Vector illustrations have enjoyed a steady rise in popularity for years. They’re showing up in all kinds of design, and you can find different styles being explored in many different applications. Still, even with all the variety that’s out there, the sheer number of vector-based designs that have been released of late can sometimes make it seem like they were all churned out by some kind of illustration factory.
It’s easy to fall into the rut of making flat, simple graphics (probably in a cartoonish style), with maybe a little texture and some drop shadows thrown in for variety. But this one variation on a richly flexible style is getting a little overplayed; often it’s used in applications where the childlike style doesn’t even make much sense. As an illustrator, you always have to ask yourself whether you’re just defaulting to a tried and true formula, rather than pushing boundaries and getting really creative results. A lot of the time, all it takes is a boost of design inspiration.
Inspirational Examples
While on the face of things, so many illustrative styles seem to look like clones, if you dig a little deeper you can find a treasure trove of interesting and unique examples of vectors. This is just a small sampling:
- Fail-ure creates a cool vibe by mixing flat, organically-shaped vectors with full-color photos.
- On a superficial level, Kashoo has very similar graphics to the example above; they’re also flat, white, and organic. However, the subtle differences in treatment, with its transparency and texture, adds up to a very different effect. You don’t always have to strive to find a crazy new illustrative style to make your vectors stand out.
Of course, there’s a time and a place for cartoony illustrations, and there are plenty of sites out there that look great with this kind of treatment.
- The These Are Things website has beautiful vector illustrations, and a fun interface. It works really well because it’s of such high quality, and because the style is carried through to the studio’s products, so their branding feels cohesive, and fits with their character.
- This producer of pickles and Bloody Mary mix, McClure’s Pickles has the perfect vector illustrations to match their whimsical brand and products. And the styling adds so much dimensionality and interest that it’s barely recognizable as having its origins in the same style as the previous example.
Business Resources
Sometimes the biggest problems that come with your job are less to do with getting artistic inspiration, and more about getting administrative advice. If you have no trouble coming up with great new ideas for vector styles, but your work is still suffering, you might want to take a look at these resources:
Collaboration Issues
Do you need a better way to gather feedback on your projects? Or are you having a hard time managing communication across time zones? These problems, and many others, are solved by this clever project collaboration guide, which will provide you with the tools and articles that you need to sort out your collaboration issues.
Creative Blocks
Even if you’re inundated with great inspiration, you might still find yourself drawing a creative blank on your next project. There are a lot of other ways to refresh your perspective, should the resources above fail to get you out of your predicament. Check out this guide to overcoming creative blocks to find some of the most effective ways to beat them to the punch.
Technical Blogs
Trying to figure out where to even start with vectors? It’s ok, we all need to start somewhere. There are several guides to vectors around the web, and it’s definitely recommended that you go through a couple, as working with vectors can be a lot different than normal photo editing.
Even with all the talented designers out there who are using vectors uniquely and effectively, there are still more examples of them being used in a mediocre and thoughtless way. But with all the great examples you can find to inspire you, it’s clear that there’s still plenty of room for innovation in this style. Vector illustrations have such great potential for diversity that there will always be room to explore new effects and styles.
This is a guest post contributed by Rob Toledo, who is working alongside Shutterstock and Bigstock stock creating guides to using stock footage and stock photography to increase user engagement and lower bounce rates. He can be reached on Twitter @stentontoledo.
