Character Design

My Updated LinkedIn and What I Do

This image features the redesigned LinkedIn profile banner of Ian David Marsden, a Swiss illustrator and creative director based in France. It combines a professional portrait with an illustrated Parisian jazz scene and a vintage film spotlight. Text highlights Ian’s specializations in editorial illustration, mascots, character design, branding, UX/UI, and storytelling for international clients.

My Updated LinkedIn and What I Do

Refreshed, Reconnected, and Rediscovered

In between recent creative projects, I finally gave some much-needed attention to a corner of my digital presence that I’d neglected for years—my LinkedIn profile.

I’ve had it for over two decades, but it remained almost willfully minimalistic. Sparse. Mysterious, perhaps. It certainly didn’t reflect the breadth of my work, or the clients and collaborators I’ve been fortunate to partner with over the years. I’m happy to share that it’s now fully updated—with a professional new header, an accurate timeline, and over 40 detailed project entries complete with media and visuals.

What You’ll See There Now

The header alone already gives you a strong sense of what I do:

“Illustrator & Creative Director | Cartoons, Mascots, Business Comics & Character Design | Branding, UX/UI, Storytelling & Motion | Available Worldwide”

Below that, you’ll find a growing library of case studies, media files, and a concise look into the work that clients trust me with—from Switzerland to Germany to France, and beyond.

This project sample showcases Ian David Marsden’s creative contribution to the French brand IN TALENT WE TRUST, including a visual identity refresh and original illustrations such as a reinterpretation of the Uncle Sam poster. Media includes hand-drawn concept art, vector graphics, and a YouTube animation demonstrating the transformation from sketch to final product.

Based in France – Working Globally

My name is Ian David Marsden, and I’m a Swiss illustrator, character designer, and creative director. I’m currently based in Claret, near Montpellier, in the beautiful Pic Saint Loup region of southern France. This is where my fully equipped studio is located, and where most of my visual and storytelling work is conceptualized and produced.

While my location is France, my clients are international. I’m perfectly bilingual in English and German, and I also work with a full business-level proficiency in French. Whether it’s a wine label for a domaine in the Languedoc, a mascot for a startup in Berlin, or an editorial illustration for a Swiss publisher, I bring cross-cultural awareness, professional fluency, and artistic clarity to each project.

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Affiches illustrés BD touristiques Pic Saint Loup par Ian Marsden, Illustrateur Freelance

Delightful animal-themed illustrations by Ian David Marsden for French storytelling, featuring characters in colorful settings like vineyards and scenic drives around the Pic Saint Loup

Illustrateur et dessinateur installé près du Pic Saint Loup

Je suis illustrateur et dessinateur freelance basé à Claret (34270), un village viticole proche de Montpellier, dans la région du Pic Saint Loup. Depuis près de 20 ans, je m’inspire des paysages et de la vie quotidienne de cette région qui m’a profondément marqué. À travers mes illustrations, je cherche à capturer la convivialité et le charme unique de cet endroit que je suis heureux de pouvoir appeler chez moi.

Mon approche artistique

Originaire de Los Angeles, j’ai découvert ici un rythme de vie différent, empreint de chaleur humaine et de simplicité. Mon travail, mêlant dessins faits à la main et aquarelle, s’adapte à une grande variété de projets : de l’illustration éditoriale à la publicité, en passant par les bandes dessinées et les livres pour enfants.

Quelques créations autour du Pic Saint Loup

Loup et ses amis dans une Méhari orange roulant près du Pic St-Loup, illustration originale par Ian Marsden, graphiste et illustrateur à Claret, 34270

“La vie en rose” : Deux amoureux en Vespa se dirigent vers un pique-nique romantique avec, bien sûr, un rosé local dans leur panier.

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How to Effectively Use Mascots and Comic Art to Convey Your Message – Marsden Illustration

Mascots and comic art are powerful marketing tools that businesses of all sizes and types can use to effectively communicate their message to audiences of all ages and completely transcend language barriers.

The Power of Comic Strips

Comic strips can communicate concepts and ideas to audiences of all ages and completely transcend languages. They can be used to give friendly reminders, offer tips, and provide educational material. For example, Coca-Cola assigned me to create wordless comic strips to remind people to recycle cans which were printed directly on the cans. These strips can also be used for internal purposes such as employee training and skill development, corporate training and executive briefings, or to enhance presentations and PowerPoint slides. They are also a wonderful media for e-learning or educational material.

