a professional designer. However, for many content creators, business people, those who want to start a side job, and parents raising children, regardless of age or gender, design thinking is an essential skill.

I want design to be taught as a starting point for 'organizing information toward a goal' in high school, or rather, in junior high school, as part of compulsory education. I will continue to share information in my own way so that people in their 30s and 40s, mainly those with children, can understand the importance of design, and so that they can pass on even a little bit of design thinking to their children.

By eliminating the Japanese people's aversion to design and having them realize that design is important, they should become more conscious of the city's landscape, layout, and the arrangement of characters. If that happens, the cultural level of Japan should be raised even further.

I want to continue living in a beautiful and stylish Japan. lol
That desire is at the root of it all.

Conclusion

Giving shape to your vague feelings. That is the process of converting the passion in your head into visuals and words that anyone can understand.

It is okay if it does not go well from the start. Trying it out and continuing to learn is what matters most!

Use design as a tool to correctly convey your intentions to the world. Please learn the logic for that little by little.

And, as a final bit of promotion, I am planning to recruit additional students for my design course in February 2026.

It is not a course designed to 'make designers' like others out there; it is a course that focuses less on how to use design tools and more on teaching you how to build things effectively. Haha.

If you are interested, please add my official LINE account as a friend. I will provide details as soon as they are finalized.

Click here for the official LINE (tap the image👇️)

The prompt for the super cool isometric illustration thumbnail that appears along the way is an arrangement of Miyama-san's work! It is a membership-exclusive article, but I highly recommend it because you can learn a lot about ways of thinking and more!

I am waiting for your feedback

Thank you for reading this far!
I would be happy if you could share your thoughts on the article on social media!
Even just a few words are fine! Output is super important!

Tap here to post your feedback🤳

Branding is difficult.
Because you first have to face how you want to be seen. Even so, it is something you should definitely do. It is absolutely necessary for social media presence.

I would be happy if this becomes an opportunity for you to think about your own icon!