The Elements of Design Style: See How 1 Illustration Gets Adapted to 5 Different Brand Guides
It’s vitally important for artists, designers, and agencies to develop their own unique illustration style. However, it’s also important for agencies in particular to be adaptable and able to take on different styles for their clients. Why? A client may come to us with a house style already established that we need to follow, or they may want bespoke illustrations created in a new style just for them.
What defines the style of an illustration?
The overall vibe of an illustration is determined by many different factors and decisions made by the artist and how they all interact with each other. More specifically, these decisions are based on the following key elements of an illustration: Line, Color, Shape, Proportion, Space (positive and negative), Pattern, and Texture.
We can manipulate the characteristics of these various puzzle pieces to evoke different moods. See, for example, how an illustration with perfectly geometric shapes reads as professional and technical.
Many of the fruits in this picture, such as the apple, berries, and lemon, are built out of perfect circles or ovals. The lemon wedge is made from a semicircle and has perfect symmetry. The flower is constructed from uniform petals and has perfect radial symmetry.
Altogether, this sense of technical perfection evokes a sense of professionalism; it was clearly created by a computer. As well, perfectly geometric shapes are easy on the eye because the viewer isn’t presented with a challenge, miniscule and subconscious as it may be, to understand what we’re seeing. No burden of interpretation is placed on the viewer who–by virtue of being human–understands these fundamental shapes. Thus, this drawing style is easily understood and inherently pleasing, albeit a bit mechanical and serious.
Now see how an illustration with organic, hand-drawn shapes reads as friendly and informal.
By contrast, the fruits in this example were hand-drawn. The apple has a more organic shape, and the circles that make up the berries and lemon are misshapen. The repeating elements such as the flower petals are not uniform and don’t have perfect radial symmetry. Similarly, the lemon wedge is on a slant and the inner segments are not uniform or perfectly symmetrical.
The effect of these imperfections is that this drawing reads a little warmer. It was clearly made by a person, not a computer, and thus has more personality and a sense of playfulness. This style of drawing feels more organic and personal. That said, it may not be as universally pleasing as the example with perfectly geometric shapes since showing the artist’s hand introduces some subjectivity and our eye has to work a little harder to interpret what we’re seeing.
Neither way of drawing is right or wrong, but it’s important to consider how these subtle differences change our viewing experience.
An Exercise in Applied Design Elements
Time for a fun exercise. We’re going to show you one illustration drawn in five different styles. This way we can see, in action, how approaching line, shape, color, etc. in different ways changes the overall look and feel of an illustration. For the subject matter of our illustration, we drew a simple work-from-home scene. Not only did this scene feel appropriate for the times we live in, but it also provided the opportunity to depict a variety of objects. We’ll start with a sketch and go from there.
Getting started on your illustration
Start your illustration with a rough black and white sketch to determine content, placement, and scale. Don’t worry too much about style at this phase.
Style your illustration to develop a set of conventions
Next, begin to think about and apply stylistic decisions: if your aim is to follow an established brand style, study their brand guidelines and existing illustrations. Analyze everything. Look at how the lines flow, how color is applied, use of texture, etc. If you’re creating a new and unique style, think about who you’re trying to reach, what tone you’re trying to achieve, and where the illustration will live. Gather inspiration and references based on the tone you’re trying to achieve, your target audience, and any cultural or historical references that feel appropriate. Develop a color palette and a set of conventions that you stick with throughout the illo.
Let’s look at the same illustration styled five different ways.
Style 1: Young and hip
You're tasked with illustrating for a media company with a young and hip audience that prides themselves on their creativity and out-of-the-box content. Some ways you may convey that:
Wonky, unrealistic proportions and colors
An avant garde, bright color palette
Lines and brush strokes that emulate real artist materials lending to a hand-made look
A chaotic composition with overlapping elements and floating fragments
Rejection of traditional drawing practices like perspective and depth
Style 2: Precise, capable, and trustworthy
Now let’s say you were drawing the same subject matter, but for a tech company who wants to appear precise, capable, and trustworthy. You may convey these qualities using:
A simple consistent color palette
Realistic proportions and colors
Perfect geometric shapes clearly made by a computer
A relatively clean composition with ample white space
A subtle sense of depth that isn’t too dramatic
Style 3: Established, serious, and dignified
Let’s say you were drawing the same subject matter again, but this time for a more traditional brand, like a financial institution. They want to come across as established, serious, and dignified. You might make the following choices in your illustration to help sell that story:
A limited color palette and relatively flat look
A heavy focus on linework (as opposed to larger filled shapes)
A symmetrical composition with a focus on consistency
Vintage patterns and textures (e.g. halftone dots)
Style 4: Bespoke, familiar, and elegant
This time, you're creating the same illustration, but maybe it’s for a client in hospitality or a boutique architecture firm. Architecture often uses watercolor to help visualize and give life to their creations and they want this illustration shown in the same style. They want to come across as bespoke, familiar, and elegant. Your illustration might have the following qualities:
Transparent colors that overlap to create dimension and depth
Minimal linework in favor of larger swaths of color
A “soft” color palette and relatively similar tones throughout
A traditional sense of perspective
Style 5: Retro and cheeky
Lastly, you’re doing the same illustration for a lifestyle and apparel brand appealing to younger folks. This aesthetic and brand leans into a retro sensibility with a cheeky, sometimes ironic bent and a look reminiscent of risograph prints (example from artist Tikeo Rohan). Their illustration may include the following qualities:
Ink and paper textures for a vintage print feel
A bright, saturated color palette
A pop art sensibility with large blocks of color and dynamic action
Characters and layouts reminiscent of of vintage advertisements
Now it's up to you
Great illustrators will both have their own established style and be able to adapt to different styles based on the project. Their hand will be in everything they do, but through strategic use of color, texture, line, etc., they can manipulate their drawings to fit any number of styles. No matter what style you choose, be mindful of representation and aim to include as wide an array of characters as you can.
Lastly, never forget to have fun and be creative. While there are tools and techniques for achieving different tones in a piece, one designer may make an illustration that fits the subject matter perfectly and another designer may make an illustration that also fits the subject matter perfectly and they could look totally different. There are only guiding principles in illustration—the final outcome is totally in your hands.