Using Illustrations To Improve Your Mobile App UI/UX Design

Illustrations help in improving the UX/UI design by appending value to a product. Well, you might be aware of this fact. While crafting the user interface, you may catch up with various top features. Let you know that they are the best strategies of interaction that prepare a pathway towards better UI/UX design along with other functionalities while simultaneously working as a communication tool between the product and the user.

Illustrations are the best at explaining the sense of complicated concepts and ideas all through visual interpretations. They assist the designers in crafting a narrative for the users to help them make decisions.

Today, in this post, we will know the types of illustrations, their benefits, why UI/UX designers choose illustrations for the web and mobile apps, and many more.

But firstly, let’s explore illustrations and grab critical knowledge about them.

What Are Illustrations?

The visual representation of a story is Illustrations. They visualize a function, procedure, and environment. The object of interaction makes it different from pure art. Illustrations are the best way to convey a message and are informative also.

In general, illustrations meet various purposes. Users integrate them into published media, be it printed or interactive. Additionally, they act as an adornment, which adds style to the environment or media to which we apply.

Benefits of Illustrations

An illustration offers a visual interpretation of an action, process, or environment. Furthermore, it contributes to visual storytelling and improves communication as the images are informative and convey a message.

Now, let’s check out how illustrations are beneficial in UX design.

• As compared to text, illustrations catch up with an eye faster and are easily understood.
• Additionally, they add up to the emotional and visual appeal of the user interface.
• Moreover, they are perfect at improving visual hierarchy.
• Illustrations activate the psychology of shapes, colors, and visual metaphors.
• Besides, they engage the users towards screen zones, essential details, or visual messages.

Although, on websites and mobile apps, illustration is a functional element, despite a decoration. So, before you add them, you need to analyze the target audience and emerge with the ideas that may help users navigate, attain the product’s tone, and accomplish their targets.

Apart from improving your app’s UI/UX design, you should also think about mobile app UI/UX testing, which is an essential part of app development. For more details on testing, see our mobile app testing checklist.

How to Use UI Illustrations

In today’s user interface, we learn about varied styles and directions in strategies to illustrations, starting from vector images and icons to the elaboration and full-screen digital artworks. Being a functional element of mobile or web UI illustrations may include the below-following points.

Theme

One more illustration assists in setting up the mood and general theme of the application or website. Additionally, they set robust visual associations to make the interface emotional when the visitor interacts. Such a strategy saves the user’s effort and time, crafts the required atmosphere, and supports a positive user experience.

Rewards

Again, the reward images exhibit interface illustrations using cups, stars, medals, stickers, badges, and everything that may mark the user’s progress and append some gamification to the user experience.

Onboarding

Digital products that deal with some techniques and steps are onboarding. They assist the newbies in understanding the working of the product. In addition, it proves to be supportive when any new updates or features come out, or users may need assistance to interact with new and strange functionality.

Tutorials and Pop-Ups

Such illustrations offer the users visual prompts. Furthermore, they demonstrate the explanatory capabilities, and their target is to stimulate and clarify specific actions. These images help make UI design more manageable and more friendly, especially for the users who have issues reading texts or don’t like reading. It performs perfectly, especially in mobile interfaces, as it comes with limited screen space. On the contrary, you should ensure that every detail of the picture is well-checked to keep misunderstandings apart.

Entertainment

Sometimes, the chief target of UI illustrations is to entertain users. In this case, their target is to deal with the aesthetic and emotional face of the interaction, not usability or functionality.

Mascots

The personified characters, Mascots, append personification to the UI. Additionally, they act as communicators between the interface and the user. Mascots support the voice and tone of the website or app.

Why Use Illustrations for Amplifying UI/UX Design?

So, now let’s check out the top reasons that may let us know why we should use illustrations in our UI/UX design.

Illustrations come with the required strength that helps in deciding the emotional appeal

When the design for emotion is our main concern, we catch up with various websites and apps that are helping in enhancing a user experience. They rework the hierarchy of needs to include an exceptional top tier with enjoyment and fun. A UI may assist you in achieving a complex job and make you happy.

