Meet Vicki! Our In-House Illustrator

At SLM, we believe great brands come from the people behind them. We’re especially lucky to have a dedicated illustrator who brings care to every project while shaping and evolving SLM’s visual identity. We sat down to chat about her approach! Read more below ⬇️

“With AI-generated visuals becoming more common, where do you see the unique value of a human illustrator when it comes to building and maintaining a brand’s identity?”

I have been drawing since I was 8 years old, I am now 28. I have taken multiple courses at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, The University of the Arts, The School of Visual Arts, and received my Bachelors of Fine Arts, focusing in illustration, from Pratt Institute. It is a tireless commitment to becoming an illustrator. I cannot stress enough the importance of avoiding AI use to replicate illustrations due to the fact that each drawing comes with years of knowledge of color, light, anatomy, movement, and composition. Utilizing human-made illustrations exhibits that the brand cares about their product. Whenever I see an ad that utilizes AI for their illustrations, it signifies to the consumer that the product is not worth the time, effort, and planning that goes into creating a compelling ad.

“If you could design a direct mail piece for any brand (not a client), who would it be and what would it look like?”

I love any opportunity where I get to design for a brand I am familiar with. I get extremely excited when their value propositions center around fashion, beauty, music, or food. That said, I would LOVE the opportunity to design a direct mail piece for MOB Beauty. MOB Beauty is a vegan, cruelty free, sustainable cosmetics brand with products packaged in 50% post-consumer recycled material. I happily use their products and frequently recommend them. MOB Beauty, if you’re reading this, SLM would be an awesome means to explore direct mail.

“When you were helping shape SLM’s illustration style and overall brand identity, what inspired your approach - and what were you trying to communicate visually?”

Something I am extremely thankful for at SLM is being able to have so much freedom with creating the illustration style. Back in 2021 when I joined, there was no illustration library. When I was developing it, I was thinking about SLM’s main goal, which is to give brands the opportunity to explore direct mail while avoiding a one size fits all approach. I immediately thought: friendly characters, tactile textures, and fluid movements. I knew slight imperfections and avoiding totally straight lines would be important because they allow the human element of SLM to shine through.