Study Task 3 - What is illustration? Part 2

Function

Some examples of illustrations with a function could be book/magazine covers, editorial, advertising, fashion design illustrations or product packaging. 

Content

Usually the content is influenced by the illustrators tone of voice. Some illustrators work with narrative to communicate either a story or perhaps an experience. Other illustrator's tone of voice give their work a distinctive aesthetic which makes it suitable for communicating to a particular audience. 
Political illustration, such as the 'We Can Do It!' example can help change constructs in society and address the way we think about things such as gender roles. 

Process

I am interested in the combination of analogue techniques and digital. The examples I have chosen all resonate with tools I like to work with, such as fine liners and ink. Personally, I like to finish pieces off digitally but I'm also interested in illustration that exists off paper (Vic Lee example). 

Aesthetic 

Colour palette is important when considering what kind of aesthetic you want to achieve with an illustration. Different colours, (such as the pink monochrome example) can be used to target a specific audience - as generally women will identify with the colour pink. 
I'm interested in looking at very detailed artwork but sometimes this isn't appropriate for some briefs so it is important to be able to translate information and adjust line quality to tailor it to the audience/client. 

Context

Illustration can exist almost anywhere - from zines to packaging designs and posters. Currently I am interested in how illustration can exist elsewhere though, such as an installation at a gallery, a wall at a restaurant or even a shop window. I think what is appealing about this scale is that it is very hands on and it is satisfying to spend a lot of time crafting an image. 

Practitioners

A great way to discover other practitioners is to simply Google search illustration agencies. I selected the top few and came loads of illustrators I was interested in looking at and I think it is a really good way to stay informed on the industry. 

Audience

The audience for an illustration can vary from small children to your peers in a sub culture. The content has to be appealing for the audience as well as engaging. For example, children's book illustrations need to be fairly simple and narrate the story. Editorial illustrations however, are usually aimed at adults and so the content and complexity of the image can be different depending on the seriousness of the article it accompanies. Similarly, product illustration needs to appeal to/resonate  with the target audience/market because nobody wants to spend money on a product they don't like the look of.