From One Portrait to a Full Brand: How Susan Rowland Built a Recognizable Real Estate Identity with Custom Illustration
If you've been curious about what it actually looks like to build a brand around custom illustration — not just in theory, but in practice — this post is for you.
Susan Rowland is a REALTOR® with Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She's sharp, stylish, and she's been in the real estate game long enough to know that standing out isn't just a nice idea — it's a necessity. Over the past few years, we've built a full illustrated brand identity together, piece by piece, and it's grown into something that shows up everywhere: her for-sale signs, her open house materials, her notecards, her social media, and the custom house portraits she commissions as gifts for her clients at closing.
NOTE: The yard signs you see here are from her previous brokerage — new signs are coming, and yes, her illustration will be on those too.
Read on to see how it all came together.
It Started with a Portrait
Like most of my realtor clients, Susan started with a single custom illustration of herself. That's almost always the right place to begin — because once you have a signature portrait, everything else can grow from it. We’ve modified the illustration over the years - adapting it to her style (and hair color!) and adding elements for seasonality, content, and use.
Susan knew from the beginning she wanted to use illustration in her branding. When she reached out to me after she decided to make the jump to real estate, she shared how much she enjoys the illustrations used by Bergdorf Goodman. This gave me insight into the type of illustration she enjoyed - fashion forward, colorful, and whimsy.
Her illustration captures her energy perfectly: confident, put-together, with a little edge. We worked through her style, her brand colors, and the vibe she wanted to project — approachable but professional, memorable without being over the top. Once that foundation was set, the portrait became the anchor for everything else.
The Illustration That Shows Up Everywhere
One of the things I love most about working with Susan is that she actually uses the illustration — everywhere. And I mean that in the best way possible.
Her illustrated portrait has shown up on her for-sale yard signs — yes, her actual yard signs — which is one of my favorite things she's done with it. It's the kind of move that makes people do a double-take at a listing and immediately know whose house that is. She's also used it on open house signage and marketing materials, which means her brand is consistent whether someone finds her online or drives past one of her properties. She also uses the illustrations for social media and events.
NOTE: The yard signs and business cards you see below are from her previous brokerage — new signs and cards are coming, and yes, her illustration will be on those too.
For Sale Signage
Business Cards
Marketing Events
Notecards That Actually Get Kept
In an industry where everyone is fighting for attention in someone's inbox, Susan invests in something that lands on a physical desk: illustrated notecards.
We've designed several versions for her over the years — she uses them for thank-you notes, client mailers, and seasonal outreach. The format is simple: her illustration, her branding, white space for a personal message. But the effect is anything but simple. People keep illustrated stationery. They put it on the fridge or prop it on a bookshelf. It becomes a little piece of her brand living inside someone's home.
Spring Notecard
Black History Month Notecard
Fall Notecard
Susan knows exactly what she wants when she comes to me for a new design — she'll have a message or season in mind and we work together to bring it to life. We collaborate a few times a year to keep things fresh.
The Client Gift That Nobody Forgets
This is the part that I think sets her apart: Susan commissions custom house portraits from me as closing gifts for her clients.
Think about what a closing gift usually is. A bottle of wine. A gift card. A candle. Nice, forgettable, gone by Tuesday.
An illustrated portrait of someone's new home is none of those things. It's a keepsake. It goes on the wall. It gets shown to family when they visit. It is — without exaggeration — the thing clients bring up when they refer Susan to someone else. "She had our house illustrated as a gift. You have to work with her."
For the realtors I work with regularly, I've built a smooth process for these portraits that accommodates tight timelines around closings. Susan can send me photos and trust that it'll be ready when she needs it.
What a Brand Built on Illustration Actually Looks Like
The thing that makes Susan's brand work isn't any single piece — it's the consistency. When you scroll her Instagram, receive her mailer, drive past her listing, or get a notecard in the mail, it all feels like the same person. That coherence is hard to build with stock imagery and Canva templates, and it's exactly what custom illustration makes possible.
For Sale Sign in action, shared on social media
Social Media comments on sign
The comments about her For Sale sign above say it better than I ever could.
She's also smart about how she uses the assets. The illustration isn't just decorative — it's functional. It shows up where clients and potential clients are actually looking: on the street, in the mail, in their hands at closing.
Susan said yes to illustration before she had a single listing. That's the kind of trust I don't take lightly.
Want Something Like This for Your Business?
Susan's brand didn't happen overnight — it grew from one portrait into something that shows up across her whole business. And that's actually the best way to approach it: start with one piece that works, and build from there.
If you're a realtor who's been thinking about leveling up your marketing, or if you've been looking for a closing gift that actually means something — I'd love to talk. You can explore options here on my website or reach out directly at erin@denimandink.com.
