Case Study · Corporate Illustration · Character Design · Internal Communication
Mercedes-Benz Mitarbeiterknigge — Illustration for Employee Training & Service Culture
A large illustrated employee manual developed for Mercedes-Benz to communicate professional conduct, customer interaction and service culture through clear narrative scenes and a consistent character system.
Client: Mercedes-Benz AG via Sieber & Wolf GmbH · Period: 2010–2015
Role: Illustrator · Character Designer · Visual Communicator · Visual Storyteller
Book design & art direction: Sieber & Wolf GmbH
The Brief
Make professional behaviour visible
The Mitarbeiterknigge was developed as an internal communication and onboarding manual for customer-facing teams. It dealt with courtesy, service culture, teamwork, professional presentation and everyday interaction with customers and colleagues.
The illustrations had to make those situations immediately understandable through posture, expression, gesture, environment and relationships between people, while remaining appropriate for the Mercedes-Benz brand and the agency’s overall design direction.
01 · Narrative Illustration
Every scene had to communicate a situation
Working from the agency’s creative direction and situational outlines, I developed each subject as a narrative scene rather than a generic corporate illustration.
The drawings had to show details such as how people greet one another, listen, present vehicles, respond to customers, share space and handle professional situations. Much of the meaning therefore sits in body language and interaction rather than explanatory text.
02 · Illustration System
A consistent visual language across many scenarios
The project required a dedicated illustration system covering employees, customers, vehicles, dealership environments and workplace situations. The linework, colour, proportions and level of detail had to remain coherent across the complete manual.
Characters
Employees, customers and supporting figures designed to remain expressive while fitting a professional corporate context.
Environments
Dealership and workplace settings developed around the situations described in the manual.
Vector Artwork
Scalable Adobe Illustrator artwork prepared for publication, layout and internal communication use.
03 · Production
Clean vector artwork for a large illustrated publication
The illustrations were drawn digitally with a Wacom Cintiq and produced in Adobe Illustrator as editable vector files.
That approach kept the linework precise, allowed artwork to be scaled for different layouts, and made the complete illustration set practical for the agency’s publication workflow.
Related Mercedes-Benz Work
Petronas Formula 1 paper cutout for the Mercedes-Benz Museum
A later collaboration with Sieber & Wolf led to a different Mercedes-Benz project: an illustrated paper cutout sheet of the Mercedes-Benz Petronas Formula 1 car for children visiting the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. The drawing had to combine recognizable technical detail with a form simple enough to cut out and assemble.
Project Scope
Illustration built around communication rather than decoration
- Character design for employees and customers
- Dealership and workplace environments
- Customer-service and conduct scenarios
- Scalable Adobe Illustrator artwork
- Consistent line, colour and composition system
- Artwork prepared within Sieber & Wolf’s publication design
Related work
Commissioned Illustration →
Comics & Sequential Illustration →
Logos, Mascots & Characters →
Corporate Illustration
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