Illustration
Creates images with a purpose: to inform, explain, comment, tell a story or persuade, in books, the press, brands or products.
What it deals with
Some ideas are better explained with an image than with words, and some things a photo can’t show.
Principles
Inform
Explain what something is like or how it works.
Tell
Narrate stories, fictional or real.
Persuade and comment
Convince or give an opinion with images.
Applications in design
Use it like this
Before drawing, define what the image has to do: explain, tell or convince.
Avoid
Using an illustration only to decorate when it could explain.
Don’t fall for it
An image can be misread too: test it with the people who will see it.
Connections
Authors and works
- 2007
Alan Male
Classified illustration by its purpose: informing, commenting, narrating, persuading and giving identity.
Sources
Original sources
- Male, A. (2007). Illustration: A theoretical and contextual perspective. AVA Publishing.
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