Packaging Illustration by the Illustrator Ken Jacobsen

Hello designers and art directors, I'm Ken Jacobsen. I've been a full-time freelance pen-and-ink illustrator for over 25 years, creating classically-styled, hand-drawn illustrations for people like you all over the world.

This site shows a selection of llustrations that I’ve done for packaging. To see my other work, just click my logo at the upper right.

Style: My illustration style is influenced by the classic pen and ink illustrations of the
19th and early 20th centuries –themselves influenced by the woodcuts and engravings that preceded them.

Technique: I draw everything on a digitizing tablet, which I’ve been using since 1995, and all my work is created in digital format, unless requested otherwise.

Finished illustration: Whatever the client requires, whether vector or pixel format, including multiple layers, if desired.

If you're looking for illustration work like mine, please feel free to contact me any time.

A woodcut style pen and ink illustration that was created for wild rice packaging.

Usage: Organic Wild Rice label illustration
Client: Flint Communications

Pen & Ink

A woodcut style illustration of a farm field background illustration and a character, created for packaging.

Usage: Packaging illustrations for Green Giant
–A farm field background and the Green Giant character

Client: Pederson Gesk

This background illustration appeared on all of Green Giant's
canned and frozen packaging for over ten years

Usage: Proposed logo redesign for Levis jeans
Client: Cronan Design

Pen and ink

Pen and ink animal character illustrations drawn in an engraving style for product packaging.

Usage: Packaging illustration
Client: Dollar Shave Club

Pen and ink converted to vectors

A retro engraving style pen and ink wine label illustration showing the art and the bottle.
Usage: Wine Label
Client: Paragraph Inc.

Pen and ink converted to vectors, in three layers

Classic style pen and ink illustration for flour packaging
Usage: Packaging illustration, Gold Medal Oat Flour Blend
Client: Kroese Design

Pen and ink

Vintage woodcut style wheat shock illustration for a bread company package logo

Usage: Logo, Earthgrains Baking Co
Client: Murray Lienhart
Pen and ink

This illustration was part of Earthgrain's logo for over a decade.

Beer label illustration for package and bottle in engraving style, color vector art

Usage: Yards Cicada Ale label illustration
Client: Paragraph Design

Pen and ink converted to vectors with texture added

Classic style illustration of vegetables for packaging using pen and ink and watercolor

Usage: Packaging, Corningware
Client: Dunn & Rice

Pen and ink with watercolor and pastels

Classic retro style pen and ink logo illustration for chocolates packaging

Usage: B T McElrath Chocolates label
Client: This is Folly, Minneapolis

Pen and ink

Color vector ilustration for dog food company package label
Usage: Dr Harvey's Specialty Diets package -Retriever
Client: Hampton Hargreaves, Pittsburgh

Pen and ink converted to vectors

Color vector art for dog food package label by Ken Jacobsen
Usage: Dr Harvey's Specialty Diets package -Beagle
Client: Hampton Hargreaves, Pittsburgh

Pen and ink converted to vectors

Classic style pen and ink and watercolor label art for organic herb packaging
Usage: Greenwise organic herb labels
Client:Publix Foods

Pen and ink with watercolor

Vintage engraving style pen and ink illustration for chocolate packaging

Usage: Debeukalaer labelling illustration
Client: Compass Design

Pen and ink

Vector art illustration of a farm field, flowers and vegetables for an organic product packaging

Usage: Plant Success Organic Mychorrhizae packaging
Client: Plant Revolution

Pixel art, converted to vectors

Classic woodcut style character illustration of a monk for a whiskey bottle

Usage: Whiskey label illustration
Client: Chris Gorney Design

Sketch only –client "went in a different direction"

Farm scene butter package art in pen and ink with watercolor

Usage: Publix Greenwise Organic Butter package art
Client: Publix Foods

Pen and ink with watercolor, each on a separate layer

Woodcut style character illustration for a beer bottle label

Usage: Pig's Eye Beer label
Client: M R Bolin

Pen & Ink

Woodcut style pen and ink with watercolor illustration for food packaging

Usage: Publix Greenwise Blue & Yellow Corn Chips
Client: Publix Foods

Pen and ink with watercolor

Classic style pen and ink portrait illustration for food packaging
Usage: Maple Syrup Packaging
Client: Happy Monday

Pen and ink

Classic style Pen & ink & watercolor illustration for fruit juice bottles
Usage: Publix Greenwise Organic Fruit Juice
Client: Publix

Pen and ink with watercolor

Whimsical classic style pen and ink illustration for toiletry packaging
Usage: Wanderer Face and Body Wash
Client: Dollar Shave Club

Pixel art, converted to vectors

Pen and ink woodcut style illustration of mountains and farm fields for dog food packaging
Usage: 4life Packaging illustration
Client: Woodruff Sweitzer

Pen and ink, converted to vectors

Classic style pen & ink illustration with watercolor for food packaging' Aioli labels by Ken Jacobsen

Usage: Hellmann's Aioli labels
Client: Anthem Worldwide

Pen and ink with watercolor

Woodcut style vector art illustration for organic coffee packaging and the packaging it was used on.

Usage: Greenwise Organic Colombian Coffee
Client: Publix Foods

Pen and ink, converted to vectors

Woodcut style illustration of pegasus, the winged horse along with the product packages it was created for

Usage: Shifted Pre Workout Packaging
Client: We Are Parliament

Pixel art, converted to vectors

Pen and ink illustrations for a beer label and photos of the label on the bottles

Usage: Miloslaw Beer re-branding
Client: Ostecx Créative, Warsaw Poland

Vector art

pen and ink illustration of a farm, of plums, of eggs in a basket and of a honeybee including a picture of the dried apples package and the company van with the logo illustraion

Usage: Opfelfarm organic products
Client: Obrist und Partner, Zurich Switzerland

Vector art

Woodcut style illustration of pegasus, the winged horse

Usage: Wine label based on an original 16th century woodcut
Client: Obrist und Partner, Zurich Switzerland

Vector art