Explainer Illustration Services

Close-up of Anna Simmons’s storyboard illustration showing 'More than a Meal’ and ‘Liverpool' lettering with blue and orange colours and ship drawings.

Frames from an illustrated explainer that uses characters and scene-setting to make a complex idea easy to follow.

Visual Storytelling For Complex Ideas

Bring your Message to Life Visually

I create explainer illustrations that make ideas human, and clear. Whether it’s history, culture, or processes, I use storytelling, visual detail, and often hand lettering to translate information into something people can see, imagine, and connect with.

Some things are best explained visually

Here's what that looks like in practice

Photo of a storyboard illustration by Anna Simmons printed in a book, shown on a branded colour background

A storyboard illustration brought to life in print, demonstrating how visual storytelling for complex ideas helps readers take-in lots of information more easily

Illustrated Visual Essays

I distilled a 300-year history into a concise 3-page visual essay, combining storytelling, diagrams, and lettering. Each frame used a different visual device, from analogy to scene-setting, to keep the information clear, engaging, and intelligent.

Illustrations of people and places gave the story relatable depth, while lettering highlights made it easy for readers to absorb key points without slowing them down.

This project shows how explainer illustration can lift complex or dry topics into shareable, memorable stories that resonate with audiences.

See the project in full here

  • Illustration and lettering by Anna Simmons. Hand-drawn scene showing the word “Liverpool” with “Liver” in red, over a blue pool representing the dock. Tiny workers are building a wall around the pool.

    A visual scene-setting explainer that deconstructs Liverpool’s name by identifying the eponymous “pool” as the site of the now famous dock. Combining hand-lettered text, colour-coded typography, and detailed figures to connect name and place in a vivid, accessible way.

  • Illustrated and hand-lettered by Anna Simmons, this scene in brown and red shows a boxy building labelled “Labour Exchange” with hundreds of tiny workers queuing to enter. To the left, a ship unloads with only a few workers. Lettering explains the li

    A narrative illustration showing the correlation between shipping activity and unemployment in 19th–20th century Liverpool, using drawn people and scene setting to visualise economic data in human terms

Make ideas easier to grasp

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Add warmth to complex subjects

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Engage viewers at a glance

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Make ideas easier to grasp - Add warmth to complex subjects - Engage viewers at a glance -

Narrative Explainer Illustrations

This client commission for a history book involved creating illustrations that make complex systems and everyday life easy to follow.  I researched history to create story-driven depictions of ancient cultures, technologies, and systems.

  • An illustration in blues, turquoise, yellows and oranges, Eqyptian men in ancient dress row a boat filled with carved stone blocks away from a quarry filled with ancient labourers

    From a spread on Ancient Egypt, I illustrated quarry workers cutting and transporting stone blocks for the pyramids. Showing the system, labour, and tools, helps make the everyday life of ancient cultures feel more relatable

  • Illustration by Anna Simmons of an Ancient Egyptian pyramid construction site. Bright yellows, oranges, blues, and greens depict builders, families, working and living in the foreground, with the semi-built pyramid receding into the distance

    I illustrated builders, families (and pets!) on the construction site of The Great Pyramid, showing how people lived and worked. Combining the daily life and building activity makes the scene engaging, letting audiences step into the past and enhancing your project’s storytelling

A lively depiction of port life in Ancient Rhodes, using a repeating pattern of figures to show trade, and everyday bustle - from a decorative border adding texture, movement, and historical context to the story.

These images bring history to life, helping viewers see, imagine, and feel how people lived and worked. By mixing accuracy with a sense of story and relatability, the illustrations make intricate topics feel approachable, spark curiosity, and stick in the mind, so your project has more impact and connection with your audience.

To see the project in full click here

Illustration by Anna Simmons of a red tower ship attacking Rhodes. Soldiers in Hellenistic Greek style leap from a gangplank onto the city walls, while triremes with red-and-white sails float in the blue sea behind.

From a spread on Ancient Rhodes, I researched triremes and siege towers to show the attack on the city and the people defending its walls. Showing the history, technology, and daily life makes the scene come alive for audiences, helping your project tell its story clearly.

Custom explainer illustrations for campaigns

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Illustrated storytelling for social impact

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Human-centred visuals for communication teams

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Custom explainer illustrations for campaigns - Illustrated storytelling for social impact - Human-centred visuals for communication teams -

Explainer illustrations and illustrated essays can benefit your brand or organisation:

  • Inspire Action

    help people connect with ideas, stories, or history in a way that motivates them to care

  • Clear communication

    Make complex topics easy to follow, avoiding confusion or generic visuals

  • Human touch

    Make complex topics easy to follow, without confusion or generic visuals

Need to make history, science, or culture click with your audience? 

Let’s plan an explainer project together

Plan your project
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