diff --git a/web/assets.js b/web/assets.js
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/assets.js
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+// @flow
+
+export const assetCacheURLPrefix = 'https://dh9fld3hutpxf.cloudfront.net';
+export const backgroundIllustrationFileName = 'background-illustration.svg';
diff --git a/web/chat/chat-thread-list.css b/web/chat/chat-thread-list.css
--- a/web/chat/chat-thread-list.css
+++ b/web/chat/chat-thread-list.css
@@ -294,8 +294,13 @@
   height: 6px;
 }
 
-div.emptyItem {
-  padding: 10px;
+div.emptyItemContainer {
+  display: flex;
+  flex-direction: column;
+}
+
+div.emptyItemText {
+  padding: 16px;
   font-size: 16px;
   text-align: center;
   white-space: pre-wrap;
diff --git a/web/chat/chat-thread-list.react.js b/web/chat/chat-thread-list.react.js
--- a/web/chat/chat-thread-list.react.js
+++ b/web/chat/chat-thread-list.react.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 import { emptyItemText } from 'lib/shared/thread-utils';
 
+import { assetCacheURLPrefix, backgroundIllustrationFileName } from '../assets';
 import Search from '../components/search.react';
 import ChatThreadListItem from './chat-thread-list-item.react';
 import css from './chat-thread-list.css';
@@ -47,7 +48,12 @@
 }
 
 function EmptyItem() {
-  return <div className={css.emptyItem}>{emptyItemText}</div>;
+  return (
+    <div className={css.emptyItemContainer}>
+      <img src={`${assetCacheURLPrefix}/${backgroundIllustrationFileName}`} />
+      <div className={css.emptyItemText}>{emptyItemText}</div>
+    </div>
+  );
 }
 
 export default ChatThreadList;