Tired of spending hours searching for an image to fit your article? Nobody’s got time for that. Or perhaps you have an idea for website imagery that stock images just aren't living up to.
BabelQuest's co-founder Eric Murphy faced a similar dilemma when hunting for an image to showcase his recent Pulse article, Is Inbound Marketing a Vitamin or an Aspirin? A custom graphic was the solution. (Check out the article for a full-sized image.)
Here’s a quick walkthrough of the six-step process I frequently use to create them.
This is where you need patience and an eye for precision.
Using the Pen tool, trace each shape in the image. You don’t have to do it this way, but I find it easier to draw the whole shapes and remove the excess lines later than to trace the image exactly as it is. Once you’re comfortable with your vector, you can remove the original image and you should be left with the basic line work.
After filling in a few of the shapes following this process, you’re then onto the easy bit: colouring the rest of the image. Staying true to the source image, I used similar colours to fill in the rest of the vector to make it visually appealing rather than full of clashing colours that make your eyes want to fall out.
Save your image as a JPEG with a high-quality resolution and you’re good to go. Upload your unique graphic image with the article, then crack on with sharing it in whichever way your distribution strategy dictates.
NOTE: Ellie is an intern with a love of graphic design and all things illustrated. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed having her around the office and we’re sure we’ll be seeing her again in the near future. Watch this space!
To learn more about the importance of design and how you can use it to generate leads that close through your website, download our free, 80-page ebook below.