Illustration Design Tips

Tales From The Shelf. Most packaging starts spinning a yarn before a single word is read. Shape, colour and illustration frame the product long before anyone checks the label. People read those signals instinctively to decide what something is, where it comes from and whether it belongs in their basket. Storytelling sits inside packaging more than we notice. It shapes how products are recognised and remembered, often through design alone. Illustration, typography and layout carry that load. When they're handled with care, a product gains clarity and presence. The pack speaks through what it shows and how it holds together. Haterk Honey is a good example. The black and white illustrations move through forests, meadows and mountains, echoing where the honey comes from and how it's made. The drawings are restrained and sit naturally against the deep golden colour in the jar. Line a few jars up and the illustrations connect across the shelf. Separate labels start reading as one continuous landscape. You recognise the system before you read the name. That consistency gives the product a stable visual anchor, something a shopper can recognise and return to without thinking. The black and white honey with the drawn hills is easier to retrieve than a blur of similar yellow labels. Well‑constructed narratives on pack also narrow the gap between marketing claims and real attributes. When illustration is anchored in origin, process or values, it gives context to mandatory details like variety, region and certification instead of floating beside them. A front panel that signals mountain honey from mixed wildflower sources through image and composition carries more weight than three extra lines of copy fighting for space on the back. Most people remember the landscape, not the label. 📷Backbone Branding

The U.S. would have you believe character design is reserved only for cereal boxes and kids’ products—turns out, Japan has other ideas. From jerky to green tea, seafood snacks to sake, characters are everywhere. There’s a sense of personality baked into nearly every category—and it’s not just for fun. Japan has long mastered the art of kawaii—cute, approachable, emotionally expressive design—and they’re not shy about using it to build instant affinity. Whether it’s a goofy smile, a serious samurai, or a fruit with a face, each one adds a layer of joy, story, identity—and a bit of surprise. Here's a couple of takeaways from Japan's approach to characters: 🎨 Illustration is not decoration—it’s signal In Japan, characters do more than “look fun.” They signal tone, make abstract flavors feel tangible, and instantly differentiate on shelf. A citrus jelly pouch with a half-smiling yuzu face? It tells you this isn’t your average fruit snack. It’s sensory. It’s special. 🧃 All categories welcome While the U.S. keeps mascots quarantined to kids’ cereal, Japan sees no reason to gatekeep charm. Beer, jerky, yogurt, seafood—all fair game for a little weird and a lot of wonderful. 🐉 Characters as Cultural Lore Some of these characters are rooted in folklore, regional pride, or historic iconography. The New York Times, in fact, just published an article about Japan’s monsters and its history—from the postwar emergence of Godzilla as a metaphor, to local mascots representing towns and traditions. Japan’s character design connects emotionally and culturally. Each illustration tells a story, bridging past and present, myth and market. But not all illustrative hope is lost in the U.S. A new wave of challenger brands focused on resonating with a new generation of consumers is bringing a renewed and refreshed relevance to character design and illustration in branding and packaging. Magic Spoon, Minor Figures, Fishwife, Graza, and Voodoo Ranger have all tapped into the power of mascots and illustrative characters. Even the recent The Manischewitz Company redesign—a bold, illustration-led overhaul of one of America’s most historic Jewish food brands—is embracing lighthearted design. In a world of sterile minimalism and blanding, illustration is a way to reclaim emotion, tell better stories and connect with new audiences. It's also a signal that a brand doesn’t take itself too seriously—even when the product might. And that sometimes, the smartest redesign starts with a face. What’s your favorite use of characters in CPG packaging? Drop it below. Mine? The dinosaur can. Obviously. 🦖 #CPGDesign #PackagingInspo #Illustration #JapanesePackaging #MascotMarketing