Illustrations perform storytelling to encourage users

Illustrations can make the user stay for long by performing in storytelling behind the concept. In UX/UI designs, the designers can use interactive illustrations to encourage users to onboard.

Illustrations come with needed humor

As designers need to bestow lots of effort to make communication easy with the users, a little humor that showcases emotions behind a message or a text can’t disappoint anyone. Usually, it saves them when user retention comes into play.

Custom graphics of Illustrations intensify aesthetic satisfaction that enhances the project’s value

However, many people opt for a ‘functionality first’ theme, their inner need for beauty and joy left behind. Utility and usability set every interface. Although, desirability is an appealing and lovely appearance that permits users to catch up with your product, use it repeatedly, and feel satisfied while utilizing it.

Illustrations rely on engaging visual metaphors and make appealing and unique designs

Metaphors are a robust way of attracting users and reviewing the given concepts both in design and art. Illustrations permit designers to perform exceptional metaphors according to the users and specific targets.

Illustrations offer an illusion of real communication

As communication with users is one of the essential aspects of an enhanced user experience, designers can easily use illustrations to visit the page or app.

Custom Illustrations develop a strong establishment of artistic harmony and originality

Graphics append a little style and creativity to a UI, printed, or branded product. In this competitive era, it’s crucial to be unique to engage people to try your brand. That’s why many companies use illustrations as their main images for their blog, landing page, and review.

Graphics provide practical help to the copy implemented in the web or mobile interface

In many cases, images perform as a better tool of communication as compared to copy. However, there are some backlogs also to review. Besides the concept’s speed, users need to understand illustrations swiftly. But, if the message they deliver demands double-reading or is unclear, the rate can’t contribute to a better user experience.

Illustrations perform perfectly in enhancing brand recognition and awareness

As compared to text, images are likely to stay in the long-term memory. The effect will improve when images are informative, crafted according to the target audience’s expectations, and regularly with a general layout concept.

Illustrations craft visual triggers that transfer an important message rapidly

Many people catch up with images faster as compared to words. Therefore, designers can utilize this fact to improve the visual functionality of web or mobile layouts. Furthermore, when coming in contact with the background elements and surroundings, images get less exposure. In contrast, the words depend chiefly on the readability aspect.

Also Read: The Cost of Developing an App

Top Free UI/UX Illustrations Resources You Can Use

Sometimes we need illustrations while designing an app or a website to make the product better. Below are the top free illustration tools that you can use to take your project a level up.

DrawKit

It comes with a collection of fascinating, customizable, and free MIT licensed SVG illustrations that you can use on your upcoming project, app, or website.

Lukasz Adam

You can also use this resource free of cost as your Hero images, icons to exhibit your services or use them for your content.

ManyPixels Illustration Gallery

Every week, it comes with royalty-free illustrations that may strengthen your projects. You can use them in any way, commercial or non-commercial, for your blog posts, landing pages, social media graphics, emails newsletter, and more.

Humaaans

It is a mix-n-match illustration of people holding a design library for Sketch and InVision Studio.

Icons8 (Ouch)

Artistic and trendy illustrations, Ouch makes the web interface look striking. It permits the user to search and import the icons directly to Illustrator, Photoshop, Xcode, and more.

Undraw

With a continuously updated collection of alluring SVG images, Undraw is the best that you can use without attribution.

Wrapping Up

So, we know now that Illustrations are a robust tool to append beauty, emotions, and storytelling to everything they communicate. It permits designers to include them as a powerful approach to enhance UI/UX design. Wireframes for the app should be created before UI/UX design. Learn how to construct wireframes

You can also reap the benefits of Illustrations and convey the required message to your users.

If you have an app idea on which you are currently working then you should illustrations to make it attractive to users. Also, if you need professional assistance then hiring an app development company should be your first priority.