Illustration Portfolio

Click on images to see process work and more detail!

Design Portfolio

Click on images to see process work and more detail!

Hey there!

My name is Wil Van Dyne. I am currently a Milwaukee based illustrator and designer set to graduate in May of 2027 with a BFA in Illustration at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. I work primarily digitally but in my spare time I love to experiment with traditional mediums such as painting, ceramics, and textiles.I began illustrating when I was little by redrawing the covers of books that I loved, which evolved into a passion for illustrating detail-rich narrative scenes. My primary focus now is on the combination of digital illustration and design, creating compelling and versatile work through book illustration, packaging design, and poster design. I am endlessly thrilled to be working in a creative field, and my enthusiasm has earned me several freelance opportunities with clients such as Penfield’s Children’s Center, MIAD, and Marquette University.I’m a lover of tulips, biology, horror, and the color plum. When I’m not making art you can often find me slinging espresso at a local cafe, on a hike somewhere beautiful, or trying out something new in the kitchen. Feel free to reach out with any questions or inquiries!

Resume

Feel free to shoot me an email or fill out this form and I will get back to you ASAP! :)

Animals of the Galapagos

I illustrated this map with the intention of creating something simple and educational for elementary level children. I worked through several iterations that built on top of each other to create something bright and engaging while incorporating a lot of information.

Concept Sketches
Although originally drawn to concept 1, I pushed myself to reconsider concept 3 with a more intriguing use of the wide aspect ratio.

Tight Sketch
From here I decided to reconsider the numbering system as most animals are present among many of the islands. I instead decided to incorporate an information blurb to provide more context. I also decided to incorporate more environmental elements that simultaneously helped ground the image in space.

Grandma's Garden

Throughout a semester-long course during my Junior year at MIAD I worked on writing and illustrating a picture book titled Grandma's Garden. The story is geared towards children ages 3-5 and follows a young boy named Dylan. He is sent out to pick radishes from the garden but finds that he's shrunk when he gets there!

Thumbnails

Tight Sketches

Finalized Spreads

Character Sheets

Historical Recipe Illustration

For this assignment I was tasked to create an illustration uniquely depicting a recipe from a cookbook written in 1747. The recipe I illustrated was titled "To Pickle Codlings," and included instructions to gut baby cod fish and stuff them with garlic cloves and mustard seed. I approached this with a more painterly and ornamental style to nod to other artwork from that time period. This illustration was chosen as one of 15 to be featured in a booklet representing MIAD at the ICON13 Conference in Baltimore, MD.

Concept Sketches

Tight Sketch

Color Variations

Reworked colors to better match MIAD's schools colors for ICON13 Conference Booklet

Penfield Poster 2026

This poster was created for Penfield Children's Center's annual croquet ball fundraiser. The design was inspired by The Princess and the Pea to accentuate the theme of something seemingly small having a huge impact. This design was chosen for 2nd place from around 60 designs.

Concept Sketches

Tight sketches presented to client
They were interested in the first option with notes to make the croquet ball
smaller and work on the type treatment more.

Homebrew Coffee Co.

I created a fictional line of coffee bag designs inspired by TTRPGs and cryptids. Each coffee bag resembles a cryptid or folktale from the coffee's origin country with illustrations that match the flavor profile of the coffee.

Concept Sketches

Tight Sketch & Color Studies

Logo Renditions

Mockup

SAVVA

This fictional line of specialty teas was inspired by jungle animals and corresponding tropical flavors. I focused on creating a cohesive yet adaptable brand identity with biophilic wrap-around designs.

Concept Sketches

Tight Sketch & Color Variants
From here I decided to lean more into the idea that the colors would represent a different time of day each tea may be drank at.

Beetle Booklet

This booklet was created to highlight various rare and colorful species of beetle and educate readers on their qualities and importance. I used a mix of Adobe Illustrator and InDesign to make this.

Where the World Ends

This jacket was created as a redesign of the original cover of Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean. The book follows a group of young men in the 1700s that are stranded on a sea stac while bird hunting for the summer.

Concept Sketches

Tight Sketches & Type Variations
Chose a visually complex and contrastingly simple design to develop.

Color Studies
Decided on abnormally colored sky to accentuate eerie/isolated feeling.

Marquette Wellness Clinic Illustrations

I created five 24 x 36" natural scenery illustrations to be displayed in Marquette University's Wellness Clinic. They were interested in putting up calming scenes for students to look at while sitting in the waiting room. These illustrations were grouped into two sets, one of trees and the other of close-up florals.