COP NOTES (Note to self)  - more useful theories and quotes

Graphic Design vs Illustration 

Adrian Shaughnessy (graphic designer, writer, RCA Senior Tutor) 10.15.06

"The professional world of illustration is widely believed to be in poor shape...There are, of course, many reasons for illustration's fading stature other than the commercial world's hard-nosed preference for photography over the arty vagueness of hand-rendered imagery. The ubiquity of software that allows graphic designers to generate their own imagery is another factor, as is the rise of illustration stock libraries. Yet perhaps illustration's current status owes most to its near-total eclipse by graphic design. To understand the contemporary state of illustration, we need to look at its relationship with graphic design.

But during the 1990s, illustration's "individual style" became a liability. Visual communication was colonized by tough-minded, business-driven graphic designers who gave their clients what they wanted: branding, strategy and the precision-tooled delivery of commercial messages. Even amongst more idealistic designers — designers who embraced theory, political activism (no big-name illustrators signed the First Things First manifesto), and notions of self-authorship... The outcome of all this was that designers seemed to lose the habit of commissioning illustration, and most illustration was relegated to mere decoration.

Buy why? 

It's a much-touted nostrum that we live in a visual world. Sure, the media landscape is saturated with images, but these images are nearly always accompanied by words signposting us to some sort of financial transaction...Graphic design is almost exclusively about precise communication, and its facility to combine words and images makes it a far more potent force than illustration. Milton Glaser has said: 'In a culture that values commerce above all other things, the imaginative potential of illustration has become irrelevant... Illustration is now too idiosyncratic."

James D Nesbitt (American artist and designer, based in Seattle) - responded to Shaughnessy's writing

"Illustration as advertisement may be underused at the moment, but there has been a merging of graphic design and illustration over the past few years that only seems to be cresting as we speak. While it may not be used for the next great series of Apple adverts, it is the corporate mantra of Starbucks where everything, and I do mean every little thing, must have some hand crafted element before it hits the shelves or media outlets. I would also like to point out that while illustration in print has significantly decreased, the use of illustration via animation in corporate advertising has increased. I have also seen resurgence in the rock poster, where illustration is essential, and the proliferation of illustration in both clothing and textiles."

"...Illustration per se may have lost its luster in the corporate mainstream, but it thrives elsewhere. When did we start to judge the validity or value of what we do on corporate need or the swinging pendulum of fad? In the end, illustration can be just as expressive as the well paced interactions of typography and image. It is but another means to communicate the message. Illustration is far from dead. I wish I could say the same for corporate inspiration."

• I honestly thought that he has very interesting intake on the design world and how the growing consumerist culture and industry is effecting it (for good and bad). Though I also found the comments section to be equally informative to see varying views on his opinion (Nesbitt's response was particularly striking)

• I don't particularly agree with Shaughnessy's statement of illustration dying. Though it might be true that it is not as commonly used commercially as graphic design (e.g traditional/analog prints). Though I personally think that what Nesbitt is saying makes sense, that either way it is still a form of visually communicating and that illustration exists in other forms (and is equally effective in communicating messages/narratives)

Full article: https://www.rca.ac.uk/more/staff/adrian-shaughnessy/

COP NOTES (Note to self)  - useful theories and quotes

Picture Perfect: Advertising & Promotional Projects - Commercial Illustration: 
IAN NOBLE

"...the use of illustration to sell, persuade, or inform, provides a good example of its power to communicate beyond the level of, for instance, a photograph -adding a level of sophistication ad interpretation beyond that which is achievable through the lens." 
(I smell capitalism and consumerism)

Design & Underdesign - Liz Farrelly 
Tibor KALMAN

"...many designers believe that design is the end product. To me, design is merely a language, a means to an end, a means of communication. The question is, what do you communicate -Burger King, or something meaningful?" 
(Agree! I would say that imagery, symbols, signs, visual means is the most universal language!!)

"Kalman revels in debunking the self-importance and over-indulgence that he believes is rife within design and publishing. Spiced with a note of self-deprecation and a generous sprinkling of irrelevance, Kalman's writings and lectures challenge designers to face up to the consequences of their actions, and choose between simply greasing the wheels of commerce or making a very real contribution to change."
 (True. Which is more worth? meaningful work or pocket money?)

"A designer is a professional liar because he's hired not to make the properties of a product clear but to enhance the product beyond its truth. In a funny sort of way its exactly what lawyers do with the moral position of a company, and what accountants do with the figures. Still graphic designers think they're doing something else, making beautiful art, but its not true' Kalman's antidote to corporate compromise is work for what he calls his own 'private audience'. 'The sense in which we were our own audience was that we'd look at a project and say, never mind the client do we think this is cool?' His attitude may sound self-indulgent, but behind the bluff is a logic that facilitates honesty. Put simply, it's very hard to lie to yourself" 
(Preach! I feel that exceptional artworks are when it engages with the practitioner, the audience and the community)

The Education of an Illustrator

The design process - Bruce Wands

"The creative process starts as an intellectual exercise. A design problem is defined, analyzed, creatively treated, and brought to a solution. Paul Rand in From Lascaux to Brooklyn defines the design process as 1) preparation, 2) incubation, 3) Revelation, and 4) verification. (Paul) Rand states that it is important for the illustrator to understand the relation between aesthetics and the computer. He concludes that 'the conflict between design and technology, like the the conflict between form and content, is not an either/or problem, it is one of synthesis." 

