Illustration

The Power of Illustration

Illustration is a very broad term for hand-crafted visuals that have a lot of power. They have the power to simplify and explain complex ideas. They have the power to delight, entertain, and spark joy. As a unique asset in your brand library, they have the power to help establish a distinct visual identity for your organization or product and increase brand awareness

At the core of all illustration is the power to visually communicate—a necessity for every business and organization. With the right style and approach, illustration has the power to evoke certain feelings and amplify a particular voice. We at Jackrabbit pride ourselves on our ability to explore a variety of illustrative styles to support our clients’ business objectives.

Conceptual & Stylistic Considerations

Equally important to an illustration’s visual style is the concept behind it. A conceptually strong illustration can better communicate its message and resonate more strongly with its intended viewer. Both talent and ideas are needed to produce high-quality illustrations, and our illustrators on staff have a healthy mix of both.

Stylistically, we love experimenting! We have experience in flat color graphics, stylized geometric art, and more elaborately painted and shaded art that ranges from realistic to playfully whimsical. Lately, we’ve been experimenting with 3D CGI-rendered art and even hand-crafted paper cutout art that we photograph. A project’s style all depends on the project’s creative brief and what we collaboratively decide is the visual direction to pursue to achieve our goals.

Project Goals and Discovery

While every illustration project varies in style, concept, format, and application, our clients can expect a pretty consistent process. The first step is discussing with our client what they’re looking to accomplish. Usually, they’ll come to us with a specific need. Perhaps they’re looking to create some relevant content for their audiences, such as an infographic for their website and social channels. Or they want their app to be a little more approachable, and already know that illustration is a great way to create a unique and engaging look. A personal favorite request of ours is the illustrated holiday card—for when they want something a little more playful and custom to help spread the cheer.

Sometimes they haven’t quite considered illustration, but they’ve reached out to us for branding or packaging, and as we explore solutions to help achieve their goals, we discover that illustration is the way to go! These initial conversations all inform how we’ll approach the illustration. We discuss what art styles would be most appropriate and show representative samples. Once a general visual approach is agreed upon, we begin sketching out a rough draft that shows the illustration’s composition and application.

CONCEPT AND SKETCHES TO FINAL ART

Our initial sketch is typically in black and white as we’re focused more on the composition and concept at this point. This allows for easier and quicker revisions before we commit to any color decisions. We then share this with the client who provides their feedback for us to refine further. We’ll create another iteration, and usually introduce color to at this point to help everyone better visualize what the end product will look like. The sketch phase is the time for any major revisions and refinements since everything is very loose and easily editable at that point. Once we are all feeling good about the sketch and the client approves it, we’ll move forward with creating the final art for the illustration!

Take a peek at this blog post where Art Director and Illustrator Christopher Ariñez reveals the process of creating a set of holiday cards for the MSPCA-Angell.

A VARIETY OF JACKRABBIT’S ILLUSTRATION SAMPLES