Custom Illustration in Singapore: How to Brief an Illustrator
“Can you make it cute?” is a perfectly understandable place to start an illustration project. It just leaves quite a lot for the poor little doodle to figure out.
Cute for whom? On a café menu, a corporate greeting card or the side of a building? And what should someone remember after they’ve seen it?
If you’re commissioning custom illustration in Singapore, a clear brief helps turn a lovely drawing into something that belongs to your business. You don’t need a design degree or a twenty-slide presentation. You need a few useful answers.
A timely reason to think beyond decoration
Singapore’s design calendar is looking ahead: the inaugural Singapore Design Biennale is scheduled for 14 May to 20 June 2027, with the theme 1.35°N. Its official introduction invites different creative disciplines to respond to contemporary life. The programme open call has already closed, so this is a date to watch, not an invitation to submit.
Closer to an everyday business brief, DesignSingapore Council’s Design for Business resources frame design around differentiation, products and experiences. That’s a useful starting point for illustration too: decide what the artwork needs to help people understand or feel before choosing the colours.
1. Give the illustration one main job
Start with a sentence: “This illustration should help our customers ______.”
Perhaps it should make a new service easier to understand, make a thank-you gift feel thoughtful, or give a seasonal campaign a recognisable personality. Pick the main job first. Asking one image to explain your entire company history, introduce five products and announce a promotion is a lot. Even a very enthusiastic cartoon frog has limits.
Then name the audience. “Everyone” sounds welcoming, but “parents choosing a first picture book” gives an illustrator much more to work with. So does “office managers organising client gifts” or “neighbours discovering our new café.”
2. Describe the feeling, with examples
Try three words: warm, playful and reassuring. Or bold, energetic and a little unexpected. Add what you want to avoid, too. “Friendly, but not babyish” is much clearer than “make it nicer.”
Choose two or three references and explain what you like about each: the limited palette, expressive characters or breathing room around the subject. References help start a conversation; they shouldn’t become instructions to copy another artist’s work.
You can also look through an illustrator’s existing portfolio to see whether their visual language suits you. Here at Pillybaxtoodles, whimsical characters and cheerful doodles are part of the picture. The colourful frog on this post is an existing portfolio piece, not a commissioned campaign example.
3. Tell us where the artwork will live
A square social post and a tall window decal need different compositions. Before drawing starts, list the intended formats and dimensions, plus any space needed for a headline, logo or QR code.
For print, get specifications from your printer early. For digital use, think about the smallest screen on which someone will see the image. Tiny details may be delightful up close and disappear completely in a thumbnail.
It also helps to say whether you need one finished composition or separate elements for several layouts. A character, background and decorative details supplied separately may be useful, but that needs to be discussed as part of the scope.
4. Put the practical details in the first conversation
Share your budget range, launch date and approval process. Include time for sketches, feedback, final artwork and any printing. “We need it next Friday” means something very different when Friday is the delivery date for five hundred printed cards.
Agree in writing on the deliverables, revision rounds, file formats and intended usage. Discuss paid advertising, packaging, merchandise or later adaptations if they’re part of the plan. Don’t assume that editable source files or every possible future use are included; ask what the quotation covers.
If several people need to approve the work, nominate one person to consolidate feedback. A single clear response is kinder to the project than five separate messages asking for five different shades of yellow.
5. Use this small brief to get started
Here’s a hypothetical café brief: “We need a warm, playful illustration for a seasonal menu aimed at neighbourhood families. Please feature our signature pastry and leave space for the menu text. We need an A4 print layout and a square social version. Our budget range is [amount], our launch date is [date], and [name] will consolidate feedback. Please quote for these uses and specify the revision rounds included.”
That’s already a useful conversation. It gives the illustrator direction while leaving room for ideas you may not have thought of yet.
A little clarity leaves more room for creativity
A good brief doesn’t need to dictate every line. It gives the drawing a purpose, the collaboration a sensible scope and everyone a clearer starting point.
Have a project in mind? Send me a little about your business, who you’re hoping to reach and where the artwork will appear. We can start there. No twenty-slide presentation required.
Cover artwork: Pillybaxtoodles portfolio; artwork signed “Pillypatterns”. Event details checked on 27 October 2026. See the organiser’s website for updates.
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