When you hire an animation studio to create an explainer video, the process can occasionally feel a bit confusing.
One of the very first—and most important—choices you’ll need to collaborate on with your studio involves the illustrations (the static visual images created during the design phase.)
When you partner with a studio like Wonderstory, we generally offer two distinct pathways to build these visuals: Stock Illustration Libraries or 100% Bespoke Illustration.
Option 1: Stock Illustration Libraries
Examples of Stock Illustration Videos from Wonderstory® Christian Animation Studio
When you choose this route, you are hiring our studio to source, curate, and manipulate pre-made illustration sets that we have either purchased or accessed via high-quality, professional online platforms.
The Benefits of Stock Illustration Libraries
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A Faster Production Timeline: Because our team isn’t drawing every single background and character from scratch, the storyboard and design phases move much quicker. If you have a looming deadline, this is the most efficient route.
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Fully Customizable by Our Animators: Don’t let the word “stock” worry you. We choose libraries built in vector format. This means our designers can open them up in software like Adobe Illustrator and completely customize the colors, shapes, and layouts to match your brand guidelines.
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Rock-Solid Visual Consistency: A professional stock library is inherently uniform. The characters and style match perfectly from scene one to the final frame. Occasionally, when creating everything from scratch, there is a minor risk of an illustrator deviating slightly from the overall style across a long project—but a library keeps everything strictly locked to the same feel.
Examples of Other available Stock Illustration styles at Wonderstory
The Drawbacks of Stock Illustration Libraries
The “Copycat” Risk: Because some of these libraries are publicly available, there is a chance another brand—potentially a direct competitor or an organization you’d rather not be associated with—is using the exact same visual style in their videos.
The Search Limitation: While we are great at mixing, matching, and tweaking library assets to build complex scenes, sometimes a client requests a highly specific, unique visual that simply doesn’t exist in the library.
The Late-Upgrade Penalty: We can always inject custom illustrations into a stock video later on if we hit a wall, but retrofitting bespoke assets into a stock framework halfway through production comes at a much higher price than if you choose bespoke from day one.
Option 2: Bespoke Illustration
Examples of Bespoke Illustration Videos from Wonderstory® Christian Animation Studio
Choosing the bespoke route means you are hiring our studio to build your video’s visual world entirely from a blank canvas.
The Benefits
A Highly Tailored, Distinct Look: Your visual style is built explicitly around your brand identity. While talented illustrators naturally have a signature aesthetic they apply across projects, your video’s specific assets and scenes will belong uniquely to your brand.
No Creative Limits: If you can dream it, our studio can draw it. We don’t have to spend hours searching through libraries hoping to find a “close enough” match; we can create any scene or complex concept exactly how you want it.
A Noticeably Premium Feel: Modern audiences are visually savvy. They can instinctively feel the difference between an “off-the-shelf” framework and an asset designed entirely from scratch. Investing in original art builds immense trust and aligns perfectly with premium brand identities.
Access to Incredible Talent: At Wonderstory, we have a long, trusted roster of incredibly talented Christian illustrators who love taking a custom brief and breathing life into entirely new concepts.
The Drawbacks
Takes More Time: Crafting master-level artwork from scratch naturally requires a longer production timeline before our animators can begin their work.
Higher Production Investment: Because you are paying for original artistry and extra studio hours, the upfront cost to create the video is higher.
How to Choose?
If you need a video on a tight deadline, have a strict budget, and your concepts can be explained using standard business or lifestyle imagery, choosing Stock Libraries allows our studio to build you a beautiful, cost-effective asset.
If you want to position your brand as a premium leader, have a highly technical concept to explain, and want an asset that feels deeply prestigious and tailored, investing in Bespoke Illustration is worth every penny.
How Much Does Each Option Cost?
By clicking the button below, you can use Wonderstory’s instant quote builder. After answering a few quick questions about your goals, an instant quote will be generated.
You’ll see a live table that includes breakdown of Bespoke vs. Stock pricing, allowing you to customize your options and choose the exact direction you want our studio to take.
Click below to get started.
