Creative

Creative

Creative

Creative

Why Use Illustrations In Your Branding?

Why Use Illustrations In Your Branding?

Why Use Illustrations In Your Branding?

Why Use Illustrations In Your Branding?

Jan 12, 2022

Jan 12, 2022

Jan 12, 2022

Jan 12, 2022

During my time QodeHub I fell in love with brand illustrations. There were many reasons for this, but my key motivation was the fact that they are versatile. You can create anything you want with illustrations. Tell any story you want and make them fit in almost any context.

Especially, when you're working with tech startups. There are a lot of concepts you'll have to represent that is new and complex. So images and simple icons won't do. But I realized we could do a lot with illustrations.

But there was a second problem. We were working on several projects but we had only one illustrator, the awesome Dissirama. So how do you leverage the powers of one person across multiple projects?

During my time QodeHub I fell in love with brand illustrations. There were many reasons for this, but my key motivation was the fact that they are versatile. You can create anything you want with illustrations. Tell any story you want and make them fit in almost any context.

Especially, when you're working with tech startups. There are a lot of concepts you'll have to represent that is new and complex. So images and simple icons won't do. But I realized we could do a lot with illustrations.

But there was a second problem. We were working on several projects but we had only one illustrator, the awesome Dissirama. So how do you leverage the powers of one person across multiple projects?

Build Illustration Systems.

‍I had seen the concept of illustration systems from Pablo Stanley I think. And we quickly adopted it. Since that day almost every illustration project we've done has been built on some type of system. These illustration systems enabled us and our client's internal teams to quickly spin up new compositions and graphics without having to do any new work.

Illustrations are popular nowadays and for the same reason I mentioned above. In addition to that, they are versatile and accessible. There are a ton of free ones that you can easily download online. One of the most popular ones is openpeeps. If you're building for the African audience we also developed an open-source collection primarily for the African audience called Famili

With that said, if you're ever going to create something custom for your brand, there are a few things you should consider.

  1. Context and audience; Similar to icons illustrations are abstract. They draw their meaning from real-life objects. For this reason, you need to ensure that you draw inspiration from the environment of your audience. This will make it easier for them to understand the illustration.

  2. Style; The point about style is also tied to the first point on context and reference. But I wanted to call it out specifically because this is where most illustration projects drop the ball. They seem to want to look cool. Whiles, there's nothing wrong with that, you have to ensure that the style you settle on is relevant to the industry and your audience. A new brand targeting a younger audience may be able to understand exaggerated styles and abstract forms (Bezo money example). A more mature business targeting an older audience may need to use a more serious, close to real-life, human form style.

  3. Versatility; There's no point in creating illustrations if you can't grow and scale with your business. Unless you have a dedicated illustrator on your team or you have an illustration agency on retainer, you need to consider building a system. This will enable you and your team quickly spin up new illustrations.

Illustrations can be a powerful component of a brand's communication arsenal. But they need to be done properly.

I may do a part two taking a deep dive into the different types of illustrations and doing a breakdown of what your system should include. Let me know in the comment section if you'd like to see more of that.

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Convert

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SERVICES

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Get clear about your challenges and create a potent course of action

Brand Development

Build brands that will last you a decade and make you distinct in the market

Website Design

Communicate clearly with with your customers and convert potential customer

Product Design

Be more productive, gain new competitive advantages with custom tech solutions

Media

Touch hearts and change minds through high quality photo, video, animations and stories

Advisory

Pick our brains. Learn from decades of experience across various sectors

CONTACT

start@oxegene.com

Get insights on whatsapp

+233

© 2024 Oxegene

SOLUTIONS

Connect

Build a brand your customers love and your competitors envy.

Convert

Create messaging and experiences that change potential customers to paying clients

Retain

Make your customers choose you over and over again even in the face of competition

Lead

Acquire the mindsets, methods and create the motions that prepare you for tomorrow

SERVICES

Strategy

Get clear about your challenges and create a potent course of action

Brand Development

Build brands that will last you a decade and make you distinct in the market

Website Design

Communicate clearly with with your customers and convert potential customer

Product Design

Be more productive, gain new competitive advantages with custom tech solutions

Media

Touch hearts and change minds through high quality photo, video, animations and stories

Advisory

Pick our brains. Learn from decades of experience across various sectors

CONTACT

start@oxegene.com

Get insights on whatsapp

+233

© 2024 Oxegene

SOLUTIONS

Connect

Build a brand your customers love and your competitors envy.

Convert

Create messaging and experiences that change potential customers to paying clients

Retain

Make your customers choose you over and over again even in the face of competition

Lead

Acquire the mindsets, methods and create the motions that prepare you for tomorrow

SERVICES

Strategy

Get clear about your challenges and create a potent course of action

Brand Development

Build brands that will last you a decade and make you distinct in the market

Website Design

Communicate clearly with with your customers and convert potential customer

Product Design

Be more productive, gain new competitive advantages with custom tech solutions

Media

Touch hearts and change minds through high quality photo, video, animations and stories

Advisory

Pick our brains. Learn from decades of experience across various sectors

CONTACT

start@oxegene.com

Get insights on whatsapp

+233

© 2024 Oxegene

SOLUTIONS

Connect

Build a brand your customers love and your competitors envy.

Convert

Create messaging and experiences that change potential customers to paying clients

Retain

Make your customers choose you over and over again even in the face of competition

Lead

Acquire the mindsets, methods and create the motions that prepare you for tomorrow

SERVICES

Strategy

Get clear about your challenges and create a potent course of action

Brand Development

Build brands that will last you a decade and make you distinct in the market

Website Design

Communicate clearly with with your customers and convert potential customer

Product Design

Be more productive, gain new competitive advantages with custom tech solutions

Media

Touch hearts and change minds through high quality photo, video, animations and stories

Advisory

Pick our brains. Learn from decades of experience across various sectors

CONTACT

start@oxegene.com