Whether you realize it or not, illustrations are everywhere. Illustrations can help with blogs, advertisements, websites, and with the advent of social media, they are more popular than ever.
Character illustrations are visual elements that focus on humans or other characters with personalities. You might immediately think of a comic book or animated work, but it’s important for business as well.
Don’t believe me? Pick out any random software or SaaS company and check out their website. Better yet, take a look at their blog section, or their social media marketing. More often than not, you’ll see illustrations where characters are the focus.
Here’s everything you need to know about character illustration, including where to get great custom illustrations delivered to you.
Why character illustration?
Character illustration isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. For instance, if you’re introducing a product, you’ll want your illustration to emphasize the product, not a character.
Still, the benefits of character illustration are numerous. Relatable figures can help keep readers invested. Without something humanoid to latch onto, people may subconsciously feel that your writing, product, or company is emotionally distant.
Character illustration, on the other hand, opens new avenues for connection. Making characters the focus of any illustration grounds it in reality. It changes the question in your audience’s mind from “What is this?” to “What would I do with this?”
Still looking for more information? Here are 7 tips to consider when incorporating character illustration into your design ecosystem.
7 character illustration tips
1) Avoid copyrighted characters
This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s an important thing to remember when dealing with characters. While taking inspiration is fine, you always want to avoid hewing too close to established characters.
When an illustration is associated with your brand, using characters from another brand is a no-go. If you need a fun character with a personality to guide your brand, consider designing a company mascot.
2) Use illustrations with style
One of the many downsides to using premade free illustrations is being bound to a singular, often flat style. This is fine in a pinch for a blog or social media post. However, if you’re building a brand, you need a consistent and impressive style.
Try experimenting with different styles of character illustration. What fits your brand best? Are you realistic, detailed, true-to-life?
Or more cartoony, ambitious, larger-than-life? You may consider a geometric style, or one influenced by a specific art movement.
Above all, avoid using the exact same style as your competitors. Learn what works, but make sure you’re using an art style that’s specific to your brand. This goes for any design, but there are subtleties to character illustration that may be harder to catch.
3) Make it relevant to your audience
One of the best ways to decide on a character illustration style is to tailor it to your audience’s interests. If you cater to seniors, an old-fashioned art style might invoke feelings of nostalgia. For a more cutting-edge clientele, consider something bold and modern.
Beyond just matching what your target audience likes, your character illustrations should convey something about your brand. Simple character design choices can illustrate big concepts. What kind of person uses your product? How do you want people to feel about it?
In the above example (designed by Pablo Stanley), the character appears young, loves coffee, and has a relaxed expression. They’re also designed in a simple, sketchy style with a bold pop of pink. These combine to create a hip and unique character illustration.
4) Give everything a personality
Character illustration often involves the use of human characters. This helps create a down-to-earth and friendly energy.
A non-human character with human traits is considered “anthropomorphic.” These can include animals that walk upright, robots with cute faces, or even a pencil with googly eyes on it. If you give it a personality, it’s a character, and that simple principle creates great opportunities for character illustration.
Consider an illustration of a phone. On its own, it’s just that—a phone. But simply adding a face and arms to that phone turns it into a whimsical, creative illustration.
It’s not just a phone; it’s a companion. Creating the phone into a character strengthens your argument.
5) Consider 3D character illustration
With a cutting-edge customer base, such as a new SaaS business, may consider some equally stylish character illustrations. One relatively new trend that can help you stand out is 3D illustration.
Even in 2022, 3D illustration carries a sense of novelty. It requires a unique set of skills, including the use of animation software. But if you know how to do it, it can pay off by catching the eye of new customers.
One potential pitfall of 3D illustration is that it can have a childish sensibility. If you’re in charge of a luxury brand like Versace, a 3D illustration can be an embarrassment. Nowadays, there are many different types of 3D art available. For example, some of which is hyper-realistic, but it’s still not the right fit for every business.
6) Be consistent (but not repetitive)
Image Credit: (Weekender by Craftwork)
Whatever style you choose, stick to it. If character illustrations on one page of your website look completely different from another, you’ll come off as unprofessional. It creates the impression that you’re pulling your illustrations from different sources, rather than investing in designers.
On the other hand, you generally want to avoid using the exact same illustration, at least on the same page. Some stock elements can be helpful, especially when creating characters. Similarly, like using designs that are too different, using the same design twice in the same space comes off as lazy.
7) Get custom character illustrations on demand
In the short term, free illustration resources can be a quick fix. When you’re creating character illustrations that fit your brand identity, you need a full-on design team on board.
There are a few ways to go about getting custom designs. You can hire a team, work with a freelancer, or contract a design agency. If you want unlimited illustrations and designs on demand, however, we recommend using a design service like Penji.
For a flat monthly rate you can use unlimited graphic design. Create a brand, update your website, get social media illustrations, and much more. The perfect designer will be matched with you so branding your business can go seamlessly.
Interested in Penji? Check out our pricing plans and get started today.
