Maple Illustration Guidelines

This guide was put together to bring diversity and inclusion to the Maple illustrative style, help create a broad range of sketches and vector illustrations, and facilitate governance. The characters in this guide were developed using Maple's company target demographics. The guide is divided into two sections creative direction and production guidelines for illustrators and designers.

Context

Brand Identity, Creative Direction, and Illustration

Role

Brand Designer

Timeline

2022

Collaborators

Copywriter & Sr. Illustrator

Illustration of two Maple brand characters walking hand in hand, in the brand's signature flat illustration style.
Creative Direction: Mapleville

Mapleville is a fictional world built to develop Maple's characters before they reach real campaigns. Testing personalities and interactions here helps the team understand how those characters will communicate with real audiences.

Guideline spread describing Maple's illustrated characters as empathetic, thoughtful, and playful, with supporting rationale for each trait.
City street scene illustration featuring diverse Maple characters, including a wheelchair user, a dog walker, and a tortoise on a leash.
Character bio and illustration for Jamie, a non-binary condo dweller and fitness enthusiast, shown jogging on a treadmill, alongside a Mapleville park scene.
Mapleville park scene illustration showing joggers and cyclists, paired with character bios for Jennifer, a university health enthusiast, and a young family enjoying the outdoors.
Character bios and illustrations for three Mapleville personas: a health-focused university student, a young family, and a Sikh basketball-playing family.
Production Guidelines

Illustration gives Maple's brand a human element that photography alone can't always capture. This section sets construction standards for full figure characters, covering skin colour, hairstyles, poses, and outfits, so every illustration reflects the brand's commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Guideline examples of full-figure character illustrations showing diverse poses, hairstyles, mobility aids, and outfits.
Guideline examples for constructing Maple character faces, showing proportion and expression standards across diverse features.
Colour palette guide for character skin tones and hair colours used across Maple's illustration system.
Guideline examples for rendering hands and fingers in Maple's illustration style.
Example scene illustration combining multiple Maple characters in a shared environment.
Guideline examples of item and object illustrations in Maple's brand style, including medical and everyday household items.
Guideline examples of characters shown mid-activity, illustrating Maple's standards for dynamic poses.
Decorative colour-wave graphic elements used as a recurring motif across Maple's illustration system.
Guideline spread comparing three-dimensional and flat illustration styles, using a bowl of produce, spice jars, and a raccoon character as examples.
Guideline spread on stroke weight and line style standards, illustrated with a tent, a person examining a plant, a dashed-line diagram, and a suitcase.
Guideline spread on using shapes and repetitive patterns, illustrated with a doctor character and figures showing cold and allergy symptoms.
Reference chart of standard artboard sizes for full-figure, scene-and-background, and item illustrations, dated 2021.