Visual brand
identity development
in Westwood

Many identities define a logo, a palette and a typeface, then leave illustration to chance. Each new project brings a different illustrator or a stock library, and the brand ends up with flat icons in one place, detailed drawings in another and cartoon characters somewhere else. Each image may be good. Together they look like several companies.

An illustration style gives images the same consistency the logo gives the name. It defines how things are drawn, so that anyone commissioned later can produce work that fits.

The style starts from the character of the brand. A precise, technical company might suit clean line drawings with exact perspective. A playful consumer brand might use loose shapes and bold colour. The choice should grow from the same ideas as the rest of the identity, not from current fashion alone.

Several elements need definition. Line weight and whether lines are used at all. How shapes are built, from geometry or from hand drawing. The level of detail. The use of colour, texture and shadow. How people are shown, if they appear, including proportions and how faces are treated.

People deserve particular care. Illustrated figures quickly carry assumptions about age, body type, skin tone and ability. A style that allows a wide range of people to be shown naturally avoids accidental exclusion and future rework.

Scale must be tested. An illustration that works as a large hero image may turn into noise at icon size. Many brands need two related levels: detailed scenes for campaigns and simplified spot illustrations for interfaces and documents.

Composition rules help too. How much space surrounds an illustration, whether it sits inside a shape or bleeds off the edge, how it combines with photography and text. Without these rules, layouts become crowded.

Illustration should support the message. Abstract decoration that fills space adds little. Images that explain a process, show a product in use or make a complex idea easier to grasp earn their place.

The guidelines should show examples alongside the rules. Pairs of acceptable and unacceptable drawings communicate faster than paragraphs of description. A small library of approved illustrations gives teams something to use immediately.

Source files matter as much as style. Layered originals, colour settings and a clear naming system let future illustrators extend the set without redrawing everything.

When the style is defined and shared, new illustrators can be briefed in an hour, and the results look like the same brand from the first attempt.

Budget and timing need realism. Building a full illustration library at launch is expensive, and much of it may never be used. A better approach is to define the style, produce a starter set for the most visible places, and add new pieces as real needs appear. Each new piece then follows the rules, and the library grows in a consistent direction.

Ownership should be clear from the first commission. Contracts with illustrators should state who owns the finished work and the source files, and whether the images can be adapted later by someone else. Unclear rights are a common reason brands abandon a style they liked, because they cannot extend it without going back to the original artist.

Accessibility applies to illustration as well. Important information should never rely on colour alone, and images that carry meaning need short text descriptions when they appear on the web. Decorative illustrations, on the other hand, should be marked so that screen readers skip them. Including these rules in the style guide means every new image arrives ready to publish, without a separate review at the end.