"I’ve had the honor of following Ian David Marsden’s career for many years, a relationship that culminated in featuring him as an official Wacom Featured Artist back in 2012 (and confirming what many already know: Ian is a creative force).

Ian’s work stands out because he never lost touch with the fundamentals of drawing. His entire workflow, from the original concept sketch to the final complex vector illustration, is 100% hand-drawn. He uses modern digital tools not to replace traditional skill, but to enhance it, resulting in visuals that are expressive, dynamic, and technically flawless.

As the original Google Doodle artist and a creative whose portfolio includes The New Yorker, MAD Magazine, and Mercedes-Benz, Ian’s legacy in illustration is already cemented. If you are looking for an illustrator, cartoonist, or visual storyteller who brings decades of experience, unmatched versatility, and a truly unique, human touch to every project, look no further than Ian David Marsden."

Pamela Park

E-mail Marketing and Influencer Outreach Programs Manager at Wacom Technology Corp.
(December 10, 2025)

“You want it done? You want it done right? You want it done on time? Here is somebody that knows his craft inside and out and doesn’t cut corners. He’ll think things through together with you and understand (!) what you are aiming for. He’ll point out what works (and more importantly … what doesn’t) and then execute it as agreed. Every engagement with him has worked out flawlessly.
P.S. Some extra features: Ian is smart, efficient and communicates fluently in more languages than I care to remember.”

Tom Geudens

Graph Database Expert
(March 21, 2025)

“Simply put, Ian is a visionary. He was tasked with creating all of the original artwork that would represent the multiple concepts in development within a boutique hotel setting, seamlessly blending the interior design, culture, and community of a significant, world-renowned, historically registered building. In doing so, Ian created multiple gallery-worthy pieces that perfectly embraced the heart and soul of the project. I could not possibly have been more pleased with his work. Ask him to show you his work based on the scope of this project and you will understand just how intuitively and capably he can fulfill your needs as well.”

Sam Spector

General Manager, The Culver Hotel, Culver City
Munchkins Restaurant • Duke’s Hideaway Bar • The Ruby Room

“In 2019 I redesigned my internet presence. Together with Ian, I developed a new logo, which puts more emphasis on my consulting personality. We have done this well and I am very grateful for Ian’s support. The icons we developed and the illustrations on the website www.breaksru.ch are very appealing and please me and my customers again and again. What I really appreciated about working with Ian was that he responded to my wishes and was very quick to implement them. Thank you very much, anytime again.”

Suzanne Ruf

Owner of breaksru gmbh
(March 11, 2020)

“Ian is not only a talented illustrator but also an accomplished designer and corporate identity developer. He has his own distinct style but his designs are very much customer focused and oriented. The work Ian did for iShepherd can be best described as that he understood our concept and vision from the first drawings he made. The thing that I personally admire the most about his work from an artistic perspective is the conceptual variety he comes up with, but with a constant consistency. Business with a small flair of fun or unexpected ‘Easter eggs’. I hope we are able to call upon Ian’s support for a long time coming.”

Harro Wiersma

CEO of iShepherd, Inc.
(March 6, 2020)

“I worked with Ian on several projects, such as our illustrated videos for Mycotrition GmbH: https://www.mycotrition.com/en/about-us/our-videos
We were always very pleased with his work. Ian is a great guy. Thank you, Ian.”

Sebastian Schmode-Laybourne

CEO at Mycotrition GmbH & Dronania Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Hawlik Gesundheitsprodukte GmbH
(March 16, 2020)

“Ian was my favorite Illustrator working on an animation project I directed. He supplied us with many cutting edge assets in very short deadlines. It was a pleasure working together.”

Avi Graiver

Animation Director,
Animation Cowboy Studio

CLIENT TESTIMONIALS

Clients & Creative Partners

I work with a broad range of clients: international brands, publishers, agencies, cultural organisations, public institutions, NGOs, regional businesses and smaller independent ventures. Some commissions are large and strategic, others are local, practical or highly personal, but all are approached with the same care, clarity and professional commitment.

Across these collaborations, my work has included illustration, branding, graphic design and packaging, editorial visuals, books and narrative projects, business comics, signage, motion graphics, and hand-drawn explainer videos.

This page gives a structured overview of the organisations, brands, publishers and collaborators I have worked with over the years across different sectors, formats and budgets. It reflects the range of the practice: from public-facing campaigns and editorial commissions to packaging, cultural work, education, corporate communication and local collaborations.

