I recently finished a total of 30 illustrations to be included in a little side project for a very close friend of mine. I wanted to keep them simple and playful utilizing some fine textures to bring depth. The final Illustrations were printed at close to 4 in. in height as there is a bit more detail than these small images let you see.

I stumbled across these comical illustrations of depressed superheroes. The childlike charm of the illustrations keeps it whimsical and fun. My favorite is Gweenie. What’s yours?

via: Design You Trust

Found this little gem of an illustrator, Martine Johanna. Her works remind me of a simplified mixture between Audrey Kawasaki and Sylvia Ji. Due to the very subtle and natural color schemes, her work produces a somewhat calming effect.

Last year I had the chance to interview an amazing illustrator, Susan Burghart, for my illustration class. Her works spoke to me as they involved a great rich style but also incorporated typography into many elements. Susan was already a great illustrator as an undergrad but decided to go for her Masters from Camberwell College in London. Here she explored incorporating textures into her vector illustrations giving them much more depth. Keep up to date with Susan on her blog.

Dylan Jones or known to some as Theory One has some great and numerous illustrations on his Flickr Portfolio. He has a couple of styles going on and all of them good. Especially fond of his vector treatment. Might combine some of that glossy style with some textured illustrations I’m working on.

via: Made In England

Here are some great works from the talented Argentinean, Leandro Castelao. I just love these illustrations — they have a playful vibe yet feel like your looking at the blueprints to some device. Check out more of his work at his website.

via: ISO50

I wish I had discovered Matthieu Forichon earlier. His works are gorgeous in every aspect. His use of color is impeccable and the subtle implementation of textures brings a certain depth to each piece. I will continue to watch Matthieu closely and I hope you do as well. You can view more of his work at his blog.

via: Drawn

Making my usual rounds through the internet and I came across Andrew Bell. He has a very graphic style and knows how to keep things fun. His characters have so much life in them. Andrew seems to do fun little creature sketches every few days so it’s worth it to check back in on him from time to time.