Hernan Valencia - Visual Impact that gets noticed

"Return to Office" hero illustration by Rose Wong

Brand Illustration: Building a flexible system in 3 phases

Overview

Leading the development and execution of a global illustration system for Google Cloud was a wild ride! The ecosystem had over 10 different illustration styles, confusing for producers and users. I created a new system that is consistent, cohesive, flexible, adaptable, and visually appealing, helping Google Cloud stand out as a brand.

The work was based on 3 principles: Focus on solutions. Build for everyone. Keep it simple.

To ensure broad application across our global marketing teams, I devised varying illustration fidelities for each conceptual theme: Hero illustrations offer complex, story-driven compositions for high-impact placements like landing pages and posters. Spot illustrations quickly contextualize information in limited spaces, perfect for social media and banners. Icon illustrations are compact, supporting content within web pages or documents.

To deliver high-quality illustrations efficiently, I collaborated with project managers, agents, and leads to build a strong workflow. My role involved crafting dedicated concept decks that clearly and simply communicated ideas to our illustrators, sparking their creativity. I ensured they had all necessary thematic and industry context, and assigned tasks based on each illustrator's unique strengths. Our iterative process moved from initial sketches to a second review, concluding with final color and line. I specifically encouraged a loose ideation style and provided flexible art direction through later stages, which was crucial for maintaining scalability and adaptability across different fidelity requirements.

A Deeper Look

Challenge

To get started, I needed to secure funding to gather the necessary resources and launch my plan. My team and I developed a clear proposal explaining the business need and showing leadership why our plan was crucial. This led to a three-goal roadmap:

Improved communication: Make complex information clear and engaging.
Increased brand awareness: Build a stronger, more unified visual identity.
Enhanced user experience: Create a more consistent experience to boost customer trust.

Solution

I began Phase 1 by sharing our new style guide and examples with everyone, both internally and externally with 3rd parties and partnerships. For Phase 2, we developed an internal library to test out illustrations, identify what was effective, and adjust what wasn't.

To maintain efficiency, I enlisted both freelance illustrators and agencies. My own background in illustration helped me guide the creative process. In the final phase, I collaborated closely with leadership and experts to ensure the illustrations perfectly matched our themes and industries, then simplified them for clarity. I established clear objectives for everyone involved, and the visual identity was successfully established.

Results

Working with an amazing team, I built a highly useful and inclusive illustration library for Google Cloud marketers. It was a huge success—over 72% of internal teams found it highly beneficial, and we received over 700 requests for illustrations in just one quarter! We then teamed up with Apparent agency to add 90+ new illustrations, update the library, and smooth out any rough edges in the guidelines. This library now empowers marketers to be creative and launch campaigns faster. Since it was such a big project, I also set up a system with dedicated people to keep everything running smoothly and maintain the library's visual style long-term.

Executive Creative Director
Jeff Curry / Enshalla Anderson

Collaborators
Creative Lead / Taylor Goad
Motion Design / Jeff Miao
Program Managers / Sarah Trankle & Stacy Walsh
Illustrators / Rose Wong & Chris DeLorenzo
Agency / Apparent