Take a moment and think about the amount of information that you consume and process every day. The average person will read numerous messages from social media posts to emails to the menu board at the coffee shop. We are bombarded with messages all day long. Businesses and brands looking to attract new customers must vie with all of the other messaging trying to grab our attention. Product illustrations are the perfect way to do just that.
Illustrations help to tell a story in visual form. They do the work of words and paragraphs in a much shorter amount of time. The vast majority of people are visual learners. In fact, humans as a whole process images 60,000 times faster than we are able to process information presented in text format. In short, product illustrations are one of the quickest ways to grab attention, evoke emotion, and help build rapport between your brand and your potential consumers.
So, with that in mind, let’s explore what exactly a product illustration is, how you can use product illustrations to boost your brand, and how to get high-quality illustrations fast.
What Are Product Illustrations?
The product illustrations label can be a bit confusing. The term conjures up the idea of illustrations depicting products or illustrations used on product packaging. Both of these are examples of product illustrations, however, you will also find product illustrations on smartphone apps, websites, social media, and more.
Product illustrations are any illustration that is used to market, promote, instruct, inform, or otherwise help consumers better understand and interact with a particular brand, product, or service.
How Do Product Illustrations Differ From Other Forms Of Illustration?
If illustrations are drawings that depict ideas, how do product illustrations differ from other forms of illustrative art? The difference lies in the intent or purpose of the illustration. Essentially, what is the artist trying to accomplish with the art? What message are they trying to convey?
Storybook illustrations are used to enhance the narrative of a book. Editorial illustrations are used to provide impact to an article or post in a magazine, newsletter, or blog. When illustrations are used to help introduce or showcase a product or service to consumers, these are product illustrations.
How Effective Product Illustrations Can Boost Your Business
As we mentioned briefly above, humans respond best to visual information. A single illustration can convey information, evoke emotion, and express an idea that may otherwise require blocks of dense text to explain.
We have all heard many experts warning us of the steep decline in the average attention span these days. Businesses and brands have seconds to convince potential consumers that their products or services may offer value and are worth exploring. Well-placed product illustrations help provide potential customers with a quick and easy visual representation of not just your product or service, but what impact your brand can have on your customer’s life.
Let’s explore a few of the specific areas where product illustrations can help brands present their products and services effectively.
Build Rapport With Your Customers
Illustrations tell a story. Product illustrations help to tell your brand’s story. Any good storyteller will tell you that the key to spinning a good tale is to connect with your audience, to make them feel like they are an integral part of the plot. Emotion is one of the core ways in which we engage and relate to the world around us. Illustrations have the power to invoke feelings of whimsy, fantasy, nostalgia, calm, excitement, and any other emotion you can imagine.
Whether you present your customers with amusing and clever cartoon scenes designed to elicit a chuckle or soothing pastel renderings of zen-looking characters interacting with the product in bliss, the effect is the same. You have given your customer a momentary dose of delight, happiness, calm, or empowerment that they will carry with them as they continue to interact with your brand.
Spark Your Customer’s Imagination
When you are introducing a new product or service, or even asking customers to take a chance on a redesigned or revamped version of an existing brand you are often asking them to take a leap of faith and imagine how your product or service could improve their lives, solve their problems, or provide some other value. Product illustrations invite viewers to free their imaginations and envision themselves as the hero in the sales journey being presented to them in pictures.
Help Customers Get The Most From Your Product Or Service
Picture this, you have created, marketed, and sold an awesome tool, piece of furniture, or other product that requires some assembly or instruction before the end customer can get the full use out of your product. Sure, you could include an instruction or assembly manual full of technical specifications and detailed written instructions educating your customer, or you could use product illustrations to guide the consumer through the construction or proper use of your product.
The quicker and easier that your customer can get from unboxing to enjoying your product the more satisfied they are likely to be, and the more apt they are to rave about your brand to others. Those schematic drawings in the assembly literature are product illustrations, and so are the clever drawings on your company website showing users the correct way to configure and use their new device. Both offer an appealing visual representation of crucial product information in an easy-to-understand form.
Additionally, in today’s global marketplace, brands are often selling their products to consumers in a multitude of different countries, speaking a variety of languages. Rather than translating the written text into several languages, product illustrations act as a type of universal language that bridges cultures and is easily understood by all.
Powerful Product Presentations
When it comes to presenting visual images of your products or services photographs are often the go-to choice. There is nothing wrong with photographs, and they certainly have their place in product presentation. That being said, photographs, no matter how high-resolution, are still limited by the fact that they are a literal snapshot of reality, and let’s face it reality just isn’t quite as exciting as we often imagine it to be.
Custom product illustrations allow you to present depictions of your products or services with a little bit of extra flair that helps to blur the line between the mundane and the fantastic. For example, imagine you are selling a new iced beverage. A photograph of your beverage would certainly be appealing, but now imagine an illustrated rendering of your delicious iced beverage, with condensation glistening on the outside of the bottle, perched on the hot sand of a gorgeous beach. The photo represents reality, and the product illustration transports your customer into the fantasy and adds that extra visual punch that helps them imagine the heat of the sun, the warmth of the sand, and the refreshing chill of the ice-cold beverage in their hand.
Getting Amazing Product Illustrations For Your Brand
Now that we have explained the importance of using high-quality product illustrations to promote your brand or business, how do you go about getting the art that you need? You are a business owner, and you have created an awesome product or service, but the odds are good that you are not also a professional illustrator. No worries. There are several pathways available to help you get the illustrations you need.
The first option, hiring an in-house illustrator, or illustration team, is the most obvious route. It is also by far the most expensive and generally not in the budget for small- to mid-sized brands and startups who are still trying to grow a solid customer base.
Freelance illustrators are a far more affordable option, but the quality can be hit-or-miss depending on the skill and professional experience of the illustrator that you work with. Freelance marketplaces can provide you with a broad pool of freelance artists to choose from, but there is often a limited opportunity to vet the talent and expertise of your artist before you commit. A lack of design continuity is another challenging aspect of working with the freelance community. Product illustrations are intended to help build brand recognition and should ideally be created by the same artist or team of artists to ensure that every product illustration has the same look and feel that customers can easily associate with your brand. This can be difficult to accomplish when you are dealing with a revolving door of freelance artists.
For many brands, the best option for meeting their creative design needs is a monthly subscription to a creative service like Flocksy. Flocksy offers a no-contract, affordable way to get all of the creative services you need, from copywriting to product illustration to graphic design, video editing, web development, and more all under one roof for one flat rate.
Flocksy Product Illustration Services
Working with the Flocksy design team is quick and easy too. Get all of the stunning, clever, powerhouse product illustrations you need in just a few easy steps. Start by choosing your subscription package and creating your Flocksy account. Once you are registered, you can start requesting projects immediately.
Not sure exactly what you need? No worries. Flocksy’s intuitive design project briefs will guide you through the process of providing all of the details for your brand and the style you are looking for. You can even upload examples of product illustrations that you like, and Flocksy’s team of talented illustrators will work with you to create product illustrations that match your vision and paint your products in the best possible light.
Best of all, there are no limits on the number of design projects that you can request. You can easily request product illustrations for every page of your website, social media campaigns, and more. Plus, you aren’t limited to the illustration category. With one monthly subscription, you can request copywriting for your website, logo design, product demo videos, and more.
Simply log into your Flocksy account, navigate to the Illustration category, and choose to start a new product illustration project. Depending on the scope of your request you should have your first illustration in 24 to 48 hours or less. Best of all, your illustrator will revise your design for free until you are completely satisfied. Flocksy is your clear pathway to getting the quality product illustrations you need fast and at a price that won’t blow the budget.