The Wonderful World of Illustration
Illustration is all around us – especially at Christmas! What better time to delve into the wonderful world of illustration and share some of our favourites?!
Every day, we’re surrounded by illustration, whether we realise it or not! From hand-drawn pieces to digital art, a great illustration can tell you more about an organisation or event, help you make sense of tricky instructions and bring even the driest of subjects to life.
At Little Bird Creative, our amazing in-house illustrator Lesley will take the time to get to know you, in order to produce something beautifully bespoke.
But just what can illustration be used for? It’s time to find out…
Okay, let’s get the most obvious one out of the way, first!
When you hear the word “illustration,” you probably think of the pictures you’ve seen in books, particularly children’s stories. There’s a good reason for that! An eye-catching illustration can bring a story to life, helping the reader to picture the scenes and characters being described by the author. This imagery helps reading become an even more immersive experience, particularly for youngsters.
As Little Bird Creative are a duo with experience of both writing and illustration, this is a big one for us! Do you have a book that needs pictures? Does your story need editing? Perhaps you want a bespoke storybook put together for a loved one… Get in touch!
Visual imagery can be a powerful tool for spreading important messages. Illustration can play a key role in generating discussion on a variety of topics. Take, for example, the illustration seen here: we wanted to make a poignant statement on the environment and our responsibility to protect the planet. By placing the only sign of nature inside a glass bottle, whilst the man-made structures in the background burn, Lesley cleverly created a piece of art that had the power to get people talking!
From provocative pictures on charity leaflets, to bold visuals in media advertising, tackling big subjects through imagery is a tried and tested way of getting people’s attention and opening up a conversation.
When presented with huge chunks of complex, written information, it can be tricky to take it all in. Infographics are a handy way of making large amounts of data more visually accessible and easier to understand. A clever illustrator (and did we mention we have one?!) is able to take facts and figures and present them in a way that won’t leave readers skimming reams of text in order to find the important bit.
Infographics can vary depending on the organisation they’re produced for and the reason they’re needed. Some are quirky, with lots of characters and bright colours. Others may take a more traditional form, with graphs and charts containing information. When designing infographics, Lesley will work closely with you to ensure she comes up with exactly what you need.
Lesley’s example comes from a fundraising campaign by a local railway, here in Cornwall.
Whether you’re an organisation looking to raise funds, or you just want something bespoke to send out to family and friends, a custom illustration is a great way to make a greetings card extra special. In fact, if you’re anything like the Little Bird duo, you’ve probably got some favourite Christmas or birthday cards you’ve kept over the years, because they looked so good or made you smile so much, you couldn’t bring yourself to part with them!
From gorgeous, hand-painted images on cards left blank for your own message, to a bespoke Christmas card for a client keen to save the bees, illustrator Lesley is able to create custom greetings cards for all occasions!
We all know that social media has a big role to play when we’re promoting our organisation or event. But did you know that our brains are able to interpret images much quicker than text, helping us to understand a brand, product or service almost instantly? That certainly explains why a social media post containing an image can be ten times as likely to stop a person scrolling as a text-only post!
It’s not just your social media platforms, either. Breaking up the text in your email communications with relevant illustrations and eye-catching banners, can also help ensure your recipients sit up and take notice.
As part of Mental Health Awareness week, illustrator Lesley created a set of social media graphics demonstrating ways to stay on top of your emotional well-being. This one, symbolising catching up with a friend over a cuppa, is a firm favourite.
Sometimes, a stock photo just won’t cut it. To really stand out from the crowd, you want an image that grabs attention right away and a good illustrator can absolutely give you that! Take Lesley’s illustration of an iPod, for example; it’s so realistic that at first glance, you’d think it might be a photo. But something about that eye-catching green background leaps off the screen/page and forces you to look a little closer.
When you want to make a big impression – whether via a really bold logo, or with custom-designed labels, menus or even event tickets – illustration can really make all the difference.
Illustration has so many amazing uses and we’ve only shared a fraction of them, here! As you’ve hopefully seen from the examples accompanying this blog, our in-house illustrator can work in a variety of styles, to suit the needs of our clients. So, whether you’re local to Cornwall or further afield, if you need illustration for your organisation or event, why not drop us a line? The Little Bird Creative duo are always happy to help!
Illustration is all around us – especially at Christmas! What better time to delve into the wonderful world of illustration and share some of our favourites?!
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