Pensive Pen has recently been asked to illustrate quite a few different training manuals. There are some interesting steps involved in planning these illustrations, even before putting pen to paper.

Establish an overall style

First, it is useful to establish an overall look and feel for the manual. All the illustrations should be related, for example in style and colour scheme. If the illustrations are to include people, then Phil likes to develop a unique character design that he uses as the base for each illustration. For some characters, he will use the same character in every picture, just changing things like posture or expression. For others, he will develop a whole range of different characters, male and female, with different clothes, different skin colours, different hairstyles etc, but all consistent with the overall character design.

These pictures came from one of Phil's recent commissions, and show a range of different but related characters.

Be clear about the message

Phil also needs to understand what the trainer is trying to achieve with each illustration.  Some are just to decorate the manuals, but others are making a specific training point. For these, it is important to understand exactly what the trainer wants to achieve.

For example, in a recent “Consultancy Skills" course, the trainer was trying to illustrate the concept of seeing ourselves as others see us. After discussing how to illustrate that, Phil came up with the idea of someone looking at themselves in a mirror. It was perfect.

Find reference images

Often, the trainer doesn't quite know what they want. When this happens, Phil usually suggests that they sketch a stick-man idea for him to use as the basis. Or, Phil and the trainer will together find reference images that can be used as inspiration for the final image.