In a world where most startups rush to get attention, few pause to ask: what does our brand look like, and does it truly connect with people?
Illustrations are often seen as “cute extras,” yet for some companies, they can become the driving force behind exponential brand growth. What started as a simple doodle evolved into a complete transformation of the brand’s identity, voice, and user engagement strategy.
This post explores how a small SaaS startup leveraged branding with illustration not just for visual appeal, but as a tool for storytelling, client interaction, and long-term customer loyalty. In a digital landscape filled with bland interfaces and recycled stock images, custom visuals helped this brand stand out, make a lasting impression, and deliver measurable results.
By the end, you’ll see how custom artwork design and intentional, character-driven storytelling can turn a brand from forgettable to unforgettable and how you can apply the same strategy to your own business.
Key Takeaways
- Illustration adds emotional depth to a brand, helping startups humanize abstract tools and tech solutions through relatable visuals.
- A single, well-crafted visual can trigger a major transformation, as seen with TaskSprout’s viral octopus doodle that sparked a complete rebrand.
- Custom illustration creates visual consistency, which builds emotional loyalty and brand recognition across all touchpoints from websites to emails to swag.
- Collaborating with a professional 2d art service provider ensures illustrations align with your brand story, tone, and user expectations.
- Using visuals in onboarding, product education, and storytelling reduces friction, leading to improved retention and fewer support tickets.
- Branding with illustration isn’t just aesthetic; it can deliver real returns, as TaskSprout saw engagement increase and added over $100K in MRR within nine months.
Why Illustration Works for Branding
Unlike generic graphics or overused stock images, custom illustrations offer a more meaningful connection with audiences. They evoke emotion, spark curiosity, and make complex ideas easier to understand.
1. Emotional Resonance vs. Flat Stock Visuals
Illustrations make users feel something. A thoughtful mascot or character can bring warmth, personality, and humor, which are elements often missing from most startup brands.
2. Humanizing Tech and Startups
For SaaS and other technical products, especially those dealing with abstract or complex solutions, branding with illustration helps make the brand feel more relatable and approachable. Characters and stylized visuals turn functional tools into friendly companions.
3. Memorable Identity Through Visual Storytelling
People remember images better than words. A consistent illustration style or character can become a visual signature that helps your brand stand out and stay top-of-mind.
4. Industry Trend: Big Brands Leading the Way
Brands like Mailchimp, Dropbox, and Headspace have fully embraced illustration to express their values, simplify their messages, and engage users more effectively. These companies show how visuals can become a core part of the brand’s personality and communication strategy.
With access to resources like a 2D art development service, even small startups can adopt this approach. The result? A brand that feels more human, stands apart from the competition, and stays memorable long after the first impression.
How a Startup Transformed Its Brand with Illustration
1. Meet the Startup: Before the Rebrand
Let’s meet TaskSprout, a SaaS startup in the project management space. While their platform was functional and reliable, it lacked a distinct visual identity. The branding felt generic, just another productivity app with a professional logo design and a clean but forgettable interface.
User engagement was low. Many new users dropped off during onboarding, and there was little emotional connection with the brand. Despite solving real problems, TaskSprout didn’t resonate with the creative, fast-paced teams it aimed to serve.
What was missing? Personality. The platform lacked a voice and visual presence that users could relate to.
2. The Turning Point: Realizing the Power of Illustration
Everything changed with one spontaneous post.
A team member shared a playful doodle of a multitasking octopus, inspired by their dashboard layout. The post quickly gained traction on social media. Comments included:
- “Finally, a project tool with some soul!”
- “I’d use this just for the octopus mascot!”
That unexpected reaction sparked a major insight: visual character equals emotional connection. The team realized their brand needed more than functionality; it needed identity. That moment led to a full shift toward branding with illustration, to create custom visuals that captured the creative energy and organized chaos of their users’ workflows.
3. The Illustration Strategy
Here’s how TaskSprout carried out its transformation:
Step 1: Hire a Professional
They collaborated with a 2D art development service to move beyond stock imagery and create visuals specifically tailored to their message and tone. This decision laid the foundation for a consistent, high-quality visual identity.
Step 2: Define the Visual Tone
The team selected a playful, slightly quirky style, featuring soft lines, rounded corners, and fluid characters. The now-iconic octopus mascot became the visual representation of their brand: multi-skilled, friendly, and efficient.
Step 3: Multi-Touchpoint Strategy
To create a unified experience, they integrated illustrations across every user interaction:
- A custom brand mascot
- Illustrated onboarding flows
- Social media templates with character-driven scenes
- Explainer graphics using soft tones and 3D shapes illustration for added depth
- A feature launch landing page inspired by comic book cover design
But the transformation didn’t stop there. They extended the illustrations into pitch decks, email footers, swag items, and even customer support avatars. Every touchpoint became an opportunity to reinforce the brand visually.
4. Visual Consistency → Emotional Loyalty
Once the new visuals launched, something unexpected happened: users remembered them.
- Customers started sharing screenshots and tagging TaskSprout in posts.
- Fans created and submitted their own mascot fan art.
- The brand’s visual style became instantly recognizable across the web.
In just 6 months:
- Social engagement rose by 35%
- Website bounce rate dropped by 22%
- User retention improved by 12%
5. The ROI of Illustration
This wasn’t just creative, it was commercial.
The total cost for 6 months of illustration work: ~$8,000.
The returns:
- Smoother onboarding = fewer support tickets
- Illustrated newsletters saw higher open rates
- Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) jumped by over $100K in 9 months
- TaskSprout was featured on several “Top SaaS Design” roundups
Branding with illustration transformed not only how they looked but also how they performed.
Conclusion
TaskSprout’s journey proves one clear point: branding with illustration isn’t just about decoration; it’s a smart business decision.
As we move through 2025 and beyond, audiences aren’t simply looking for functional tools; they’re looking for connection. A brand built with visual identity at its core, featuring characters, warmth, and personality, can speak to users on a much deeper level.
So, if your startup’s message feels dull, disconnected, or easy to ignore, don’t just settle for another traditional redesign. Instead, ask yourself: What if we drew the story instead?
Start small. Think visually. Use branding with illustration to build a brand that doesn’t just work, but one that feels alive, human, and unforgettable.
FAQs
- What if my startup doesn’t have a “fun” product? Can illustration still work for us?
Absolutely. Illustration isn’t about making your brand fun; it’s about making it clear and human. Even serious or technical products benefit from characters or visuals that simplify and emotionally connect with users.
- We already have a logo and color palette, won’t adding an illustration complicate our brand?
Not if done thoughtfully. Illustration can enhance your existing visual identity by adding depth, storytelling, and emotion. It complements your design system rather than competes with it.
- How do I know what kind of character or illustration style fits my brand’s personality?
Start with your tone of voice. Are you bold, calm, quirky, or helpful? Then work with a designer to match a visual tone that reflects that personality through characters, shapes, and scenes.
- What’s the ROI of investing in illustration if I’m on a tight budget?
Even small efforts, like a mascot or custom onboarding scenes, can improve engagement, reduce churn, and make your brand more memorable. As TaskSprout showed, $8K in illustrations returned over $100K in MRR.
- Can I just use free or stock illustrations to save time and money?
You can, but you’ll blend in. Stock images are generic and widely used. Custom visuals help you stand out, reinforce your voice, and make your message unforgettable.
- How do I make sure my illustrations stay consistent across all platforms?
Create an illustration style guide with clear rules on color, character use, proportions, and tone. Consistency turns individual visuals into a recognizable branding with an illustration system that grows with your startup.