Project History

A brand illustration system comprises of a unified collection of images that convey a brand's promise with a consistent mood and style, facilitating the rapid communication of complex emotions and ideas. Integration into the overall brand strategy is crucial, ensuring that illustrations complement the brand's messaging to members.

Upon joining WECU, I observed the use of graphics from various stock sites, Canva, and clip art to fulfill illustration needs. Leveraging my passion and expertise in illustration—both from my education and personal endeavors—I recognized the drawbacks of this approach. The lack of cohesion and clarity resulting from disparate illustration styles, combined with the absence of specific illustrations for banking and finance, contributed to potential confusion and ambiguity.

Design Process

Style Principles:

PROFESSIONAL Have a cohesive look and feel, restrained color palette, context matters, imagery should be professional and stay on topic. ‍

FRIENDLY Characters should convey emotion, have faces, feelings, attitudes just like WECU members and employees.

‍TRUST-INSPIRING Not confusing, straightforward, easy to understand what they are conveying. Not overly complex.

‍AUTHENTIC Not feel too constrictive, scenes should look natural, not too serious or fake. Craft element, hand-drawn or something invoking comfort. Use a diverse set of skin tones and portay local populations and places in the NW.‍

LOCAL Use PNW inspired locations/scenery, objects, colors, connect to local business, showcase and provide connection to viewers.

WECU strives for a local, authentic, vintage feel. WECU is a unique credit union; and is the result of and benefactor of the local community and surroundings. Our illustrations should reflect the nature of community in Bellingham.

My Considerations:

• Illustration should have a sense of timeless-ness and the people should be comfortable/objects make sense.
• Keep color palette more natural and more restrained, faces that have more expression, but realistic expressions.
• Use local objects, environments, PNW inspired nature/attitude/range of weather/clothing, etc.
• Use a craft element; A more relaxed line-weight, a textural element.

Results

The credit union now boasts an illustration style that reflects its deep connection to the community and the Pacific Northwest. Multiple campaigns have successfully featured illustrations, introducing greater design diversity and flexibility. Illustrations serve as a compelling alternative to stock photography, offering a unique way to convey complex ideas and information specifically related to financial topics, tailored to the credit union's needs.

Reflection

While one of my initial goals was to create an illustration library for wider use, operational constraints and time limitations in the day-to-day workflow prevented its completion. Looking ahead, if granted the opportunity, I would strive to develop a comprehensive illustration library in Figma, providing a resource for others to utilize and customize illustrations for various purposes.

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