Major Differences Between Illustration Design and Graphic Design

Differentiating yourself from the multitude of businesses today can be a daunting endeavor, but it’s something you just have to do. With over 30 million small businesses you have to contend with, standing out is difficult as it is, even when you exclude the more prominent brand names. To level up your branding and marketing efforts, you need to use illustration design. Here’s what you need to know:

Table of Contents

• Illustration Design vs. Graphic Design
• What is Illustration Design?
• What is Graphic Design? 
• Elements of Graphic Design and Illustrations
• Types of Illustration Designs
• The Many Uses of Illustration Design
• Illustration Designs from Penji

Illustration Design vs. Graphic Design 

Not everyone has artistic blood running through their veins. Thus, it’s only natural to confuse illustration design with graphic design. To most of us, they’re all the same drawings, doodles, images that add beauty and appeal to anything and everything. 

While it’s true that they are closely related, there’s a sea of differences between them. The first of which is their purpose. Graphic design is geared more towards business communications while illustration design leans more towards the fine art route. 

Illustration design revolves primarily in giving a creative interpretation. This is contrary to graphic design that focuses on conveying a message to a particular target audience. To put it simply, graphic design is commercially motivated, while illustration design speaks to the emotions and aesthetics. 

What is Illustration Design? 

Let’s talk about each to give you a clearer vision of what they are to help you understand these two branches of design better. 

Illustration design is a visual portrayal of written content. It acts either decoratively or as a way to explain or emphasize a particular subject matter. It comes in both traditional and digital forms and can be done in a variety of mediums. 

You’ll find illustration designs mostly on book covers, posters, magazines, blogs, and video games, among many others. And as a Dragon Search Marketing study found out, “61% of consumers are influenced by custom content.” This makes custom illustration designs more desirable for businesses. 

What is Graphic Design? 

On the other hand, graphic design is the art of communicating through imagery, colors, typography, and forms. Businesses use it to express their messages, ideas, and concepts to their clients and prospects. This is the reason graphic design is also referred to as visual communication arts. 

Graphic design for business is mainly driven by a brand’s marketing and advertising requirements. From logos to billboards, these are created by graphic designers with brand promotion in mind. Although most businesses today use digital forms of graphic design, traditional ways are still alive and well. 

Elements of Graphic Design and Illustrations

To better illustrate the differences between illustration design and graphic design, let’s look at what these two consist of:

Graphic Design

Graphic design incorporates fundamental design principles to craft visually appealing and functional designs. It includes the following elements:

• Color: A crucial aspect you can use to evoke emotions and establish brand identity.
• Typography: This is the art of arranging type to make written text legible and engaging.
• Shapes and Lines: Elements to guide the viewer’s eye and build a structure in a composition.
• Space: The effective use of negative space adds clarity and improves readability.
• Texture: Adds depth and interest to designs to make them more dynamic.
• Imagery: These photographs, icons, and illustrations enhance your message and the design’s aesthetics.

Illustration Design

On the other hand, illustration designs focus on artistic expression and storytelling. The key elements include:

• Composition: The arrangement of visual elements gives the design balance and focus.
• Line Work: Defines the illustration’s shapes, textures, and movement.
• Color and Shading: Adds depth, mood, and dimension to the design.
• Perspective and Proportion: Establishes realism or stylization in the drawing.
• Style and Technique: These vary depending on the illustrators’ approach, whether digital, traditional, or mixed media.

Types of Illustration Designs

Illustration designs come in various styles and formats. They each serve a unique purpose so it’s important to know about them:

1. Traditional Illustrations: These are made using hand-drawn techniques like pencil, ink, watercolor, or acrylic paints. You’ll find them in many books, editorial work, and fine arts.
2. Digital Illustrations: Created using digital tools such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or CorelDraw. They are typically used in web design, advertising, and branding.
3. Vector Illustrations: Made with vector-based software to allow for scalability without losing quality. You’ll often see these in logos, infographics, and UI designs.
4. 3D Illustrations: These are illustrations done in software specifically for this illustration type. Crafted with Blender or Cinema 4D, they have a three-dimensional look that we typically see in gaming, animation, and product design.
5. Technical Illustrations: These are detailed and precise drawings that are used for instructional, medical, or engineering uses. They include schematics, diagrams, and architectural blueprints.
6. Editorial and Conceptual Illustrations: These are stylized illustrations that evoke emotions or abstract concepts. They are typically found in magazines, newspapers, and books.

The Many Uses of Illustration Design 

A Design Observer article shows us how graphic design has overtaken illustration in terms of relevance. It has noticed a surge in many illustrator design services favoring to create graphic design more than illustrations. But as the end of the articles goes, if this is a new truth, our visual lives will be the poorer. 

In Penji’s experience, illustration designs are some of the most requested projects. This goes to show that there isn’t an ounce of truth that illustration design has taken a back seat to graphic design. Here are the many ways illustrations are as relevant today, even in the digital world. 

Amazing Website Designs 

Using illustration designs on your website creates an excellent first impression like this one from The Lighthouse Brewing Co. The illustration of a seascape with a hint of a vintage atmosphere gives the viewers the feel of timelessness and authority. Most of the time, your website is where a prospective client will have a good first impression of your brand. Make it good with custom illustration design. 

Beautiful Book Covers 

Aside from positive reader reviews, one aspect that gets people to read a specific book is the cover design. A book cover can describe the story well when you use custom illustration designs on it. This cover design of The Day You Begin, a novel by Jacqueline Woodson is one fine example.  

Eye-Catching Package Designs 

One of the best ways to stand out from your competition is through the use of great packaging design. And to make a unique one, use custom illustration design on yours. This Generous biscuit packaging is a remarkable example of the use of illustrations in package design.  

Captivating T-Shirt Designs 

According to IBISWorld, online original design T-shirt sales have reached $583 million in the US alone in 2020. T-shirt designing is big business, and custom illustration designs can help you get ahead of your competitors. This t-shirt design from Penji is a perfect example of why the industry is seeing a significant surge in growth. 

Illustration Designs from Penji 

To see many other uses you can do with an illustration design service, we’ve compiled a few of Penji’s previous works.  

Requesting Custom Illustrations on Penji 

With Penji, you no longer have to choose between getting custom illustrations and graphic design. We understand how consequential the two design types are, so we give you the best of both worlds. Our graphic design service includes illustration design service, so you won’t have to go somewhere else!

Click here to send your first request from our reliable illustration design service.

Final Thoughts 

With Penji, getting illustration designs is simple, affordable, and straightforward. While other graphic design services offer illustrations as a separate plan, Penji has included it in theirs to make it more affordable and accessible. You won’t have to pay for a separate plan just so you can have BOTH illustration design and graphic design. Watch our quick demo video here to learn more about us.