You may have heard it said that your brand is a story. If so, why not incorporate illustrations into your branding to help tell that story?
Business owners and brand designers are increasingly using brand illustration systems to express their brand’s message and reach audiences in a new way. Using illustrations can be a great way to elevate your own brand and give it a competitive edge over other businesses.
If you’re new to the idea of illustration in your branding, this post can help you understand:
- What a brand illustration system includes
- The benefits of using a brand illustration system
- How you can incorporate illustrations into your branding strategy
What is a Brand Illustration System?
In the simplest sense, a brand illustration system refers to using illustrations in a branding strategy. It is a system that combines images, animations, vectors, characters, colors, shapes, and other elements that help paint a picture of your brand’s story.
Brand illustrations are not the same as your brand design, but the two should complement each other. Illustrations add an emotional element too and tell a visual narrative of your brand’s identity through artwork. On the other hand, the graphic design incorporates more technical elements like typography, layout, and logo design.
Incorporating illustrations and branding design into your overall strategy can impact how your audiences perceives and understands your brand’s story.
Benefits of Using Illustrations
You don’t need illustrations in your branding strategy, but it can help you stand out from your competitors. Using illustrations in your branding can help you:
- Improve Your Content
Content that is paired with illustrations can attract a larger audience than it would otherwise.
In fact, researchers have shown that content that includes images gains 94% more views than just plain text.
Not only are consumers more likely to stop and read your content, but they are also more likely to remember it. Consumers who read plain text claim to remember only about 10% of that information. When that content is paired with visuals, on the other hand, they remember about 65%.
So next time you have a message to deliver, consider if that might better translate as an illustration instead.
- Communicate More Efficiently
In today’s digital age, content is consumed more quickly than ever before. That means that you – as a business owner – have less time to get your message across to your audience in a way that is understandable.
A great way to ensure your message reaches your audience effectively is by using illustrations. Infographics, for example, are much more easily digested by consumers than reading lengthy text on the same subject. Many people are visual learners, and visuals help them to better understand the subject at hand – and remember it.
- Establish Your Unique Brand Identity
Let’s face it: you can’t be unique and also use stock photos. To have a unique brand identity, you have to use visuals that are unique to your brand.
In this case, using illustrations can be powerful in establishing your brand. Why? Illustrations are custom designed with your business’s unique goals, needs, look, and feel all in mind.
This can help your brand stand out, and if you use illustrations effectively and consistently across your brand, it also helps your audience quickly recognize you.
- Engage Your Audience in a Rich Storytelling Experience
As we’ve said before, your brand tells a story. Maybe you’re in the business of human rights, and your story is of advocacy. Maybe you’re in the business of food, and your story is of bringing family and friends together to share positive moments over favorite meals.
No matter what your story is, it matters how you tell it. Using illustrations can serve as a brand’s visual language that conveys that story. The characters you use, the style of your images – these elements and more can help add emotion to your words and design in a way that is playful, serious, elegant, or whatever is appropriate for your unique story. Audiences will engage more meaningfully when you give them something that helps them visualize your story.
Illustrate Your Brand
Creating an illustration brand system can be a lengthy process and one that should be intentional and unrushed. But it’s also a time to have fun and explore new ways of expressing your brand.
Here are a few tips to get you started on incorporating illustrations in your branding:
- Know your brand: You should understand your brand’s story in order to create meaningful illustrations that guide that story. You should also understand the goals and needs of your brand and decide how illustrations are going to further those goals and meet those needs.
- Know the platform: An infographic will use many illustrative elements, but put those elements in a blog post, and things can get messy. The platform you are using should help you discern what illustrations you will use and where.
- Incorporate visual research: How will the colors you use affect the attitudes of consumers? Where on your webpage is the most effective place to put your illustrations? Take your time and proactively incorporate visual research and best practices into your illustrations.
- Be authentic to your brand: If your brand’s voice is typically more playful, let your illustrations be playful too. If your brand’s mission is more serious, make sure your illustrations are too. Your illustrations should authentically represent your brand and what it stands for.
- Develop guidelines for your illustrations: You want to make sure that any illustrations you use align with your overall branding strategy and that they are used consistently across your branding. Develop guidelines around how your illustrations will look, how they will be used, and where they will be used.
Tell Your Visual Story
Graphic designer Adam Ho calls illustrations “a new shared language” between businesses and stakeholders. Maybe it’s time to create a “new shared language” between you and your audience so you can more strongly and effectively communicate your brand story and build deeper and more meaningful connections with them. If so, illustrations can be one of your biggest tools for doing so.
Are you ready to tell your brand’s visual story but not sure where to start? Contact the Dream Media Designs team.
