At the end of last year (2025), I was commissioned by Marlinks and Fluves to create a holiday illustration for their end-of-year communication. Both companies work in subsea and infrastructure cable monitoring, using advanced technology to keep critical systems running safely and efficiently.
This post gives some insight into how the illustration was made — and what I learned along the way.
From Humorous Concepts to a People-Focused Group Cartoon
In the concept phase, I explored several playful ideas, including robots and mech suits for cable monitoring — deliberately humorous exaggerations of the highly technical world Marlinks and Fluves operate in. Fun to draw, but not the right fit for the message they wanted to send.
The final direction shifted away from technology and towards people.
Personal ‘Maarten Vanhoucke-style’ over brand guidelines…
Lucky for me, I didn’t have to adapt the illustration style to the brand guidelines (as I did happily for my previous assignment). No this time I could scribble, ink and aquarelle away, the way I like it.
One Illustration, 27 People
The final artwork became one large group cartoon featuring all 27 employees across both companies, based on internal company mugshots.
Each person was illustrated with a personal detail rather than a technical one — hobbies, interests, or character traits that say something about who they are outside of work (foilboarding, loving the outdoors, etc.). The challenge was to keep everyone recognizable and unique, while still making the illustration read as a single, coherent festive scene.
A Big Miscalculation — and a Valuable One
I underestimated the amount of work this would take. Designing dozens of recognizable characters, each with custom details, and fitting them into one balanced composition made this far more complex than I initially planned.
At the same time, it turned into a great learning experience. By drawing every individual, I felt like I got to know the entire Marlinks & Fluves team in a surprisingly personal way — something a more abstract illustration would never have achieved.
Process and Thanks
Alongside the final image, I’m sharing early sketches, rejected proposals, and work-in-progress visuals to show how the idea evolved.
Many thanks to the Marlinks & Fluves marketing team for trusting me with this project and for the collaboration throughout. It was one of the assignments that helped make 2025 one of my best years as an illustrator.
Marlinks
https://marlinks.com/
Fluves
https://www.fluves.com/
My previous assignment for Marlinks: https://www.maarten-vanhoucke.be/blog/animated-illustrations-for-marlinks
