Illustration in Branding

(Left) LK’s design process for Harmon’s Floral Company. (Right) Harmon’s delivery van.

Images and illustrations have the ability to communicate with us in ways that type alone often cannot—they capture your attention, evoke emotion, tell a story, and bring a unique flavor to your visual identity. When used in combination with branding, the hand-wrought aspect can be used as a tool to communicate a company’s mission, values, or history.

We get pretty darn excited when a client is interested in illustrations to compliment their visual identity. Each branding project begins with a comprehensive questionnaire, (helping us dive into a client’s goals and vision for their brand’s new look and feel), before any design work begins. We aim to create identities that our clients will love, but it’s a must that the visuals align with their company’s values as well. The aesthetic should lend itself to the industry and audience that client is speaking to. So while a financial advisor may love the look of that hand-drawn logo they found on Pinterest, it probably isn’t the right fit for the audience they are communicating with. Instead, a set of simple, clean, geometric icons on their website might do a better job of visually communicating to this audience.

One of our all-time favorite projects for Harmon’s Floral Company is a great example of honoring a brand’s legacy as a staple in the Portland floral scene while captivating an audience through beautiful, lead-based black and white illustrations. PDC’s owner and creative director, LK Weiss collaborated with Harmon’s in 2016 after they acquired three other local floral businesses. The wordmark’s lettering is grounded in Portland’s 1800s roots, inspired by the city’s oldest hand-painted building signage. The type-only logo pairs well with the custom hand-drawn roses and helleborus flowers native to Maine—giving the identity a bold and modern, yet classic and time-tested feel that feels very much connected to the products they sell and in touch with the brand’s Maine history.

Window signage, Harmons Floral Company on Congress St. in Portland, Maine

Another example was designed for Eros Oyster. LK created two custom lead oyster illustrations used as visuals in their identity—not within the logo itself. A simple version used in small areas like business cards and web graphics, and a much larger, more detailed version for their delivery van. Both are graphic, soft yet somewhat gritty, and speak to their multigenerational family legacy as a high quality salt water oyster farm in Robinhood Cove, ME. The larger van wrap version has their three grandsons’ initials incorporated into the illustration, giving it that extra personal touch.

Simple custom lead oyster illustration by LK, applied to business cards for Eros Oyster in Georgetown, Maine.

More detailed custom van wrap design for Eros Oyster.

In addition to lead-based artwork, we also love to craft brand visuals using a Wacom tablet to create an inkier, almost stamp-like feel. This is Abby’s favorite way to digitally illustrate. We created a set of custom vegetable icons for Maggie Mae’s, a family-owned eatery in Yarmouth, Maine. The icons can be used on their own (they use them as stickers on to-go packaging) or as part of a larger pattern system to add texture and depth. The content aligns with the company’s brand promise—that good food matters, even on the go. They source high quality ingredients, (local when possible), and partner with organizations to combat food insecurity. While illustrations alone can’t communicate all of this (hey, that’s a lot to expect of illustrations!), their hand-drawn brand visuals speak to their community-centered values and connect with their wide audience of families and satellite workers in search of a quick and healthy lunch.

Brand illustrations create a pattern in the visual identity for Maggie Mae’s, a cafe in Yarmouth, Maine.

One additional benefit of vector-based graphics is their ability to scale to any size as well as their potential to work on apparel, specifically screen printing and embroidery. These processes require limited detail which is why we like to discuss all of this with our clients ahead of a branding project.

Kennebunk Outfitters in Lower Village, Maine is another example of a brand that utilizes illustration, this time directly in their logo. Not only is their wordmark a custom hand-wrought script, their brand mark is a hand-drawn island covered in pine trees. The tree detail on its own adds a nice textural element to apparel and print collateral and the logo itself is limited enough in detail that it can be embroidered on a patch.

(Left) custom cycling kits with the tree elements, and a secondary logo on the shoulder. (Right) KO’s full primary logo patch.

The trees in KO’s brand mark create an outdoorsy, textural pattern.

Lastly, Swell Farm incorporates an illustrative visual of their signature barn directly in the logo. For instances where the hand-drawn barn mark is too detailed, they rely on the wordmark, such as on embroidered hats.

(Left) Swell Farm’s barn acts as their custom brand mark in the full primary logo. (Right) wordmark sticker for bouquets.

Illustration can be a powerful tool for communicating with your audience when used in combination with your branding.

Interested in working with us on your new brand visuals or on a project that could use supporting illustrations? We’d love to connect with you.