Against the Grain: Kelly Bittner

Hand-y Work

As the world's media becomes evermore fragmented, and as brands large and small strive to compete in an increasingly crowded marketplace, making a personal connection with customers is vital to sustainability and growth.

There are, of course, the new social channels and interactive forums that enable such opportunities. But encouraging that sort of interaction with a brand starts at a more fundamental level than just throwing up a Facebook fan page or tossing out a few tweets. Until a brand feels approachable and friendly, individuals will shy away from all but the most basic sorts of interactions.

One of the strategies we often employ to reinforce the warm, human elements of a brand is to introduce hand-drawn or hand-illustrated elements into a brand's graphic look.

The vast majority of marketing materials created for companies today are wholly-produced on the computer. Add to that the royalty-free stock photography often used because of time or budgetary constraints and you have the potential to create less-than-warm materials. Professional and classy? Yes. Warm, human and approachable? Maybe not.

Hand-drawn type and other graphical elements are easily identified by everyone... you can just feel their innate humanness. They lack the precision and “perfectness” the computer is so adept at creating — and that's what draws us to them. We feel the connection with the artist who created them. And when they're properly integrated with a piece's other elements, the effect is a cohesive, warm, human touch.

Of course, these aren't techniques to be employed any time a personal feel needs to be introduced. Great photography can do the trick. So can a well-written personal testimonial or anecdote. But hand-created elements are an effective and beautiful way to add a human touch and human emotion to a marketing message.