Branded Illustration library
Wärtsilä's branded illustration library is a direct extension of the refreshed brand identity, which is closely linked to the company strategy, The Wärtsilä Way. This project was able to communicate the brand expression and company strategy through illustration styles that differentiate Wärtsilä from its competitors. The project defined 120 modular components with a consistent visual design style.
Year:
@2025
Industry:
Maritime & Energy
Client:
Wärtsilä Oyj
Challenges
There was a high demand for illustrations to showcase our technical solutions to customers across both the Energy and Marketing teams. The biggest challenge was the lack of a cohesive visual style and foundational artwork that aligned with the brand's identity and visual language.
What was done?
Research & Stakeholder Interviews: The project began with reearch and benchmarking, including interviews with seven internal stakeholders. Based on those insights, an external partner was shortlisted and hired to define the illustration style. A full procurement exercise was also conducted, evaluating four shortlisted vendors.
Development & Creative direction: The development phase explored illustration style, structure, and colour palette across two roles. Business needs were translated into a visual style aligned with the brand, while around one third of the 120 modular components were created in-house. Usage guideline were written and published within the Brand Hub.
Pilots & proof of concept: The library was validated through two live pilot projects to refine its usability and visual constancy in practice. The first pilot was an animated illustration video for the MEA Energy Marketing Campaign, where creative brand direction was provided from mood board stage through to final publication. The second pilot involved graphics for the EsB Hardware and Software Suites (GEMS), where a set of BESS components was developed in collaboration with Norr Desgin and the Energy Storage team.
summary
The illustration library was built from scratch as a first of its kind for Wärtsilä. The process started with seven internal stakeholder interviews to understand what the business actually needed, followed by a vendor procurement process where four illustration studios were shortlisted and interviewed before Norr Design was selected. From there the work moved into defining the illustration style, structure and colour system, with creative direction handled end to end. Around forty of the final components were personally illustrated, with the rest produced in close collaboration with Norr Design.
The completed library of over 120 components was published to the Brand File Management Hub in December 2025 alongside a usage guideline written to help teams and external vendors apply the system correctly.
