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Is there still room for illustration in modern internet marketing?

by Shadowflux
13 replies
Hey everyone,

We all know illustration used to be a major component of the advertising field. Since the advent of new printing technology and computer graphics, however, it seems as if illustration is no longer as relevant as it once was.

Never the less, I still feel like there is room for illustrators in modern marketing. I think it can be a great solution that fits somewhere between photographs and computer graphics. Illustrations can also make a normal ad or sales page really stand out and give it a unique quality that potential customers and clients will remember.

What do you guys think? Is there still room for illustration in internet marketing?

By illustration I mean drawing, painting, vector illustration and digital painting that goes beyond simple web graphics and is different from graphic design.

I'm not the world's best artist but I have spent a lot of time at it. I also know a lot of other artists and they're having a hard time making any money with it.

Is it worth it to try promoting high end illustration as a marketing tool?
#illustration #internet #marketing #modern #room
  • Profile picture of the author FreeMeal
    Well, as a graphic design and illustrator I would like to know this too. I've noticed a lot of the "Old School" marketers are still a bit partial to the odd inky style illustration here and there.

    I think serious publications online still use illustrators (newspaper sites like the Guardian, and sites like the New Yorker), but it's probably difficult to get your foot in the door at those places as they probably employ artists through agencies.

    I think a possible solution would be to find a serious blogger at the start of their career and try to collaborate with them. That way both parties raise each others profile and grow together.
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  • Profile picture of the author helisell
    Get yourself over to one of the online booksellers and look for Dan Roam.

    'Blah Blah Blah' and 'back of a napkin' (paraphrasing)

    Great books about using illustration in modern communications.

    I still use little scribbles, cartoons, hand drawn images to great effect on some of my sites.
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    • Profile picture of the author Shadowflux
      Thanks for your input guys.

      The reason I bring this up is not to find illustration work for myself, I'm plenty busy as it is and art is more of a hobby for me. I am, however, interested in helping other illustrators find work and possibly offering illustration services as part of my over all web marketing services.

      If you look at a market like Video Games, you'll see that illustration is the preferred choice for most advertisements. There is plenty of work in the field of concept art but I still feel like illustration can have valuable applications in certain marketing fields as well.

      Take a site about tattoos for instance, custom tattoo style illustrations would be perfect for the site design, marketing materials and ads. Sites about art can always use custom illustration. Video game sites could have their own digital paintings.

      I've been a big fan of illustration for a long time and I feel like it is being unjustly neglected. It's as if people believe that illustration is useless simply because they have been told to believe that. I don't think that illustration is obsolete and I think it can be a great addition to a marketing tool kit.

      If anyone has any ideas they'd like to discuss privately then feel free to PM or email me.
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      • Profile picture of the author Gail_Curran
        Illustration is not obsolete - it's just being used in new ways. Think about illustration in combination with video:
        After Effects Project Files - Hand Drawn Smart Phone | VideoHive (no affiliation)

        Illustrations are needed for high-end videos and video sales letters. An illustrator doesn't have to know how create animations if he teams up with a video person.

        Also check out "video scribing."
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        • Profile picture of the author Shadowflux
          Originally Posted by Gail_Curran View Post

          Illustration is not obsolete - it's just being used in new ways. Think about illustration in combination with video:
          After Effects Project Files - Hand Drawn Smart Phone | VideoHive (no affiliation)

          Illustrations are needed for high-end videos and video sales letters. An illustrator doesn't have to know how create animations if he teams up with a video person.

          Also check out "video scribing."

          I think illustrations in videos is a great idea. I'll have to look into "video scribing". I haven't done much work with videos despite having a copy of Sony Vegas.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Gosse
    I use illustrations all the time. I have a full time cartoonist on staff. I think everything goes in cycles and illustration is making a comeback. Stock photos are so 2007. We have seen them too much and they are too easy to spot.

    Some custom cartoons go a long way.
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    • Profile picture of the author Shadowflux
      Originally Posted by Brad Gosse View Post

      I use illustrations all the time. I have a full time cartoonist on staff. I think everything goes in cycles and illustration is making a comeback. Stock photos are so 2007. We have seen them too much and they are too easy to spot.

      Some custom cartoons go a long way.

      That's cool, I think you're absolutely right about stock photos being a bit "played out", as they say. It's gotten to where I see the same photos on different websites, they look nice but they are a bit bland.

      This is why I think that custom illustrations would add a truly unique feeling to any website or ad.

      You get points, in my book, for keeping a cartoonist on staff!
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  • Profile picture of the author Jim Nariel
    Hi

    The best example of illustration that I have seen is using Video on a sales page. I would love to know where this illustration comes from. Let me explain!

    If you were talking on your video about a car - then you would video of a hand holding a pencil and then drawing the car very fast.

    So you are actually watching the object that is being discussed on the video being drawn very quickly in front of your eyes - so cool.

    In my view this brings the talented artist and todays technology working together hand in glove

    I would love to know where to get this artistic video package from

    cheers

    Jim
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    • Profile picture of the author Shadowflux
      Originally Posted by Jim Nariel View Post

      Hi

      The best example of illustration that I have seen is using Video on a sales page. I would love to know where this illustration comes from. Let me explain!

      If you were talking on your video about a car - then you would video of a hand holding a pencil and then drawing the car very fast.

      So you are actually watching the object that is being discussed on the video being drawn very quickly in front of your eyes - so cool.

      In my view this brings the talented artist and todays technology working together hand in glove

      I would love to know where to get this artistic video package from

      cheers

      Jim

      I think I know what you're talking about. It seems like a good use of illustration in marketing. I believe you can find this service through a fellow warrior here:

      http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...on-50-off.html

      I saw it before but haven't ordered it myself yet.
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      • Profile picture of the author Jim Nariel
        Originally Posted by Shadowflux View Post

        I think I know what you're talking about. It seems like a good use of illustration in marketing. I believe you can find this service through a fellow warrior here:

        http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...on-50-off.html

        I saw it before but haven't ordered it myself yet.
        Thanks for that. Yes this is exactly what I am talking about. Even if you dont like the content the illustration and technology keeps you engaged

        I may use this. But yes illustration DEFINATLEY has a dominating place in todays technology

        Cheers
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  • Profile picture of the author yourlips
    thanks

    thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author registriransum
    i got some examples how websites use those combinations of illustration and video to increase sales.

    They create a sales script and voiceover and send to animators to create the videos

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  • Profile picture of the author EvolBaby
    Of course there's still room for illustration. I've been a professional cartoonist and illustrator for over 30 years. Matter of fact right now I'm working on one of the most anticipated comic books of this year.

    I just did a couple of JVs with a warrior for her hotsheets. I sent a few copies to my friends at Disney, Dreamworks, SONY, WarnerBros. They were blown over. Since I chat with around 10,000 animators and comic book artists they loved and spoke out on what I and Shay Rockhold are experimenting with. Heck, Shay is now famous in a field she had never even thought of, animation. We even got a great testimonial from one of the top movers and shakers in animation about the hotsheets and he has the biggest newsletter subscriber list of animation professionals, students and he wants to get into IM.

    It's working wonders and it just won't stop. If I can get pals from Disney and Dreamworks to draw for IM we would rule.
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