Top Brands that use illustration For Business
A lot of brands that have an online presence, they often tend to overlook the importance of imagery in terms of developing their identities and voices. A lot of companies have opted for generic corporate photography, stock images and generic animations.
While these animations and images have a valuable place in some industries and for some businesses, a lot of businesses should refrain from such because they look indifferent, bland and scheming. This can happen if they are used quite frequently and without much consideration of the values a business/brand espouses.
It is hence quite important for brands to not fully rely on the copy and content to convey a message. This is because users on average only read 20% of any given or certain webpage. Hence all the images, animations and videos present on such pages need to do most of the talking and communication.
How busy is the internet?
The internet is quite busy, and it gets busier each year (thanks to the load of sites and apps dependent on it). Moreover, it has also become a more competitive space, making it crucial for brands to make an impression that creates a lot of impact and is memorable for both existing and prospective customers.
One of the best ways to do that is incorporating illustration into the branding efforts. Exactly, brands that use illustration to create worthwhile animations are those that are able to stand out amongst the crowd.
Which top brands use illustration to stand out in a unique manner?
In this post, we will be examining some of the brands that have distinguished themselves from the competition by means of illustrative content. We will also explore in what ways unique imagery works quite well.
Etsy
Etsy is an eCommerce brand. It has been using colors throughout its content to make it look great and making it illustrative as well, so it can be tied well with its logo. The rustic orange tone used in various places resonates quite well with the hand crafted products created by independent artists and businesses listed on the website.
The quirky illustrative style used by Etsy is indeed eye-catching and captivating. It incorporates a wide array of different shapes, objects and characters to imitate the unique qualities of items which are for sale on the site.
By making good use of proper animated illustrations, the overall effect is friendly and thoughtful. It thus highlights to visitors and users alike that Etsy is a user friendly platform, and a trusted place for creative people to sell their crafts online.
On the brand’s social media channels, posts are often reserved for showcasing products that are brilliant along with interactive sellers willing to sell their crafts instead of just illustrative content.
Slack
Slack is a team collaboration tool known for using bold colors and animated illustrations without hesitation. This results in creation of content which is illustrative and captivating, right from the very moment users land on its homepage.
What Slacks’s users like about it is that it included characters within a particular scenario. A lot of them take time to see the images and the captions associated with them. Moreover, an angular layout when used at the right time adds movement to the images and hence stresses on the dynamic environment the software was made to work in.
Moreover, Slack has a style of illustration that is different from many others. It has also been adopted by the platform on its social media channels. Yet, the color schemes it uses along with the company logo trace it all back to the brand’s overall identity in a nice manner. This thus makes it a well known brand that uses animated illustrations marketing in a neat yet tactful manner.
Mailchimp
No one will ever miss the illustration Mailchimp utilizes. As a matter of fact, many see it as one of the best animated illustrations marketing. Also, it is among those brands that use illustration in the best possible manner. Its incredible bright yellow color along with the incredible images that are hand-drawn and extraordinary make it stand out from the rest in the crowd.
The style deployed by Mailchimp is no doubt energetic and at the same time superficial too. This goes hand in hand with the company’s mission in making email marketing quick, easy, fun and seamless for subscribers.
It is thus clear that Mailchimp has made a lot of efforts to utilize their styling across all their marketing channels, giving the brand a consistent voice and tone, plus giving it the status as one of those worthwhile brands that use illustration.
Asana
Asana is a work management platform which includes numerous features exhibiting its user-friendly nature. It has an array of spot and animated illustrations present in many places on its website. It was made mostly through utilization of simple shapes and a limited color palette. Such illustrations are easy to comprehend and help explain the essence of each topic present.
What makes Asana among the best brands that use illustration is the fact that their simple imagery reinforces the platform to be easy to use and easy to learn about too. The platform meanwhile uses a soft approach in terms of illustrations present on its website whereas its social media pages have images that make it stand out additionally with black outlining.
Not only does it remove the generic element of most images but also serves to differentiate the style used on each channel used by Asana. Moreover, it also does not change any other part of their web design or character templates in use. Hence, Asana has done animated illustrations marketing in the right way.
Salesforce
Those who are looking for one of the best brands that use illustration, providing a full-screen with an impact; then they should consider looking at Salesforce. Each of the firm’s featured products comes with their own unique landscape background. On each product page, Salesforce mascots participate in activities related to the topic on those very pages.
The bright color schemes used with a good sense of depth make Salesforce’s website a memorable one. With information well placed at the correct places, no doubt the marketing team at the company planned, designed and developed a well thought out website to strike the best balance between all elements used.
Salesforce designed the product pages in the best possible manner. They serve as entry points leading to more information. This explains the way imagery is topping the copy at these points of the customer journey. These pages do more than just animated illustrations marketing, they are doing marketing on a whole new level.
The reason the brand did not carry out such a process for the whole website is because the website could have become overwhelming for the wrong reasons. Moreover, for people with requirements for special accessibility needs, Salesforce had to make its website as well balanced as it can.
On Salesforce’s social channels, the presence of illustrated landscapes are always present. If they have a bit less visibility, it then creates space for other visual elements, such as CTAs, copy, photography and of course, animated illustrations.
Conclusion
Here are some of the best brands that use illustration, proving that they are doing more than animated illustrations marketing. These brands have gone beyond conventional boundaries to make sure everything goes right and this is also another reason why they are ahead of competition in the market.
These brands also serve as worthwhile examples for other brands and businesses alike to take the needed steps to be ahead of others. We hope that brands learn from these firms and do everything they can to be among the best in the world.
