MAIF Mag – Fall 2025
Second collaboration with MAIF for their quarterly magazine! This time with a slightly different brief and a few technical adjustments along the way.
Technical test: with or without outlines
I suggested testing a style slightly different from the previous issue — this time with outlines. Setting aside the flat design I love so much, to focus on line work and improve the legibility of the images.
The color challenge
One constraint in the brief was to create an overarching color palette that works with the seasonal autumn agenda illustration AND with the feature spreads — all centered around the ocean world — while keeping the burglary section in mind.
The idea is to use mostly warm, vivid colors for the autumn illustration and reverse the proportions with those same colors for the ocean illustrations.
In the end, it’s just the balance that shifts. More warm tones for the autumn illustration, and more emphasis on cool tones for the ocean ones.
The misses
Sometimes the proposed visuals don’t work for the client — too abstract, or not concrete enough. No big deal, I don’t take it personally; I listen and course-correct so the message reaches as many people as possible. For this issue, we’re steering clear of disproportions.
The adjustments
To illustrate the psychological support needed in certain situations, the client preferred to see an actual bedroom, with a distressed teenager. All rendered more literally.
Same thing with the filmed burglary scene. Suggesting the thief through a surveillance screen was a nice idea, but here the client preferred to show a burglar caught red-handed. And to make it more obvious that they were being filmed and recorded.
In the end, it’s through conversation that we find more accessible, more readable solutions. The important thing is to listen and stay responsive to best convey the message.
The ocean world
Glad to explore this theme! As mentioned above, the challenge here was to create a color palette that works well with the autumn theme and holds up underwater.
On the mola-mola fish illustration, the mouth was too exaggerated — too botoxed for the client’s taste, fair enough 🙂 And then I mixed up an octopus and a jellyfish… a reminder that creative work demands a level of attention we don’t always have every single day of the year.
The result is more restrained but still cool!
Overall
Overall, it’s a small stylistic sidestep from what I usually produce.
A good experience that confirms how important it is to adapt to the format and the audience’s expectations. This editorial approach enriches my commercial illustration practice and reminds me that every project brings its own creative challenges.
The adventure continues for the winter issue before passing the baton to another illustrator the following year!
