How having +700 illustrators works for our brand
Creating an illustration system that can be used by everyone, everywhere.
Last year a global team of designers at Idean started to work together to evolve the brand to a new level. As the company expanded, so did the need for a brand that represents what Idean stands for. We call it “Fearlessly Human”: We exist to challenge what’s possible by putting people first. We needed a new identity to reflect the spirit of our teams. To grow our culture, to communicate our purpose, our spirit and our personality.
As part of this team, I was originally asked to explore illustration ideas, collect references and start creating the blueprint for our new style. I had already created illustrations for Adaptive Lab (our former London studio before we became Idean UK), so bringing some of that experience to this project was crucial. Did we succeed in creating a system that could be used globally in our teams? Read below and find out.
We are experimental, so is our approach
When the team were first discussing the best way to bring illustration into the brand, we thought: ‘let’s get a professional illustrator with a defined style to create our assets’.
And yes, that would be the obvious approach. One person (internal or external) in charge of creating assets for all our studios on a regular basis. It seemed logical at the time, but I started to ask myself questions about the future. How sustainable would that approach be in the long term? Not only in terms of cost, but also in terms of speed and making sure each studio had the tools to create their own assets without needing to wait for a request-delivery process.
So we decided to try something different that we haven’t done before, as experimental thinkers we step outside our comfort zone and although we weren’t 100% sure this approach would work, we were ready to give it a go.
The core: A single language
We started developing a style based on our customised hand-brushes and colour palette. A single, distinctive visual language which was strong but also flexible enough to be adopted for all our studios. The “imperfect” human look, and the black outlines create detail and expression. Together they reflect our “Fearlessly Human” motto.
Just as we do in our daily practice, we needed to find a solution that met our specific needs. This is something Adaptive Lab did very effectively. All the designers in the studio were able to create illustrations when needed, their style was distinctive but easy to reproduce (and although we were a UK studio with a small team), I was determined to bring that into this project — and make it global. So why instead of hiring one person, we create something everyone can use to create assets for their studios. An illustration system.
Is this going to work?
First, we tested the process internally in our London studio. We shared assets, onboarded our design team with the process and ran a workshop. We created lots of great assets and received useful feedback to help us iterate the system, and create guidelines before sharing it on a wider level.
For stage two we shared a step-by-step guide and usage advice to all our brand ambassadors plus an illustration library with some good examples to serve as inspiration and a starting point. The idea was that they could follow the same steps, onboard their teams and start creating assets for their own studios.
Embracing the small differences and
how we make it work
The new system allows experimentation, interpretation, and loose making based in our set of expressive brushes. In order to make this work, we needed to be open to a margin of personality between studios. For us that was a positive thing rather than something to avoid.
To maintain consistency, we keep reviewing what’s been created in a
bi-weekly all-studios meeting (for brand teams), where we discuss what’s working and what’s not. We’ve called it “Brandspotting”, and we make sure we keep it going regularly.
What’ve learnt?
It’s been only a few months since we implemented this system and it’s been very positive. Our illustrations have been finding living spaces across all our channels and assets (both internally and externally) around the world.
This month Idean released their second book, Hack the Design System, in partnership with Adobe. In it you’ll find a huge range of illustrations, a great example of how our illustration system is starting to take shape.
The biggest learning on this journey has been not being afraid to take a risk, even if it sounds illogical at the beginning. It wasn’t easy to get everyone on board at first, but I knew at the end this could work. So glad to see that it has.
The best way to measure success so far has been seeing all the studios creating their own assets, from books, to posters, events stands and banners. Non-designers having a go and creating new illustrations or using existing ones in different ways have been exciting and a proud moment for the whole team.
What’s next?
The system will continue to evolve and iterate with time. Currently we are working on how we can show emotions within the human shape without the need to use facial expressions. As we tackle a challenge at a time, we will continue to make sure all the studios are connected and collaboration keeps happening to keep the system well oiled and running.
