Ever heard the term, “A picture is worth a thousand words”?
Of course you have, and it’s as true now as it ever was.
In our technological world, we are bombarded with information. In fact, we seek it out, on websites, on social media, on good old fashioned television.
We all walk around with screens on us at all times, and we spend countless hours scrolling, searching and watching. And because of the sheer quantity of information available to us, it takes something unusual and unexpected to capture our attention.
So if you’re a business, trying to capture the attention of your audience, how do you do it? What can you put on these screens that will make your audience stop scrolling and take in the information you want to communicate?
Two words: visual marketing.
Humans are visually oriented creatures, and businesses can use this to their advantage. By choosing to use illustrations, you’re choosing a rich, storytelling medium that gives you as much flexibility as you need to be creative, unique and new!
WHY USE ILLUSTRATIONS?
Illustrations are typically playful graphics that can help your business appear friendly and communicate a message more organically. Information that is delivered in an amusing way will be far more memorable – and that’s what we want!
Illustrations can persuade, inform and influence your customers and prospects. They can enhance your brand messaging and can help your business express emotion.
Importantly, there are no limits to illustrations. Photographs and images are limited to what exists in our current world. Not to mention, staging that photo and video can end up costing a lot of time and money. With illustration, you have everything you need already waiting for you.
Ways to use illustration
Once again, your only limit is your imagination, so to get you thinking, here are a few examples of our clients who have effectively used illustration.
In a logo – Living Legends
Living Legends is the international home of retired champion racehorses. It was established in 2006 to nurture the deep connection between the community and our racehorse champions, and provides the perfect setting for people of every age to mix and mingle, get up close and personal, and really come to know these former champions.
When it came to creating a new logo, the organisation wanted to communicate the importance of the horse / human connection.
Using illustration, our team was able to seamlessly combine the silhouette of a person and a horse to communicate the organisation’s core message.
Social media promotion – Sinclair Meats
To advertise the weekly specials, we designed an animated video to use on social media.
Video captures people’s attention fast, and on social media that matters. It also allows you to deliver a lot of information quickly, without the viewer having to do anything, like swipe left. However, making videos can be a long and expensive process, and in this instance, making a new video every week would be taxing.
Instead, the animation can be used repeatedly by simply changing the still images that appear on the truck. The animation cements the business message that the meat has come from farms, with the country scenery illustrated in the background.
Create a character for your brand
Can’t find the right image for your website? No problem – draw one.
Using illustration, you can create a mascot to represent your brand and it could be anything – an animal, a quirky person, an alien… the list goes on. Characters are a great way to humanize your brand and bring more personality to your website. You can tailor make a mascot that appeals to your target audience and gives you a strong brand identity, making you stand out from the crowd in an amusing and memorable way.
It’s all about being different
You no longer need to play it safe when it comes to business. These days it’s about standing out and being different. In fact, it’s what you have to do to be noticed. The modern audience is youthful and web-savvy, and you need to appeal to them as best you can.
“Illustration can be your point of difference. Don’t rely on stock images that anyone can access. Create something new and you are guaranteed to be unique and separate yourself from your competitors. While other businesses may offer similar services, no one does it exactly the same way, so make your your image and marketing is as unique and customized are your service offer.”
