Packaging illustration by the illustrator Ken Jacobsen

PACKAGING ILLUSTRATION
by Ken Jacobsen Illustration
Email: ken@penart.com Phone: 612 823 4662

Hello designers, creative directors and art buyers, I'm Ken Jacobsen. I've been a freelance pen-and-ink illustrator full-time 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 other examples of my 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. I'm equally influenced by Albrecht Durer and Art Deco.

Technique:  I began my career using pen and ink but gradually moved to a digitzing tablet because it worked much better for me, so now 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
- I drew this illustration for the design firm of a North Dakota Sioux tribe. It's based on a postage stamp.

Client: Flint Communications


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

Usage: Packaging illustrations for Green Giant
 – This background illustration appeared on all of Green Giant's canned and frozen packaging for over ten years.
I drew the Green Giant character separately.

Client: Pederson Gesk


A classic, vintage style logo illustration that was created in pen and ink for branding.
Usage: Proposed logo redesign for Levis jeans
- I drew this as part of a rebranding proposal for Levis. The illustration is an update of their historic logo.
For a look at my process of sending sketches to the client for approval, click here.
Client: Cronan Design


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


Usage: Packaging illustration
- As usual each illustration begins as a sketch that I send to the client for approval before I draw the final art.
I explain the process to one of my college classes here.

. Client: Dollar Shave Club

A retro engraving style pen and ink wine label illustration drawn by the illustrator. The image shows both the art and the bottle.
Usage: Wine Label
- The client had a very clear idea of what they wanted and this is what I drew based on their direction.

Client: Paragraph Inc.


A classic, vintage woodcut style pen and ink illustration which the illustrator drew for flour packaging.
Usage: Packaging illustration, Gold Medal Oat Flour Blend
-This project started with a list of objects the client wanted included and I drew this based on that.

Client: Kroese Design




Vintage woodcut style wheat shock illustration, drawn by the illustrator for a bread company's logo.

Usage: Logo, Earthgrains Baking Co
- Earthgrain's liked my initial sketch so much they used it in their logo for over a decade.

Client: Murray Lienhart

 

Engraving style, color, vector art illustration created for the bottle of a brewery showing the package and the bottle.

Usage: Yards Cicada Ale label illustration
 -After I drew this illustration I colored it and added texture after converting it to vector art.

Client: Paragraph Design

 

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

Usage: Packaging, Corningware
-Here I added watercolor and pastels to my drawing. Only watercolor can give these natural colors.

Client: Dunn & Rice


Classic vintage style pen and ink logo illustration drawn by the illustrator and used for chocolates packaging.

Usage: B T McElrath Chocolates label
-This design firm did a wonderful job making a new chocolatier into an instant classic with
their type treatment and my illustration.

Client: This is Folly, Minneapolis

A color vector ilustration of a dog drawn by the illustrator for a dog food company's package label.
Usage: Dr Harvey's Specialty Diets package
-My drawing of a retriever, converted to vector art and colored.
The trickiest bit was getting the expression exactly right.

Client: Hampton Hargreaves, Pittsburgh

Color vector art for dog food package label drawn by the illustrator.
Usage: Dr Harvey's Specialty Diets package
- Another illustration I drew in several layers and converted to vectors, like the one above.
And like the illustration above the expression had to be just right.

Client: Hampton Hargreaves, Pittsburgh


Classic style pen and ink and watercolor label illustration for organic herb packaging.
Usage: Greenwise organic herb labels
- These are a few of many similar illustrations I drew and painted for Publix Foods organic products.
It's pen and ink with watercolor. For a closer view on my main website, click here.

Client: Publix Foods

 

Vintage engraving style pen and ink illustration, drawn by the artist for chocolate product 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, drawn by the illlustrator for a whiskey bottle.

Usage: Whiskey label illustration
Client: Chris Gorney Design

Sketch only –client "went in a different direction"

An illustration of a farm scene drawn and painted for butter packaging 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

 

A woodcut style illustration of a character drawn by the illustrator 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 and Yellow Corn Chips
Client: Publix Foods

Pen and ink with watercolor


A classic style pen and ink portrait illustration drawn by the illustrator Ken Jacobsen for food packaging.
Usage: Maple Syrup Packaging
Client: Happy Monday

Pen and ink



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

Pen and ink with watercolor



This shows a whimsical classic style pen and ink illustration by Ken Jacobsen of an octopus for toiletry packaging.
Usage: Wanderer Face and Body Wash
Client: Dollar Shave Club

Pixel art, converted to vectors



A pen and ink woodcut style illustration of an outdoor scene drawn by the artist for dog food packaging.
Usage: 4life Packaging illustration
Client: Woodruff Sweitzer

Pen and ink, converted to vectors




Classic style pen & ink illustration with watercolor by the illustrator Ken Jacobsefor, created by the artist for food packaging.

Usage: Hellmann's Aioli labels
Client: Anthem Worldwide

Pen and ink with watercolor



This shows a woodcut style vector art illustration by Ken Jacobsen, drawn for organic coffee packaging. It also shows the packaging it was used on.

Usage: Greenwise Organic Colombian Coffee
Client: Publix Foods

Pen and ink, converted to vectors


Showing a woodcut style illustration by Ken Jacobsen of a 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 by the artist Ken Jacobsen for a beer label and photos of the label on the bottles.

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

Vector art


A pen and ink illustration by Ken Jacobsen for the logo of a farm showing its produce and the company van with the logo on it.

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

Vector art



A woodcut style illustration of pegasus, the winged horse, drawn by the illustrator Ken Jacobsen for packaging.

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

Vector art