If you want your packaging to feel crafted - not copied - illustration is one of the most powerful tools you can invest in. More Than a Label: When Pen & Ink Turns a Beer into a Brand 🍺✍️ These Monument City Brewing cans are proof that illustration isn’t decoration — it’s storytelling. Each label is built with hand-drawn pen and ink detail, giving every beer its own personality, mood, and sense of place. From architectural forms to craftsmanship-inspired imagery, the illustrations do more than look good on a shelf — they communicate values like quality, heritage, and intention at a glance. Branded illustration matters because it creates recognition and emotion. In a crowded beer aisle, illustration slows people down. It invites them closer. It signals care, authenticity, and originality in a way stock graphics or generic layouts simply can’t. Hand-drawn work adds texture and humanity — qualities that consumers subconsciously associate with small-batch, well-made products. When illustration is baked into a brand system, it becomes an asset that works across packaging, merch, taproom graphics, and marketing. It tells a consistent story, builds trust, and helps brands stand out without shouting. #illustration #craftbeer #packagingdesign #penandink #branding

Illustration can be an effective tool to broaden your brand’s appeal, but it’s important to think carefully before commissioning artwork for a campaign or brand refresh. The question is, how can illustration enhance your identity while staying true to your core message? This was the challenge faced by bakery business ‘Sourdough Sophia’ as their customer base grew to include more families and young children. Known for high-quality artisan bakes, they also wanted their brand to feel welcoming and engaging for younger audiences. To achieve this, the illustrations needed to balance child-friendly appeal with the sophistication and simplicity of the bakery’s established visual identity. My solution was to create a set of simple characters that complemented the original artwork. This ensured the brand remained authentic to its essence while gently evolving to connect with new audiences. So, If you’re thinking about commissioning illustration to widen your brand’s appeal, here are some points to consider: 1. Think about what has prompted a change. Identifying the reason will help to define a direction for illustration that aligns with your business needs and the relevant context. 2. Ensure new imagery is ‘on-brand’. Your messaging should remain consistent even if you’re reaching new audiences or implementing a different visual style – your loyal followers should still connect with it unless you are completely changing your brand and strategy. 3. Use multiple visual styles with caution: Inconsistency adds confusion and results in a lack of trust where imagery is to be implemented long-term. Short-term or seasonal campaigns have more freedom, providing there is a clear distinction and strong idea. 4. Don’t try to please everyone:The most successful brands shout about what makes them different (and that means being disliked by some!). If appealing to a new audience is about seeking growth over meeting a genuine need, it won’t have longevity. 5. Research. Before commissioning illustration, define the strategy and audience. A beautifully designed campaign will be useless if it doesn’t appeal to the right people. If you need thoughtful illustrations that appeal to your audience, I can help. Find out more about me and my work here: www.lisamaltby.com

I’ve tested products with real images and products with illustrations. And most times? I’ll recommend illustrations. Yes, images make your design pop. Yes, they can feel premium. But they’re not always the best choice, especially for products that aren’t built around social presence or real human interaction. From working directly with CEOs in finance and regulated industries, I learned something important: Serious brands prioritize originality. When you use stock or AI-generated human images, a real question comes up: “Who are these people?” “Can we legally account for them?” In industries like finance, that matters. Legal exposure. Brand scrutiny. Misrepresentation risks. That’s why many prefer illustrations, they’re brand controlled, legally safer, and easier to standardize. Here are product categories where I’d avoid real human or AI images: 👉🏼 Fintech 👉🏼 Banking 👉🏼 Investment platforms 👉🏼 Crypto products 👉🏼 Insurance In these spaces: Clarity over Emotion Trust over Aesthetics Illustrations also perform better in markets with slower internet speeds. They’re lighter, faster to load, and reduce cognitive load. Now, where should you confidently use real images? 👉🏼 Social platforms 👉🏼 Community-driven products 👉🏼 Dating apps 👉🏼 Networking products 👉🏼 Creator platforms Anywhere human connection is the product, real humans make sense. Design isn’t about what looks good. It’s about what works best for the context. #designtips #uxdesign #productdesign #illustrations #figma #obipraise

