There are many artists that are doing amazing things with vector illustrations. While there are tons of vector prints that have a clearly defined focal point, there are some inspiring ones that tell a compelling story. The vector sucks you into an existing world and makes you a part of the dialogue whether it’s social, environmental, political, commercial or personal. If you need inspiration for creating your own vector graphics, here is a collection of 20 amazing vector illustrations that demonstrate great storytelling.
This vector would make a great poster on any room. It depicts a tank marching forward and a boy waving a flag of peace. It’s very reminiscent of the Tiananmen Square protests where one man blocked off a fleet of tanks by refusing to move out of the way.
This vector was made for Quentin Tarantino’s famous movie Django Unchained. It does a great job in defining the key characters and giving you an idea of each character’s role in the movie. The style and artistic work of this vector is simply awe-inspiring.
This whimsical vector tells the story of something many of us are familiar with. A woman is in a room full of cats and the sound of opening a cat of cat food sends the cats rushing in. It even has a lion in the background for added humor.
What about creating a vector dedicated to vectors? This illustration describes the passion and the intricate art of creating vectors. It uses a beautiful color scheme and textures that make you notice every element in the vector. It also has a nice 80’s retro feeling to it.
5. Nike Design
If you consider yourself a sneaker head, then you’ll love this vector. It shows a pair of Nike sneakers dissolving into water-based paint. The idea is to show the level of design and artistry that sneaker heads see in their passion.
6. Under My Bed
This is a really fun and wacky vector that plays into the monster under the bed theme. It sort of reminds of you the Monsters Inc. movies and uses friendly and playful monsters as the characters. It only uses two color schemes but the way these colors are beautifully used makes it seem like it doesn’t need any more.
Etch art is one of the less explored styles. This vector takes the etch art concept to create an amazing piece. It uses the style to create two parallel worlds between nature and man. The parallels tell the show of the destructive effects of the man’s world and tranquility offered by nature.
8. Crazy World
Sometimes the best story based vectors portray the all-encompassing truths of reality. This vector paints a picture of the modern salary worker’s life in a world full of commercialism, convenience and distractions.
At first glance, this vector seems to want to talk about the obsession with being skinny and fashionably trendy. But according to the artist, the idea is to bring awareness to anorexia and bulimia, and tell the story of a girl trying to achieve the perfect body.
This vector depicts a humorous look at a designer’s life. The character is sleep deprived, stressed and looks disheveled. There are many elements that pay homage to the culture as well as the job which will really resonate with designers that get the pleasure to come across this piece.
11. The Only Apple
Social statements done in vectors always manage to make a strong impact with the target audience. This one is no different. It depicts the earth as an apple that has most of it bitten off. There are also taps attached that are leaking toxic waste and oil.
12. Colorful Monster
Tickedo is the artist that created this captivating piece. The vector describes a man with a TV for a head and many extensions of him all connecting to TVs. This alludes to our culture’s obsession with entertainment and lack of focus.
13. Silent Control
This piece is very obscure in the story it seems to want to tell. It obviously has many shamanistic and religious overtones. You can assume it’s meaning based on the title of the piece. It seems to want to depict the silent control that dogma has and desires from you.
14. Thirst
Beautiful sepia tones overpower this vector. The vector tells the story about the physical and the spiritual aspects of hunger and thirst. It does this by portraying the suffering of a hungry child and the pondering of a spiritually confused child.
15. Cloud Computing
Vectors can be used to tell a story for commercial purposes too. This flat design web hosting vector is a beautiful presentation that describes how cloud computing works. These kinds of designs can be applied to anything technology related such as programming, web hosting, database storage, apps, etc.
16. Soul Rebel
Bob Marley is an artist beloved by many. This vector brings together all the elements that defined him from ideas of peace, the rebellious ideology, guitars and cannabis. It also uses beautiful typography and background patterns to make the presentation even stronger.
17. Astronaut Chimp
This piece points to the humorous theme of space programs launching monkeys into space for experimentation. What you get is a monkey that’s floating through space in an effort to grab hold of the banana that’s flying away in zero gravity.
18. Mother Nature’s Lonely Laugh
This is a beautiful peace that explores the mystery, beauty and overwhelming force of mother nature. It uses interesting elements like a pocket watch, diamonds, fires and crowns to establish the various characteristics of nature.
19. Half Nation Love
Sometimes we need art to help us understand what’s important. This vector shows two different types of creatures coming together despite the skepticism, fears and misunderstandings.
20. Hope Tomorrow
Hope Tomorrow is a piece that depicts a glimpse into the future. It may be a reality where we have to wear gas masks to live in the inhabitable atmosphere. The butterflies in this vector represent the hope that can still be found.
All of these vectors have done an amazing job communicating a strong story. Hopefully, these ideas have inspired you to tell your own story through vector art.