Context of Practice Lecture 4

Pictures at work

what is illustration?

Illustration is strategic image making, used within the context of visual communication to convey meaning or concept.

A drawing of Mel Gibson isn't illustration. It has to portray meaning, purpose, problem.

Tony the tiger on the Frosties box is illustration. It was created for a reason- to sell the cereal. It was done on a brief.

The earliest form of visual communication was done in illustrations. We naturally respond to imagery.
The difference between Lance Wyman's U.S national zoo stuff and Jillian Tamaki's stuff for the national geographic is that Lance was creating visual signs that were simple and universally recognised and Jillian's work was designed to look nice. But they are both forms of illustration.

There are SO many different styles of illustration and each person has their own and that makes them unique. I particularly like this image we were shown in the lecture. James Jean for Prada. It's truly beautiful. I love the colours and the mix of techniques.



There is a massive demand for visual content within media like websites, magazines, t-shirts etc. We all need each others skills too for example a graphic designer might employ an illustrator to help with a magazine or poster. They also may employ a web designer to get their things online. Or visa versa the web designer may employ an illustrator to put an arty edge on the website they were designing.

Good illustration is more than illumination- it can be functional. An illustrator was used in the making of GTA. Many things like this that you wouldn't think of, like portraying war from first hand how it really was.