What is an illustration?

Contents

1 What is an illustration?
2 Different Types of Illustrations
3 What is the difference between Graphic Design and Illustration?

What is an illustration?

Illustration is a visual art form that communicates information, ideas, or stories through images. It’s often used in books, magazines, advertising or digital media.

“In the 19th century, advances in printing technology, such as lithography and wood engraving, revolutionized illustration, making it a major part of mass media like books and newspapers. In this era, images were moved from hand-crafted to mechanical, influencing graphic design and visual storytelling a lot.” – Fiverr

For example, imagine a children’s book where creative and hand-drawn illustrations make for an engaging and easy-to-understand reading experience for younger readers. Illustrations can also make an app become easy to use and help user take specific actions.

Different Types of Illustrations

“The human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text, and 90 percent of information transmitted to the brain is visual.”- Thermopylae Science and Technology

Concept Art

This type includes surreal, game, animated and themed illustrations. The definition of this term first appeared in 1930s, maybe from Disney, and it also used in the auto industry. Artists will create some ideas from a certain topic, so customers can select and track the stages in the illustration creation process.

Illustration of children’s books

This type of illustration is very diverse from realistic illustration style with full of details to drawings are simple, lovely like children’s. It depends on the story content, target age group, and other purposes. However, illustrations for children are always colorful, specific, showing clear content, the characters are also cute and friendly.

Illustration of children's books — Illustration of children’s books

Comics/Graphic Novels

According to Wikipedia:

“Comics is a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically takes the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate dialogue, narration, sound effects, or other information. There is no consensus among theorists and historians on a definition of comics; some emphasize the combination of images and text, some sequentiality or other image relations, and others historical aspects such as mass reproduction or the use of recurring characters. Cartooning and other forms of illustration are the most common image-making means in comics”

Books/Publications/Articles

Book illustrations were designed using a variety of techniques, before moving on to print. This illustration style is very flexible, it depends on the author’s wishes and the theme of the book. Illustrators always try to create eye-catching book covers to attract readers among thousands of other books.

Advertisement

If book illustrations that only express a certain idea and don’t show too much content of the book, advertising illustrations need to attract attention and make a strong impression on viewers about an idea, or brand/ product. Many companies choose illustrations as a means to convey messages to customers, partly because illustration expresses ideas better than photography.

Package Illustrations

With increasingly fierce competition, packaging becomes one of the means to compete with other competitors. For some businesses such as jewelry, cakes, and children’s products, illustrator is an extremely successful choice.

“Package illustrations are essential for brands. They have to accomplish two goals: give each product a unique look in the eye of the customer and draw attention.” – Graphicmama

Branding/Logos illustration

Brand/logo illustration is very specific style that requires the artist to have certain skills. For example, a logo should be recognizable and readable at small sizes. Therefore, logo should be simple, attention and memorable. Besides, to build a brand, businesses also invest in illustrations such as mascots, and animated versions of employees or products.

Fashion Illustrations

“Fashion illustration is a key part of any fashion designer’s work” – Graphicmama

It is a visual technique to pre-visualize costumes before they are produced. It is often used by fashion designers to improve the appeal of the idea to shoppers. Fashion illustrators can explain style ideas in a way that is understood and visually appealing.

What is the difference between Graphic Design and Illustration?

“The major difference between graphic design and illustration is in how and where they’re used. Graphic design is often used commercially, whereas illustration is more closely tied to fine art.” – Fiverr

While graphic design focuses on communicating with the target audience, the meaning of an illustration lies in the creative interpretation. Besides, graphic designers are guided by marketing and branding rather than words or storytelling.

the difference between Graphic Design and Illustration

“Illustrations are about art and the illustrator’s job is to create a meaningful piece of work that can be utilized by the graphic designer.” – Graphicmama

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