Watercolor illustration in design

When we talk about watercolor, we think about it as hobby and art lessons, we took at school. If I say “illustration” you’ll probably think about something more serious than just a hobby. Today I want you to show, how watercolor illustration can work not only for books and editorials, but branding and modern design.

The first image you see in this article was made by famous fashion illustrator Dena Cooper. Check her site: http://www.denacooper.com for more awesome works. And let’s jump to the next artist and his work.

Eszter Laki used watercolor to draw hummingbirds for this beautiful packaging of tasty macaroons. Hummingbirds were turned into pattern and they’re so small you can barely see the drawing was made by hand. Pattern design is one of the biggest industry’s where watercolor art is used. See the full project here: https://goo.gl/qRj9ND

Marta Spendowska made stylish business cards for the nutritionists Holly Thompson. Watercolor illustrations on these cards give you the feeling of fresh, juicy, organic veggies, which is a symbol of healthy diet. Of course vegetables could be drawn digitally, but watercolor gives them kind of a natural touch. Full project here: https://goo.gl/gKdMw1

Together with calligraphy and lettering watercolor makes a perfect combination for wedding decor. The author Katerina Savchenko used not only watercolor, but ink to illustrate simple and cute flowers. See the full project here: https://goo.gl/XCD1BA

The next packaging example is my favorite. Bright and colorful illustrations of young people shows trendy alcoholic drink. As well as illustrated fruits show it’s flavors. Would definitely choose this design among others on a supermarket shelf! Full project is here: https://goo.gl/CUfx8e

Saddo made a poster using mixed media. "Caravana Metropolis" is a nomadic cinema event traveling through six major Romanian cities, with movies projected on the biggest inflatable outdoor movie screen in the country. the main idea is for the visual to be summery, colorful, and say something about most of the movies in the program. So the artist decided to make a collage of iconic images or elements that appealed to me visually - a singing escaped convict from the Coen Brothers' "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?", the shark's fin from "Jaws", Stephen Hawking's eye glasses from "The Theory of Everything", the Turing machine from "The Imitation Game", Quatsch, the cute coati from the German film "Quatsch und die Nasenbärbande", and many others.

I love how active and fresh watercolor texture looks like in these doodles. See the full project here: https://goo.gl/Ro3aaW

I’m a watercolor artist and I want to say: if your brand is fresh, ecological, natural, active, modern, think about using watercolor illustration in branding and identity for your business. If you’re an editor, watercolor illustration will make give your magazine cover or articles the felling of “handmade” and real life content, different from digitalized world.

Be open to experiments!
With love, Hanna Dukhnivska.
More beautiful pictures and thoughts you can find on my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hanna.dukhnivska/