3 Top Brands That Used Illustration to Stand Out

Brands that use illustration often stand out because custom visuals create a more recognizable personality than generic stock images or plain product shots. Illustration can make a brand feel more human, explain complex ideas faster, and create a visual system that works across websites, packaging, ads, social media, and campaigns.

The best illustrated brands do not use random drawings. They use illustration style, color, character design, texture, and composition consistently so customers can recognize the brand even before seeing the logo.

Quick answer: why do brands use illustration?

• Differentiation: custom illustration helps a brand avoid looking like competitors.
• Recognition: a consistent illustration style becomes part of the brand identity.
• Emotion: illustration can make technical or ordinary products feel warmer and more memorable.
• Storytelling: visuals can explain ideas faster than long copy.
• Flexibility: illustrated systems can adapt to web, packaging, social, ads, and presentations.
• Ownership: custom artwork gives the brand a more ownable visual language.

Examples of brands with illustrations

Mailchimp, Google, Slack, Dropbox, Headspace, and many DTC brands have used illustration to make their products feel friendlier, easier to understand, and more visually distinctive. The common thread is consistency: the illustration style supports the brand’s tone instead of acting like decoration.

In a world so reliant on digital spaces, illustration can often be the only way to catch a consumer’s eye in a sea of similar products and web pages.

Statistics show that internet users often read only about 20 percent of the written content they see on an online page. Naturally, as a brand, you need other ways to get the complete message across. One effective way of doing this is by using illustrations.

Certain brands have used the power of illustration to outshine their competition. Here are a few of our favorites.

Mailchimp — A Yellow Burst of Energy

For many, Mailchimp’s entire brand identity can be summed up in a single word, i.e., yellow. The marketing platform’s trademark is bright yellow and unmissable and is used across its many platforms.

However, what truly sets it apart is the scribbled imagery set against the yellow background. Zestful and hurried, the illustration perfectly demonstrates the brand’s vision of lightning-quick email marketing.

The illustration and theme are consistent across its marketing efforts, as can be seen by its website, Twitter, and Instagram posts. And this has helped set them apart as a brand.

Google — Simple Yet Impactful

Google is the undisputed king when it comes to illustrations. Their logo is so well-known that it could probably be recognized even on Mars, yet they’re not afraid to tweak it from time to time with illustrations to celebrate various occasions.

The famous Google doodles in the form of animated and interactive illustrations are well-received by the search engine’s users and have managed to add more to its brand identity.

But that’s not all of it. Google also makes excellent use of illustration across its many applications, such as the Google calendar. It uses illustrations as a way to make its website more user-friendly and accessible.

Shopify — Bringing Clarity to Complex Ideas

Shopify is another branded platform that uses illustrations really well. Because they serve as a content management system for businesses, they try to simplify what could be perceived as complex tools by using illustrations to make them appear more accessible and user-friendly.

They rightly believe that illustration is an incredibly powerful tool that can be used to communicate complex ideas in an understandable manner and can streamline the tone usage for a brand.

As a brand, you must take a leaf or two out of these successful brands’ highly illustrated books to ensure that you can get your brand’s message across in the most effective manner.

If you need help doing that, get in touch with us!

We’re an online graphic design illustration and professional logo design company that can help you with custom illustration design services in Miami.

Find out more about affordable high quality design services here.

‍

Need custom illustration for your brand?

The NetMen Corp creates custom illustration, mascot characters, logo design, packaging, and brand identity systems for businesses that need original visual assets. Explore our custom illustration services or contact us to start your illustration project.