Selected clients across sectors

The names below reflect the range of clients I’ve worked with, from international brands and publishers to institutions, cultural organisations and independent businesses.

The projects themselves have varied widely: single illustrations, campaigns, visual systems, books, mascots, packaging, explainer videos, editorial commissions and communication design.

The scale varies, but the underlying task is often the same: to make something clearer, more distinctive, more engaging or more memorable through strong visual thinking.

International brands

Coca-Cola, Diesel Jeans UK, Digades (Case Study), Dräger Global, Evonik Industries, Fraunhofer, Google, Henkel (Case Study), Lindt Chocolate, Mercedes-Benz Museum (Case Study), METRO, Mövenpick, Novartis, Publicis, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), RITZENHOFF, Roland Berger, Samsung, Seele (Case Study), Telekom, Universal Music Group, VISA, Volkswagen (Case Study)

Media & publishing

1&1 Mail, Auto Bild, Blick Online, Club de la Presse Occitanie, Das Magazin, Droemer Knaur Verlag, Hauptstadt Satiremagazin, Knaur Verlag, MAD Magazine, Mac Directory, Music Scene – Das Schweizer Musikmagazin, Nebelspalter, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, NZZ am Sonntag, Punkt Wirtschaftsmagazin, Ransom Publishing, Ringier Verlag, SonntagsBlick, Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich, Tages Anzeiger, Tagi Magi, The New Yorker, Trucker TIR, U-Comix, Züritipp

Agencies, studios & tech

BOLD Werbung GmbH, Blocklearning.ch, Breaksru GmbH, CELSYS, Chemmedia, Curtius Lütten Werbeagentur GmbH, Dfreeeze App, Executive Learning Systems, Infospace.com, In Talent We Trust, Inspired Arts & Media, iSHEPHERD / TRM360 (Case Study), Just Happiness Montpellier, Mail.com, Matter & Gretener Werbeagentur, Max Curious, Sens Digital, Sieber & Wolf, Strobe Solutions, Web.de, Yantramatte, YJOO, Zum Goldenen Hirschen

Wine, food & lifestyle

Château de Roux (Domaine de Roux), Domaine Cammaous, Domaine Les Tuileries, Hawlik Naturpilze, La Gravette de Corconne, Le Mas du Sire, Les Héritières de Bacchus, Mas de Figuier, Modicum Editions, Sapere Originis Wines, Sanafort AG, Top Source

Arts, culture & entertainment

Freddy Koella, Friars Club New York, HauntedHollywood, Helmi Sigg, Ja-Tail Enterprises LLC, Jay Abraham Strategy Institute, John Hennigan (Johnny Mundo, Johnny Nitro, Johnny TV), La Toya Jackson, Malibu Creek Docents / California State Parks, Marktrezept.de, PILLAGE Autour du Pic Board Game (Case Study), Steve Gerlach

E-commerce & product brands

GMX Glückwunschkarten, Hairloss.com, Hermes Germany GmbH, KHW, Künzli Optik, Plushland, Rock Brasiliano GmbH, Take the 55, Top Source Wines, Weber SAS

Teaching & mentoring

Since 2025, I have been a part-time faculty member at ESMA (École Supérieure des Métiers Artistiques) in Montpellier, an internationally recognised higher-education network specialising in applied arts, design, filmmaking, photography and 3D animation.

ESMA and its affiliated schools, including CinéCréatis and IPESAA, form one of the most established creative-arts education groups in France, with campuses in Montpellier, Lyon, Bordeaux, Rennes, Nantes and Toulouse.

Within ESMA’s five-year Master’s-level 3D Animation & VFX programme (RNCP Level 7 – Bac+5), I teach three distinct courses: Illustration, Visual Arts, and Image Analysis (Semiotics and Scénario). These courses explore visual culture, art history, photography, cinema, animation, visual semiotics and narrative systems.

My focus is on developing students’ visual literacy, analytical thinking and storytelling skills, bridging theory, aesthetics and contemporary creative practice.

Whether the client is a global brand, a publisher, a city council, an NGO, a vineyard, a start-up or a local independent business, the aim is the same: to create visual work that is clear, distinctive and genuinely useful.

For a closer look at how that work functions in practice, visit the Case Studies page or connect with me on LinkedIn.

Client logos: Google, Coca-Cola, Daimler-Benz, Henkel, Wacom, and others – Ian David Marsden illustration and design clients