We fricken love illustration. I’m not certain when the full conversion happened because when we pivoted to UnderBelly Creative, I didn’t envision us as an illustration-focused design agency. Partially because I had never heard of one and partially because I didn’t want to lose out on any potential clients. Rookie mistake. And as someone whose previous startup had the tagline ‘Niche AF’, you would have thought we’d avoid that common mistake but low and behold, we did not.
But I digress. We love illustrations because oftentimes it feels like pure magic. We are able to brainstorm a scene or a character or simply a vibe with a client, and my team is able to make it come to life. I’m constantly amazed to see the process in action. As my team hones in on line weights, and strokes, and textures, and proportions to create a completely new and unique illustration style.
Beyond the behind-the-scenes magic, we love illustration because we are able to be incredibly intentional with every single element as we build out our clients’ worlds. This means being as inclusive as possible when we’re designing characters. We can create elements in ways that they can be used across mediums. We can put faces and feelings to complex and tough subject matter that can often feel triggering. We can put faces and feelings to information that is often overwhelming or difficult to digest. We can incorporate elements that symbolize something deeper or to help lighten a scene. And of course we can create scenes or illustrations that are just pure fun.
All of this is to say, I’m pretty stoked to have found this specific niche. It’s fun, it’s weird, it’s playful, and more and more I’m able to see how this work can help more businesses tell their stories. Being able to alternate between breaking down 90s WWE styles and 1910s Art Nouveau is just an added bonus.