'What is illustration?' may sound like an obvious question, but here goes anyway. It's a way of visualizing content. If done correctly, you can attract an audience, tap into their emotions and turn them into customers. Stock photos and videos can do the trick sometimes, but you're bound by realism: Abstract concepts get tricky to visualize. Using illustrations, you paint a vivid picture that is memorable and on-brand for your business. Furthermore, complex messages and niches become much easier to visualize.
In many ways, stock photos do your brand more harm than good. They're uninspired at best and cheesy at worst– and 'cheesy' isn't on anyone's vision board (with the possible exception of Hallmark.) Not only that, but photos are restrictive: There's Photoshop, but you're always working with what you have instead of what you can make. Using illustration, you have complete control over the characters and the scenes you want to portray. You can, but you don't have to be realistic.
Screens dominate our every second. We're all being bombarded withall the content,all the time–And our attention spans are getting shorter because of it. This cultural shift has forced all forms of media to adapt: Deliver your message in the shortest possible way. Most people will not read your blurb if you don't hook 'em with a visual.
A long time ago, all ads were illustrated. Although that hasn't been the case in a hot century, we still use illustration to add artistic flavor to advertisers' concepts and content. It allows us to convey complex topics in a fun way that will stick with your target market for longer. Using illustrations instead of stock images is a fantastic way of making your brand pop, especially if you work in an industry that isn't focused on putting out engaging content, such as accounting or IT.