If your illustrations feel template-like.. 😬 They won’t build recognition Illustration in branding isn’t just about making things look interesting It’s about building a visual language that feels owned 💪 When illustrations feel like they could belong to anyone, they don’t create identity.. They create noise 🫣 Strong brands define their illustration systems intentionally: 🍩 Clear shape language 🍩 Consistent line weight 🍩 Distinct personality 🍩 Recognisable expressions 🍩 Cohesive colour logic These decisions create familiarity over time Recognition doesn’t come from “nice visuals” It comes from consistency and distinction 🙂↔️ Illustrations should strengthen the brand system, not decorate it That’s the difference between visuals that look good, and visuals that build equity ✨

I’ve talked about it before but it’s worth repeating… When it comes to representing people in videos there are huge benefits to leaning into illustration. Here are a few reasons to consider illustration over live action video and photos: 1) Inclusivity without stereotypes. • Illustrations can represent diverse groups without falling into stereotypes. • Real images can unintentionally reinforce biases. 2) Flexibility in design. • Illustrated characters can be easily adapted to fit different marketing themes. • Real people can limit the creative possibilities. 3) Universal appeal. • Illustrations can appeal to a broader audience by being more neutral. • Real people may not resonate with everyone. 4) Cost-effective. • Creating illustrations can be less expensive than organizing photoshoots. • Real people require more resources and logistics. 5) Consistency. • Illustrated characters can maintain a consistent look across all marketing materials. • Real people can vary in appearance, causing inconsistency. 6) Customization. • Illustrations can be tailored to perfectly match the brand’s identity. • Real people may not always align with the brand image. Some situations do require real photos and videos of people, but when it comes to offering a respectful, flexible, and efficient way to represent diverse groups — illustration is hard to beat.

Illustration is a component of brand that we spend a ton of time on. Illustration style says so much about the personality of a brand, and is a key driver in differentiation. In tech, illustration is often approached from a data visualization perspective, or to show certain product features. Brands often forget that it's all about the user, even if you're B2B - there's always another person on the other end. With our project for NYC-based tech startup Cassi we wanted to do something different. Unconventional stories and products need unconventional identities. I had the idea of creating a WSJ editorial-style illustration set that could work on web, product, social, animation, etc., but could also get hung up on the wall in a high-end home and look like fine art. When I found Amsterdam-based illustrator Micha Huigen, I knew he was perfect for the job. His work has a ton of detail and texture, and Micha's unique style is always grounded in a rich color story. He created a world of illustrations that speak to the Cassi brand high-level, and the benefits it provides its users. By investing in custom illustrations that integrate with your brands identity, you can quickly communicate feelings that type and color alone cannot do as effectively. There's no other tech brand in Cassi's space with anything in the same arena as what Micha created, creating quicker brand recall and recognition. You feel the brands presence - it's warm and inviting. So many people think branding is about the logo and color, when in reality there are a huge variety of elements that should be taken into account, like illustration, iconography, texture, tone of voice, animation, etc. Brands are vast ever-changing things...They don't live in PDF guidelines.

An illustration is a moment of clarity. It is where you demonstrate how intimately you know your audience. Your choice of subject matter, symbols, colour, and other visual elements are the tools that will help your illustration deepen your audience's understanding of a topic, communicate your message or elevate the story. The illustration isn't just where the moment of clarity is created; it is the moment of clarity. The illustration anchors the clarity in time and place, by providing a visual representation. But an illustration is more than just a visual representation. It's also the place where the minds of the audience are subtly guided to a desired state of mind by the illustrator, through the skilful use of visual elements and common sense symbolism based on the social, cultural and historical context the work is being created in and who is viewing it. An illustration for a South African audience will have different constraints and opportunities than one for a global audience. The illustration influences the audience's perceptions and conclusions. But the illustration isn't the only thing doing the influencing. The audience also has agency and interacts with the illustration. They have a level of interest in it, they pay attention, and they colour the work with their unique views. Every moment of clarity is arrived at through this process of the illustration influencing the audience and the audience creating a unique view of the illustration. Our choice of common sense symbolism and visual elements as well as our ability to use them skillfully in our illustration, is what guides our audience to that "**a-ha**" moment. If you don't use the right common sense symbolism your illustration might create confusion rather than clarity.