On the QuickBooks Blog, illustration is a key form of visual storytelling. Editorial illustrations can quickly tell a story, or bring clarity to a new or complex concept better than photography and copy alone.
The illustration style for the QuickBooks Blog is continually evolving, and isn’t limited by the same restrictions as the QuickBooks product or website. However, there are some guidelines that should be followed to help ensure illustrations align with the QuickBooks brand.
Our branded illustration style is minimal with an emphasis on usability. We achieve this with two-dimensional/flat illustrations with minimal, subtle line work.
Characters should have diverse, natural skin tones.
Features and proportions should feel true to life.
Backgrounds should be neutral. Avoid vibrant, solid color backgrounds.
Ensure a singular focal point. Avoid crowded, overly noisy compositions.
Skin tones are natural.
Singular focus point with a neutral background color.
Line work is simple and clean.
Don’t use unnatural skin tones.
Don’t flip images that can cause devices to look incorrectly manufactured, or text to look mirrored.
Don’t use too much line work.
Infographics should contain a combination of illustration and data visualization. They should feel less formal than data visualizations alone, and focus more on key highlights instead of comparing multiple data sets.
The QuickBooks Blog offers several free tools for small businesses, ranging from simple templates to more complex calculators. It’s important that tools have a specific look and feel, so it’s easy for readers to distinguish between a tool and a generic graphic.
