New design trends that bring life and personality to digital marketing emerge every year and even throughout the year. We can see color variations, the type of image used (more illustrated, photographic, vector), new fonts, how all this creates a new dynamic in its use, and much more.
And that’s what we’re going to discuss today: rethinking these new digital design trends, particularly from the perspective of personalized illustration and its use within email marketing. So stick around and learn more.
Personalized Illustration: The Digital Design Trend That’s Rebounding Every Year
Since 2018-2019, this design trend, personalized illustration, has been mentioned time and time again, especially as it reaches our email inboxes. At the time, Behance voted it one of the hottest design trends, not only in email but also in various areas of digital marketing, such as print design, digital branding, and even packaging design. And friends, that hasn’t changed in 2025; on the contrary, it’s only gotten stronger.
These personalized graphics, whether within infographics or illustrations, have overtaken many other formats and have generated many more fans and greater public interaction with the brand that uses them.
Why Has Custom Illustration Become a Trend?
In the world of marketing, it’s important, if not necessary, to stand out from the crowd. And while following what others are doing may work, at some point, it doesn’t fulfill or represent the brand. As a result, brands are increasingly looking to feel more authentic, and bespoke illustration opens up a world of opportunities to achieve this. Not only does this make a difference on the brand’s side, but it also makes a difference on the customer’s side, as seeing a brand with a different approach makes it more appealing and allows for greater empathy.
Eye-tracking studies have shown that readers tend to spend a lot of time looking at images if they are relevant, whereas generic images can go completely unnoticed. It’s also important to remember that when using stock images, there’s a high risk that a competitor or other company will use the same images. This would hurt the customer’s trust in the brand and its product or service.
Custom Illustrations in Email Marketing
Many clients undervalue email and email marketing because audiences don’t realize how much content and engagement they have with a brand through this medium. However, companies and digital marketing professionals who track metrics are recognizing its power and importance and harnessing it by incorporating these new trends. This is where custom illustrations have significantly enhanced their messages.
These are some of the brands that have managed to stand out in email marketing by using custom illustrations in their campaigns:
Bulb
In 2015, UK energy provider Bulb launched a range of renewable energy products to help its members cut their bills and reduce their carbon footprint. The bold branding was developed by the agency Ragged Edge, creating a brand identity that connects directly with millennials. As a generation born into the digital world, capturing the attention of this audience wasn’t easy. Still, by using an illustrative, cohesive, and distinctive style, Bulb has managed to captivate its customers.
Mailchimp
Another excellent example of illustration in email marketing came from Mailchimp in 2017, when it launched a new brand identity in conjunction with a new design system, achieving a more playful approach to its imagery. Known for its playful use of illustration, the brand decided to adopt a more fluid and somewhat abstract style, aiming to inspire its customers to think outside the box and dare to be more creative with their brands.
With a vision of integrating simple images into complex things, their new illustration style allows them to communicate about complex tools and marketing practices much simpler and more humanly.
Mailchimp’s new look To create its new identity, the brand worked with various illustrators from around the world and joined forces with its in-house design team. Together, they made a structure of expressive elements that combine with the structural aspects of its branding, such as its logo, color palette, and typography, to maintain consistency and solidity.
As experts in email marketing, they were able to integrate playful illustrations that fit perfectly with their designs. One goal!
Other Great Examples
We have Allbirds, who combine hand-drawn illustrations with photographs. This creative collage makes their email images really special:
After rebranding, Help Scout started using custom illustrations to give their communications a very human and fun touch:
We can’t overlook the beautiful header illustration of Airbnb’s Superhost email – quite unique.
Another brand not far behind is Asana, which uses an animated illustration (which brings their brand to life) to grab their subscribers’ attention – and they do.
Do you have any other brands in mind that are at the top of their game when using custom illustrations in their email marketing?