Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
lustration over photography, however, is to communicate with a visual sensitivity that is
emotional, poetic, organic, and innately human. An illustration can also integrate with
other visual material, such as type, abstract graphic elements, and even the paper stock
or other finishing techniques, on a textural level that is impossible with a conventional
photograph. The designer must weigh these aspects carefully and select which mode of
representation will best suit the communication.
Drawing and Painting
The directness of hand-generated images is universally appeal-
ing. Through a drawn or painted image, the designer taps into a viewer's own sense of
creativity and connects on an extremely personal level—there is a genuine, honest, and
warm quality to an illustration that might be lacking in the slick and seamless realism
of a photograph. An illustration's success lies in the appropriateness of its style to the
subject matter at hand. The majority of illustration is contracted from specialists, who
cultivate a particular style to find a niche in the market, but this doesn't preclude de-
signers themselves from taking on the role of illustrator. A designer wanting to illustrate
will be intimate with the subject matter of the project and other relevant graphic ele-
ments—including type and finishing techniques. As a result, the designer might be able
to build images that are even more appropriate and integrated with other elements than
would be likely if working through an outside source.
Realism and Beyond
An illustration might be a concrete depiction that calls upon the
traditions of classical drawing and painting—its goal being to reproduce the empiric-
al world in a way that responds to actual conditions of light, form, and perspective.
Alternatively, an illustration might be a graphically stylized image that approaches ab-
straction, referring to the real world as a grounding point but favoring the expressive
qualities of gesture, ambiguous space, and the process of making the image. Between
these two extremes lie the possibilities of mixing elements of each state.