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Friars Club NYC – Animated Website Intro

Short intro animation created specifically for the Friars Club, New York City.

Several monk friar characters were created for animated GIFs and icons for the website
including Jackie Gleason playing pool and this little friar for the animation.

All artwork was created in Adobe Illustrator as vector art and then animated in Adobe Flash.

Client: Friars Club, Date: 2008, Artist: Ian David Marsden – www.marsdenillustration.com

Caricatures of Friars Club Officials opening red curtain – Animated Cartoon GIF
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Mascot Design Logo FIS Ski World Championship 2003 St. Moritz

(with YouTube Video Radio Interview with Mascot Designer Ian Marsden)

I n 2002 I was contacted by the organization for the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in the renowned pristine alpine resort town of St. Moritz, Switzerland. I was informed, that I had been chosen as the designer and illustrator to create the official mascot for the event.

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JOHNNY – SLAMTOWN “Office of Mayor” – Wrestling T-shirt

Various Designs for John Hennigan by Ian David Marsden

I had the pleasure of creating another cool wrestling shirt design for the legendary wrestler John Hennigan, who is also known as Johnny Impact, Johnny Nitro, Johnny Mundo, and most recently as the mayor of SLAMTOWN. This time around, the shirt design is titled “SLAMTOWN Office of Mayor”, featuring a striking illustration of a skull and crossbones, adorned with Johnny’s trademark sunglasses with crosses on the lenses.

Creating this shirt design for John was an amazing experience. He is one of the easiest and most amazing clients I have ever had the pleasure of working for. He trusts my creativity and lets me use my imagination, allowing me to create designs that truly capture his essence as a wrestler and entertainer.

John Hennigan is a true wrestling legend, with a career spanning over two decades. He has won numerous championships across different wrestling promotions, including WWE, Impact Wrestling, and Lucha Underground. He has also ventured into acting, appearing in movies and TV shows such as “Boone: The Bounty Hunter” and “Survivor”.

This is not the first time I’ve worked with John. In fact, I previously designed a wrestling shirt for him titled “This is My World” featuring his Johnny Mundo persona. It was a fun and challenging project that allowed me to push my creative limits and come up with a design that captured John’s persona perfectly.

SLAMTOWN – Office of Mayor Shirt design by Ian David Marsden

In conclusion, it was an absolute honor to work with John Hennigan again and create a cool wrestling shirt design that represents his new role as the mayor of SLAMTOWN. If you’re a fan of John Hennigan or wrestling in general, make sure to check out this shirt and add it to your collection. And if you’re in need of a talented illustrator, cartoonist, character designer, or producer of explainer videos, don’t hesitate to contact me for your next creative project.

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Wine Surfers – Custom Illustration for Invitation

Custom Illustration for a personal invitation based on photographs provided by the client. The people needed to be recognizable and the drawing had to have a connection to surfing and also to wine.

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Artist Instagram and TikTok with lots of sketches, doodles and live drawings

It’s been a while since I updated my news blog. Things have been rather quiet on the project front due to the pandemic (like for many), so I don’t have a lot of new client work to show you, but I thought I would say a quick hello.

I recently started a TikTok channel, where I mostly post recordings of live drawings (digital and analog). So if you are on there and enjoy drawings, drop by and have a look.

I only have 120 followers here so far, so you can become a member of a highly exlusive club. 😀

https://www.tiktok.com/@iandavidmarsden?lang=en

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Avatar and Character Design

(… and SUPER HEROES)

Avatars and character designs to be used in print, motion graphics, whiteboard videos, or explainer videos. Detailed and shaded in different styles or flat line art and vector graphics. Delivered on layers ready for import into your layout software or Premiere or After Effects.

Various different vector character avatars
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Latest Illustration Projects and News

My homepage and my illustration portfolio have been completely updated with many new projects, drawings, animations and designs.

As always I am here for all your illustration, animation and design needs in many different styles.

Below a few current examples.

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I received my first proof copy of my new graphic novel “Marvin”

I am very excited. I have just received my first proof copy of my new graphic novel “Marvin” from my publisher Schiffer Books.

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Marsden Illustration