Every business has a set of core values that define its culture, influence decision-making, and guide the way employees interact with each other and customers. For many organisations, values are often relegated to a list on a wall, a plaque in the office, or a statement in an employee handbook. They are often far from the daily conversations and actions that shape the company’s identity. So, if you want to bring your company values to life and make sure they truly resonate with your team, custom illustrations are a great solution.
In this article, we’ll explore how custom illustrations help your organisation live and breathe its values, and why visual storytelling creates alignment, connection, and culture.
Why Company Values Matter
Company values aren’t just a branding exercise or a nice-to-have—they’re essential. For starters, they help establish expectations for behaviour, foster accountability, and provide clarity in moments of uncertainty. In practice, they guide everything from how teams collaborate to how leaders lead. When everyone understands and lives the values, teams stay aligned, trust grows, and people feel more engaged at work. In order for values to make a real impact, people need to remember them and live them.
That’s Where Custom Illustrations Come In
Custom Illustrations are a powerful, creative solution to this common problem. By turning abstract values into visual metaphors, characters, or scenes, you transform passive reading into active engagement. Not only do you help people not just read the words—but see what they mean and feel their relevance.
Here’s Why Bespoke Illustrated values are so effective:
1. They make values easier to understand
Around 65% of people are visual learners. Illustrations communicate messages quickly and intuitively, often faster than words. A single image can cut through ambiguity and express complex ideas with clarity. For example, the value of “resilience” could be illustrated as a tree bending in the wind but not breaking—instantly communicating strength and adaptability.
2. They create stronger emotional connections
Images stick in our memory longer than words. When employees see a value illustrated through storytelling or character-driven scenes, it creates a personal connection that written text often lacks. This emotional resonance can make the values feel more human, more relatable—and more actionable.
3. They generate curiosity and interest
Imagine walking into a workplace where each value is represented by a bold, custom illustration. Instead of glazed-over eyes at a values poster, you get engagement. People stop, look, and even talk about them. Illustrated values add energy and personality to a workspace, sparking conversations and reinforcing what your business stands for in a memorable way.
4. They become visual anchors for everyday behaviour
When displayed in shared spaces—such as break rooms, Zoom backgrounds, onboarding packs, or internal comms—custom illustrations act as daily reminders of what matters. Employees can glance at a visual and instantly recall the associated value. Over time, this consistent reinforcement helps embed those principles into your company’s DNA.
5. They support brand identity and internal culture
Custom illustrations can match your brand style, tone, and voice—whether that’s playful, bold, warm, or professional. Not only does this consistency strenghten your brand visually, but it also signals that your values aren’t generic—they’re authentic, considered, and unique to your team.
How Sketch Group Brings Its Values to Life Through Bespoke Illustrations
At Sketch Group, we don’t just talk about the importance of values—we live them. When we decided to illustrate our own company values, we used custom illustrations to make them more engaging, memorable, and meaningful for everyone on our team. Each value was carefully crafted into a visual representation that captured its essence.
Take “Be crazy curious”, for example—our illustrated version shows a cat surrounded by books and reading a book. It’s a playful but powerful reminder of our commitment to develop a genuine interest in the subject matter. By better understanding it, we feel what our clients feel to enable us to do our best work.
These visual representations appear in our workspace, website, and in our onboarding materials, reminding everyone of what we stand for. Custom illustrations has transformed our company values from words on a page to living, to breathing elements of our culture.
Our VisionSketch™ process
At Sketch Group, we use our VisionSketch™ process to guide clients through the creation of strategic illustrations—especially for visualising company values. It begins with our Visual Thinking Training, where teams learn the basics of drawing and how to think visually. Participants explore and sketch out their own interpretations of their organisation’s values. These early ideas become a springboard for collaboration, helping our illustrators refine and craft powerful, custom visuals that truly reflect the company’s unique culture and vision.
More Than Just Art on the Wall
The most effective illustrations don’t just decorate—they communicate. When you bring values to life visually, they stop being background noise and become part of your company’s everyday rhythm. As a result, new team members quickly understand what your company stands for, while values give leaders a clear way to reinforce the culture they’re shaping—ultimately creating alignment across the organisation.
Investing in custom illustrations to express your values shows that you take them seriously—and that you care about communicating them in a way that truly resonates.
Final Thoughts
Words alone can be forgotten. However, images tend to stick in people’s minds. So, if you want your company values to be more than just a list—if you want them to be remembered, talked about, and lived—then custom illustrations are one of the most powerful tools you can use.
Curious about how we can help bring your company values to life? Please check out our other services – graphic recording, explainer videos, training and EOS Visuals.