"Successful design combines aesthetic an cerebral components to facilitate understanding and appreciation by the viewer. Two crucial functions of design are to attract and subsequently, to communicate. If one were to flip through and industry magazine, certain illustrators would argue that successful design causes an individual to stop at a particular page. There is an implied competition between the visual elements and the verbal content." (Visual communication...?)

The joy of illustration - Marshall Arisman

"An illustrator works best when he or she has the freedom to breathe and interpret. Overly art directing an illustrator's images is often counterproductive. The joy of illustration comes from seeing the artist's rendition for the first time -like opening a present on Christmas morning. Illustration may not work for all design problem, but I've found the designing with illustration has never been a problem." 
(I feel that this is something I find difficult, especially with my own practice. To be able to incorporate my own tone of voice and responding to the issue/design problem)

"And that's what illustrations are supposed to do: shed a little light on the world in which we live." - Veronique Vienne

True confessions of a storyteller - Marshall Arisman

"Today illustrators are desperate. Rents need to be paid. However, how many illustrations and spot drawings of a man wearing a business suit, carrying a briefcase and climbing a ladder to the sky (or perched on a tightrope) do art directors really need? However, telling our personal stories in our own way has power. If we don't do it -no matter how many concept images we have to do at the same time for the money -illustration will die. Write and illustrate that book. Do it for no fee. Send this work off to your favorite editor, art director, or designer." 
(True! But don't create work just because it is aesthetically pleasing, as well as not just a reflection of what you feel but also the world around. Purpose! Function!)

That's not art, that's illustration - Brad Holland

"Everybody is an artist these days. Rock and roll singers are artists. So are movie directors, performance artists, make-up artists, tattoo artists, con artists, and rap artists. Movie stars are artists. Madonna is an artist, because she explores her own sexuality. Snoop Doggy Dogg is an artist because he explores other people's sexuality. Victims who express their pain are artists. So are guys in prison who express themselves on shirt cardboard. Even consumers are artists when they express themselves in their selection of commodities. The only people left in America who seem not to be artists are illustrators." 
(witty quote but I agree. A slap to one's face. Talking about commercial art?)

• I would say that the things these practitioners, designers, professionals are similar yet different in a way. From the manifestos, articles and journals I've read there are subtle differences in their statements. (Though this matter is very black & white, opinion A and opinion B, I have yet to come across the greys or opinion C)

• I might actually look into the nuances of this particular issue. What state is illustration now? some disagree with commercial illustrations or illustrations that could simply make someone feel something. Whereas some thinks that illustration should be something that respond to worldly issues, make a statement, change and have purpose...

COP NOTES (Note to self) - words from practitioners 

VAROOM! 
The illustration report Autumn 2016, Issue 34

ANNA STEINBERG
Illustrator and Educator

"...as an illustrator and lecturer I got used to regarding artwork as a commercial process and a challenge, and associated the generation of artwork with an inevitable level of stress."

"Creating artwork is a prompt to ask, get and give advice, receive compliments and solve problems. Any one of those is a contributor to our wellbeing and self-esteem that we can take for granted when our self-esteem is in reasonable shape."

JANE CRADOCK-WATSON
Course Leader BA & MA Illustration UCA Farnham

"Being an Illustrator these days is as much as being an entrepreneur as it is about producing creative visual solutions."

• These practitioners consider illustration as not purely image-making, but with a purpose and process (despite the link to commercial behaviour)

Other sources:

• http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/first-things-first-manifesto-2000
• http://designobserver.com/article.php?id=4857
• http://www.dialectograms.com/dialectograms/

COP NOTES (Note to self) - Articles 

ArtReview volume 68 no 8
BENNIAL BURNOUT

"As the world lurches from one desperate crisis to the next, is it time to consider the real values of art?"

• wasn't sure if this phrase was relatable to my research. Though I thought that the article itself was very insightful. I suppose the idea of subjectivity in art is what makes people think and question, and not simply take what is given as it is. 

Joshua Decter

"...is it because all politics and ideologies -and the media- seem to have failed us, that the desire for art to enable progressive transformation of the world has intensified? And so has art been reinstrumentalised as a form of politics? Shouldn't we also talk about the ethical and political infrastructure of our exhibition platforms - how ethics and politics appear to be represented (ie exhibited), via artworks, to publics? in other words, so as to make progressive change in the world, perhaps we should start at home with ourselves and our systems of art. Or to put it another way still: be biennial you want to see in the world."

• I thought of noting this quote from the article (summed up. full article: ArtReview volume 68 no 8, Bennial Burnout) since I found it pretty interesting. 

• art isn't merely used as a form of expression, but a response to the society and world we live in. Though as people would say that artists could freely express oneself through their work, they are bounded by the restrictions of censorship, ethics, society etc.

Useful sources: 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/arts/01iht-DESIGN1.html?_r=0