There have been a couple of illustrations I made in the last 12 months I was particularly happy with. And if I put these all together, I can see there’s a similarity between them. The thing that stands out most is the use of color. When I get to pick my favorite colors, I’m a happy girl.
You can’t illustrate everything in the same color scheme, can you? Well, maybe you can, but I – and my clients – would probably get a bit bored with me. It would be great for my Instagram feed by the way. But every now and then I allow myself to use my favorite colors. This palette usually has an ocean greenish blue, a warm pink and some darker colors for support like bordeaux red of deep dark blue.

The second thing is the texture of the illustration. I often use the same brush, like the one you see in the color scheme above. I have two favorites for getting a nice textured look. The third thing my favorite illustrations have in common is the use of geometric shapes to simplify things. A little more abstract and a little less realistic. Straight lines and perfect circles combined with looser lines and shapes. I guess I found my style.

The one I want to show you today is my most recent one. It’s the top one in the image above. I got to illustrate for the Consumentenbond in their magazine Gezondgids. It was about wound disinfectants. Sounds like you can draw some nasty things. But I decided to go for the wide variety of disinfectants – since the article was sort of a list with pros and cons for different types and brands.
The sketch came pretty quickly, knowing that I had some work to do when it came to designing all the bottle packaging, lettering and all. I ended up drawing a total of 16 different bottles, tubes and jars. I first drew a quick sketch on the prints I made and then refined those to send to the client for approval. The sketch was approved and I could start picking my color palette and designing the bottles.


As you can see above, I started drawing on the prints I made of the article. I added extra details in the next sketches to send to the client. I do like the feel of the ‘real sketches’ better, though. But there’s usually no time – and no need – for pretty sketches. It’s functional. I integrated the headline of the article in my illustration. That gives the designers a lot less room to play, so they have to agree in advance. But it also makes the production really one piece, combining image and text.


There are only 44 visible in the final illustration // illustration by Annemarie Gorissen

and added some new ones. I had already received the layout, so I could work around
the text blocks here.




I just found the print version on my doormat and it turned out great!

Erg mooi en leuk om het proces te kunnen volgen!
😀 Mille grazie!