7 Reasons to Use Illustrations To Promote Your Business Online
Over the last decade, illustrations have taken a prominent place in online user interfaces. They became a huge graphic design trend.
From platforms such as Dribbble or Behance, designers have inspired each other and we went from an aseptic web with stock photography to an original, unique web with amazing and creative UI designs.
So “Long live the designers!”
But what is an illustration exactly?
Generally, an illustration is a picture or diagram that helps make something clear or attractive. They can be used for technical, scientific, artistic or marketing purposes.
In marketing, illustrations convey a message or an idea and can be done in any medium as long as it is a visual representation of something.
Let’s focus on online marketing here.
Above all, illustrations are perfect to convey simplicity, usability, emotions, singularity and beauty.
For example, you can use illustrations for:
- blog posts
- newsletters
- social media
- landing pages
- websites
- mobile apps
- onboardings
- infographics
So why should you use illustrations to promote your business online?
1. Illustrations make you stand out from the competition
How many times have you landed on a website and instantly identified the fake images? The fake business meetings? The fake smiles? The fake teams?
Is that really what you want for your brand?
Therefore, graphics add a nip of creativity and originality to your UI. And in this highly competitive world, we all know that it’s vital to stand out.
One benefit of illustrations is that you can customize them to fit your brand and make it unmistakable. This is key to getting visitors engaged with your website.
2. Illustrations are visual triggers
Neuroscientists have known for many years that humans have an extraordinary ability to interpret pictures much faster than text. Our brains are very efficient at storing the ‘essence’ of a picture.
In fact, people only need about 1/10 of a second to get a general perception of a visual scene or element.
Human mind tends to perceive information in images — the way it did in the
prehistoric times when first people painted cave artworks.
So for sure, visuals today are the best way to deliver your messages to your audience.
3. Illustrations are a universal language
We’ve all heard the phrase: “a picture’s worth a thousand words”. And this is so true.
There is real value to using visuals to communicate — especially when you target an international audience.
No matter where you are in the world or what you are doing, images are the
universal language, and you will understand that person even if they speak another language.
Illustration is also useful for early readers and people with learning difficulties and disabilities.
It offers a great user experience.
Universality is one of the reason why illustrations are so important for your brand if you want to reach as many people as you can.
4. Illustrations convey a message
Illustration is a method of communicating with images, whether it is to tell a story or a message.
The illustrations help the reader to understand the text. The text identifies and supports the illustrations.
Using illustrations and words together allow to communicate abstract and complex concepts or ideas. It clarifies, presents information and makes information more interesting to digest.
It helps create interest in new or unknown subjects and is good for attracting visitors’ attention.
5. Illustrations are memorable
People process and remember visuals better than words.
In fact, specialists have found that individuals just recall about 10% of the data advertisers show them.
But when that data is paired with images, that percentage jumps to 65%.
This means that people can remember five times more your brand, your startup, your product, your service or your message.
6. Illustrations are emotional tools
Aarron Walter said: “Many websites and applications are creating an even better experience. They’re redrawing the hierarchy of needs to include a new top tier with pleasure, fun, joy, and delight. What if an interface could help you complete a critical task and put a smile on your face? Well, that would be powerful indeed! That would be an experience you’d recommend to a friend; that would be an idea worth spreading.”
Therefore illustrations should convey emotions. The color, the illustrations, the fonts, the composition, every visual details have an impact on your visitors’ emotion and affect how they perceive your product or service, how they use it, how they remember it.
7. Illustrations tell a story
Storytelling in marketing is “Using a narrative to connect your brand to customers, with a focus on your values and vision.”
For that matter, the designer can draw original illustrations that tell a story, set a style, convey a message or introduce the benefits of your solution in a way that matches your brand’s communication tone and target audience.
Storytelling is one of the best way to make your visitor identify with your brand. It creates relationship between users and you.
The takeaways
Illustrations are an extremely important aspect of UI design — particularly when it comes to make your brand memorable.
Make sure you provide a great overall user experience for your visitors. Not only in terms of graphic design but also in terms of usability, accessibility and discoverability.
Ready to create an illustration that creatively conveys your brand’s unique message?
Let Artenpik help you make your landing page, website or mobile app unique and creative.
Discover our Free Set and Premium Set of High-Quality Vector Illustrations.
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post and want more tips and tricks about graphic design for small businesses and startups, be sure to follow our Stories by Artenpik publication :)
This post was originally published at our blog on June 18, 2019.
