Prudential (Brand illustrations)

- About Project

This was a rescue project. The client had an established illustration style built by their original artist, a flat, editorial visual language used across a financial content platform covering topics like 401K, investment, savings, and wealth management. Midway through the project, the original artist left. The client was stuck with a half-finished body of work, a tight deadline, and no one who could continue in the same style without the whole thing falling apart visually.

The Design Challenge
Adapting another artist’s style is one of the hardest things to do well. It is not just about copying shapes or matching colors. The original work had a specific weight to the figures, a particular way of handling light and shadow, and a distinct approach to composition and storytelling. Every new illustration had to sit seamlessly next to the existing ones. If the handover was visible, the entire library would feel inconsistent and the client’s credibility with it.

The Solution
The Adaptation: I studied the existing illustrations closely, breaking down the construction of the figures, the color relationships, the way scenes were staged, and the visual metaphors used to communicate financial concepts. The goal was not to replicate mechanically but to understand the logic behind the style well enough to extend it naturally.

The Illustrations: Each new piece followed the same flat illustration system, a restricted palette of yellow, navy, blue, and white, with consistent figure proportions, lighting direction, and compositional structure. Scenes covering 401K planning, investment balancing, savings growth, and financial advisory were all executed within that framework.
The Consistency: The client needed the finished library to look like the work of one hand. That meant suppressing personal tendencies and staying disciplined to a visual language that was not originally mine. The client’s reaction confirmed the handover was invisible.

The Final Result
The client got a complete, consistent illustration library that no one could tell had changed hands halfway through. The project was rescued, the deadline was met, and the work held together as a unified body. Sometimes the best design work is the kind where nobody notices the seam.

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