Repurpose Your Illustrations (They’re Part Of Your Content)

I featured the Mona Lisa Triplets in a recent post. Here’s the original illo:

I’m bringing them back because they’re perfect for an object lesson; namely: you can always get more mileage out of an illustration.

The New Yorker has a cartoon caption contest on the last page of every issue. They print an old cartoon and delete the original caption. They challenge readers to submit their own captions for the cartoon.

The same idea can be applied to illustrations.

Brands commission custom illustrations because they want something unique. Something specially crafted to support the brand.

It makes sense to repurpose those illustrations to maximize their value.

Brands need to look at every illustration and ask: how can I get more use out of it?

I decided to turn “Triple Mona” into an infographic and upload it to my online store. All I did was tweak the header text:

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I was also thinking about Valentine card designs.

It occurred to me that I could create three different cards by tweaking the three Monas and coming up with inside greetings for each card that would serve as punch lines.

Here’s what I came up with for the front of each card:

I added text, the color red, and some hearts, and if you look closely, you’ll see I shifted the pupils in the Curious Mona’s eyes so she’s looking directly at the viewer.

But essentially, the images are the same.

Bottom line: you can always get more mileage out of an illustration. Always. Don’t settle for one-time use.

A few additional suggestions:

1. Think about maximizing image use ahead of time. Make it part of your content strategy.

2. Discuss it with your illustrator when you commission an illustration. Ask the illustrator to design the illustration with maximum use in mind.

For example: Ask the illustrator to put some white space between the various objects and people in the illustration. That way, each element can be broken out and used as a separate spot illustration.

3. A lot of times all you need to do is add new text: new header text, new caption, new dialogue in word balloons.

4. Ask different people to contribute ideas. Multiple heads are definitely better than one when it comes to thinking up new ways to use an illo.

5. It’s never too late to get more use out of an illustration. Dig out old illos and ask yourself how they might be used in light of new circumstances or marketing campaigns.

6. Go back to the original illustrator and ask him or her for ideas on how to reuse the work in a new way. Believe me, illustrators love that kind of challenge. At least I do.

FWIW: I came up 6 or 7 possible inside greetings for each card. You can see them here. Just click on each image, then scroll down to see the inside greetings in the Description field.

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About Mark: I’m an illustrator specializing in humor, editorial, branding, social media, and content marketing. My images are different, like your brand needs to be.

You can view my portfolio, and connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Questions? Send me an email.

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