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Visual storytelling: The beautiful benefits of illustration

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Visual storytelling: The beautiful benefits of illustration

Looking to elevate your communications, campaigns and brand through the art of illustration? Great choice! 

Let’s explore some of the ways brilliant illustrations can make their mark and provide freshness and flexibility, diversity and dynamism, excitement and enhanced engagement…

 

An eye for icons blue background blob style with spaceship, spaceman and planet illustratyions with the wording 'carefully illustrated icons can help create consistency and memorability'

Whether you’re looking to breathe life into your organisation’s core values and behaviours or vision and mission, carefully illustrated icons can help create consistency and memorability because they help forge visual associations with certain themes, topics or actions. 

Having a dedicated suite of icons for designers to use across deliverables helps project a unified identity and shared understanding.

 

Drawing out diversity 

Is your image library lacking? Don’t have the budget for a professional photoshoot or the use of stock? blue background blob style with a smiling standing crocoldile illustration with the wording 'Illustrated characters are a superb addition or centrepiece to any brand or campaign'

Illustrated characters are a superb addition or centrepiece to any brand or campaign and have a key role to play in visual storytelling. They provide flexibility and can be adapted to represent the diverse demographics you serve, employ or aspire to attract, as well as different uniforms, settings and situations. The characters can have their own names, purposes and personalities, they can share important messages about safety, kindness, antibullying or leadership training, for example.

This versatility allows for the creation of characters that reflect and resonate with different audiences. 

 

Stylistic storytelling blue background blob style with a screen and hand writing on the screen illustration with the wording 'Why not take visual storytelling one step further using animation?'

Especially for newcomers, visuals can help simplify complex processes, explain expectations and share stats and facts with flair. With illustrations as your tool of choice, you can paint a spectacular picture of your organisation’s ethos, guiding newcomers through all the information that will inevitably be thrown their way. 

Why not take visual storytelling one step further using animation. That way your illustrated characters can move, dance, play, work, talk and support your key messages. In our experience, this works wonders for recruitment campaigns, onboarding and training materials, strategic plans, awareness days, yearly roundups and more! 

 

Penning a personal touch blue background blob style with an illustrayion of a pale skinned young boy looking sad in a green top with the wording 'visual narratives have the power to evoke powerful emotions. 

Whether you’re recognising a work anniversary, sales achievement or sharing someone’s personal career journey, illustration can introduce a personalised touch to your communications, showcasing a sense of collaboration and community.

This goes for the hard-hitting stuff too; illustration has been central to many mental health and wellbeing campaigns and fundraising initiatives because visual narratives have the power to evoke powerful emotions. 

 

By Kat Hassell

 

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Illustrations offer a refreshing departure from the mundane and have the ability to transform, enhance and captivate audiences. 

We just so happen to have wonderfully talented illustrators in our team who are here to help you cultivate creativity, celebrate your bright and beautiful colleagues and champion diversity, inclusive representation and visual storytelling in all its forms. 

For illustration inspiration and ideas to draw from, visit our gallery:

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Emma Wright — South Yorkshire & Rescue

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Emma Wright — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

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Keren McCarron, Head of Corporate Affairs & Communications — KP Snacks

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Thank you so much. Incredible work done at incredible speed by incredible people.
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Jack Grasby, Campaigns Manager — SYFR

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Julie Odams, Assistant Director of Communications & Customers — Derbyshire County Council

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