The Value of Using Illustration Instead of Photography

**How a coffee brand found success without a busy photoshoot.**

Working remotely means an entirely new set of challenges. From trying new workflows and taking crowded conference calls—to even being your own IT department—working from home isn’t always easy.

And to top it off, production is changing. Stay-at-home orders end permitting for locations, lawsuits have started over union members getting sick on productions, and that has all led to insurance companies halting coverage for productions.

Luckily, Scott Hull Associates has been mastering the art of working from home for years, connecting illustrators and brands across the world. Check out Lisa Ballard’s packaging for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters as an example!

Like every project, the kick-off is the most important. Communication is key, so phone calls and email references helped everyone start from the same place. The great folks at Green Mountain Coffee sent over a PDF of their packaging layout, and a rough reference for style, to make sure the glass of cold brew coffee represented their brand vision.

Then, Lisa started with a photo reference to make sure everyone was on the same page. Using Photoshop, she montaged reference photos together to find the right glass shape, amount of ice, and angle. Once the brand team approved the look, she sketched up a rough on watercolor paper.

After that, she got to work inking the sketch. She illustrated the straw separately, so the designers had more options. After a first review with the brand team, she darkened the colors overall. After the second review, the team decided to use square ice, so a patch of the top was created. With just a few more tweaks, the team signed off on the final art.

The last step was creating a background that could be flexible for all the packaging and promotional sizes. Lisa painted each layer separately, and put them together in Photoshop for the seamless look the client was after. Each layer could be moved separately in the working file, so they could adjust as needed for each execution. She also painted an arched banner for the product name.