Illustration and Photography in Design

MCJ 312 GRAPHIC DESIGNLijie Zhou

What is illustrationIllustration:

A specialized area of art that uses image to make a visual statementVector graphicsArtwork for commercial useIn print form and digital form (still picture, animation, motion graphics)Having high value (collectable)Painter Illustrator

By David McLimans

Why illustrationShowing something cannot be photographed(e.g., chemical reaction)Extreme details (tiny machine parts)Forcing eyes to focus on the contentCamera is prohibited (e.g., courtroom)Highly emotional and fantasy-based material

By Romare Bearden

By Koloman Moser

Advertising and editorial illustration

Advertising illustration:To sell a productWith dramatic highlights and texturesIllustrator works with art directors, account executives, and copywritersIllustrators need to please many people of various opinions

By David BoothFor London Undergroundsubway

By Matt ZumboPoster for Hoard’s Dairyman’s Yearly Wisconsin cow-judging contest

Editorial illustration:Communicating emotion or opinion through an expressive treatment of line, shape, and placement.Expressing a concept or story by using a purely visual language

By Yossi LemelA response to the United nations’ lack of ability to solve the Bosnian conflict

Other types of illustration

Recording illustration (CD cover)Book illustrationMagazine illustrationNewspaper illustrationFashion illustrationGreeting card and retail illustrationMedical and Technical illustrationAnimation and motion graphics

ByDugald Stermer

By David McLimans

Issue of the progressive magazine

Style and MediumTechniques:

Mixed-media collageCut paperPen and inkComputer

SoftwareIllustrator (Vector graphics)Photoshop (Raster graphics)Painter (Raster graphics)

The impact of photography

Strong, expressive tool: prove a point, explore a problem, and sell a productUsing photographs as a visual reference for later paintingsSome people: compared with illustration, camera does not lie (not true anymore)Photograph as document

By Alphonse Mucha

Photography as a design tool

Subject is selected and framedInteract with the environmentDarkroom and computer manipulationEarly 20th century, photomontage emergedPhoto illustration

By John Heartfield

Photography evaluationPrint qualityDesign qualityAbility to communicate

Visual representationIconic meaning (based on what you see on the picture)Indexical meaning (related to your personal experience, sense of feeling… )Symbolic meaning (based on the cultural context and society)

Reading the imageColorForm: how big the subject is, and where it is placed.Shape: square, circle, triangleLine: vertical, horizontal, and diagonal linesCamera angle: higher, equal, lower eye levelMovement: Uphill, downhill, dutch angleVectors: continuous (two force converge together), diverging (two force moving away)Shot types: long shot, medium shot, close-up

dutch angle shot