Case Study — Editorial Illustration
Turning strategy ideas into images with a point of view.
Untangld is a strategy studio known for its irreverent illustration style — visuals with a point of view, not stock-art filler. They commissioned a series of editorial illustrations to accompany specific articles, each one turning an abstract strategy idea into an image that lands instantly. Drawn in Adobe Illustrator, matched seamlessly to the studio's established tone and aesthetic.
This piece reimagines the oiran — the Edo-period courtesan who was the trendsetter of her day — as a present-day Tokyo it-girl. The kimono, towering coiffure and gold kanzashi stay, but the painted face gives way to cat-eye shades, and she's loaded with modern luxury: a Prada tote, an Apple Watch, AirPods, and a tea ceremony reduced to a takeaway matcha.
Drawn in flat vector as a nod to ukiyo-e, it makes a simple point — the influencer isn't new, only her props are.
This one takes Untangld's "designing breakthroughs" line literally. A polished brogue and pinstripe suit step down and smash clean through a floor of blue tiles, shards scattering across a bright yellow background.
It's the corporate uniform caught mid-disruption: forward momentum breaking through the status quo, with a flash of yellow sock as the bit of personality that refuses to play it safe. Bold, graphic and high-contrast, it turns an abstract idea — the breakthrough — into something you can feel land underfoot.
An illustration about how brands actually grow: not overnight, but through patient cultivation. A suited figure tends a garden where the "plants" are human heads, watering a diverse field of faces until ideas literally sprout and bloom from them.
It's branding as gardening — you plant an idea in people's minds, water it with consistency and attention, and wait for awareness to take root and flower. Rendered in soft pastels and clean line-work, the gently surreal style keeps a dry business concept warm and human.
"Good editorial illustration doesn't decorate the argument — it makes the argument."
Each piece compresses a full strategy article into one image with a punchline — history repeating as influence, disruption you can feel underfoot, growth as gardening. And because every illustration was matched to Untangld's established hand, the studio's voice stayed singular even as its output scaled.