Why Build a 3D Asset Library? Inside 58’s FaceTeam Design Journey

01 Why Build FaceTeam

FaceTeam is a 3D character asset library created by 58.com’s UXD team. The 1.0 version took about four months, built by a group of C4D specialists who worked on it alongside regular business tasks. Despite its high cost, the team continued investing because 3D assets bring significant benefits.

Industry trends show the rise of C4D and 3D technology, driven by advances in software and hardware. 3D is widely used in cultural products such as domestic animations like "Ne Zha" and "The Lion Boy," as well as in IP‑related toys, where young consumers are the main buyers.

In the internet sector, many mainstream apps now incorporate 3D designs in interfaces, operations, and animations. C4D has a low entry barrier and fast learning curve, allowing designers to expand their creative possibilities and users to accept 3D visual styles more readily.

02 Who Is It For

The primary audiences are UXD designers and 58.com users. Designers need a convenient, extensible, and practical asset library, while users—who are increasingly younger—expect modern, brand‑consistent visuals across multiple business lines such as real estate, recruitment, local services, and used cars.

Creating a unified 3D character style that reflects 58’s brand helps maintain visual quality and consistency across these diverse services.

03 Building the 3D Character System from 0‑1

Using a project‑oriented mindset, the team defined character roles by collaborating with business‑line designers, selecting high‑usage, cross‑business characters like agents (applicable to real‑estate or used‑car services). Each character’s definition includes profession, age, personality, and hobbies to ensure a realistic, imperfect persona.

Clothing design follows a 2D style guide covering colors, styles, and accessories to keep visual consistency. The 3D model determines overall style, facial features, and body proportions; extensive style exploration and competitor analysis were performed before finalizing the model.

Once the base model is set, variations are achieved by swapping hairstyles, clothing, and accessories, leveraging the 2D clothing system for uniform standards.

Materials and rendering are unified across all characters, and scene designs are created to highlight each role’s attributes.

04 From 0‑1 to N: Engineering and Standardization

After completing characters and scenes, the team packaged all models into a C4D component library. Designers can install the library with a single click, gaining access to all characters, poses, and assets, reducing learning and download costs while improving efficiency.

A visual language handbook for 2D clothing, 3D modeling, and character definition was also produced to help business designers quickly adopt FaceTeam’s workflow, ensuring consistency while expanding the design asset pool.