From The Archives ~ Topics: personal essay
What makes a good illustration?
Since editors are by nature a cranky sort (and since I am, by nature, cranky even by editor standards), let me turn the question around and tell you what makes a *bad* illustration. An illustration is, by definition, bad if it is intentionally cryptic, self-referential, or so "deep" that you have to read the article to figure out what the illustration is doing there. This is called "trying too hard" and earns an immediate vote of no confidence. An illustration is bad if it is fussy, prissy, pretentious, or requires a magnifying glass to find and identify the internal elements. This is called "trying to soft" and creates an image where the effort to look at it is disproportionate to the satisfaction that the image delivers.
OK, now that I've got that out of my system, what makes an illustration good? Well, take a look at the two illustrations by Brad Holland in the February 2002 issue of Fast Company. The accompanying articles ask two questions: What is courage? And whose business is national security? What Brad Holland has produced are strong, compelling images that connect immediately and viscerally with the reader, that complement the articles perfectly, and that are so striking and evocative that they are also powerful stand-alone works of art.
The question of courage is a timeless one; the piece is an interview with a book author who has traced courage from the days of the ancient Greek warriors to the battlefields of Vietnam. The image that Holland has produced immediately suggests the history of courage (in the suggestion of a Greek-styled helmet), the individuality of the warrior (in the light in the soldier's eye), and the underyling question before us concerning courage (in the question-mark like shape of the opening in the helmet). It's full-page, full-bleed, arresting, dark, and textured.
The second illustration-the one that accompanies the piece on security-has the same kind of energy. The image is again timeless: To me, it suggests both a cave painting and a drawing of American cavalry troops riding across the prairies. The texture contributes to this effect: It could be on a rough surface or a weaving. It is subtle, suggestive, but again, drawn strongly and powerfully, with a presentation that suits perfectly the tough topic of national security.
These are both dramatic, energetic, compelling illustrations. You look at them and immediately you know what territory you are in. They help to sell the articles. They fit the magazine. What can I say? I love them!
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I half-heartedly disagree; only half-heartedly since you explained; I see history. Courage should be depicted more as heart than armor, security a little less than war. Well that's my opinion. Thanks for letting me share, BeBe
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Good illustration is like good design, it's purpose is to enhance the text, not compete with it. It's message needs to be instantly readable and recognizable.
Unlike it's twin sister Design, rarely can Illustrations stand alone without text accompaniment. On very rare occasions it has, Immediately I think of Mucha, NC Wyeth (Treasure Island), Rockwell etc. Not many illustrators these days can create illustrations that have enough firepower to be able to do this. Most of us modern illustrators desperately need some text to help define our work. The Old-School illustration skills and expertise are lost or forgotten, or extremely hard to find.
Successful illustrations have to become a part of the text. They must remain under a sort of "submission" to the text of a story, poem, etc. and not the other way around.
Unfortunately, within every illustrator there lies just enough writer to make him dangerous. -
Spelling error... "trying too soft" with two O's in the word, "too", not one O, as in "to" :)
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Ok I'm not an editor, just a beginning graphic designer. Now that, that is clear.
I agree with the comment that courage takes heart. You do not need a piece of armor to have courage. Telling the truth these days takes courage. Maybe if the illustration had a bleeding heart, spilling onto the world or something of that nature. See it takes courage to change the world, it takes a being. Moving along the thought of security, I don't know, because security brings up the whole BUSH thing, war on terrorism and thats a separate issue. We pillage one land in a war, so that we can have our false security, it just bugs me. I get the illustration. Well thats my two cents. -
I have to agree with the article. I haven't read the piece being discussed, but it seems to me Mr. Webber's description of the text fits the illustrations and vice versa. From an Illustrators point of view - the symbol of a heart can be read many different ways... a bleeding heart as mentioned above.. bleeding onto the world? My goodness. What could that be about? A man in a warrior helmet.. that says courage. No doubt. No matter what you think of war or different kinds of courage, a man standing in his war gear prepared to meet his foe with only a sword and a shield (most likely not even wearing any pants!!-just some sort of skirt-like thing!)-THAT takes courage! To be Bush sending folks out in machines to kill people from miles away..behind computers and radar displays.. well that's a different - not so direct -image of courage. As the man said; the images "...are strong, compelling images that connect immediately and viscerally with the reader..." The last thing you want to do is have to have to read the article twice to know what the illustration is doing there. You don't have to with these. Courage and Security- two timeless qualities.. the article mentions history. The images are historical. Nicely Done, I say.
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I would love for a little diversity in Mr. Webber's examples. The publishing industry has been praising BH for decades. He's definitely good, and every up- and-coming illustrator in the universe knows he's going to get called for a job before them.
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hello everybody !!am student in graphic design last year!i do like the illustration too much,and i took a course about it so i choose my senior I about illustration,specially i would like to talk about print illustration,but till now i didn;t founf a good data about what u need!!!and really i feel lost so would to ask also is my concept is a good??plz i really need some advices from ppl who has experience ins this major!!+ i need some one to guide me!!!plz anyone like to help thxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxam waiting for ur reply thxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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LOVE ART but not sure how to make a true profit. Need help got any suggestion since I've been giving my art away pertty much away. Hay, no thua answers please. Got drawing scatter around the globe as freebees. Got sound wisdom will to here it. Just been doing this 29 years. I've motivate, encourage, unitfied,adults, teachers, student, teen and even lttle children with loving fun creative art work I.ve designed, displayed, and created. well thanks for taqking the time to read my plead for getting paid. Peace Tina
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what is up with orange and grey,its so 2000.
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the illustration depicting the soldier with a question mark helmet does not stand as a universal representation of courage. it doesnt require itself to be. one must read the article in relation to the illustration first before suggesting a "better" take on the art piece.
Mr. Webber explained it in a clear and basic manner that it almost seem too simple. and thats how it should be, cause its all about communicating in the most simplest way to convey a message. -
I have to say that if those Holland picts are the best examples of good illustration you could find to write an article about then I must conclude you are not very interested in illustration...
There is no courage, lets try and look ahead rather than behind and push the boundaries a bit -
I like this illustrator's work and I can empathise with Mr Webber's need to write about 'something' when asked to provide column inches here, but really, I don't think either piece conjures either word effectively at all. I would bet that, if asked, joe public would not immediately identify the 'meaning' of eithe rof these pieces of work. They look nice, and I bet they decorated the page really well in Fast Company, but really? Courage?... and security? I struggle to see those things at the heart of either artwork!
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While I love Brad Holland's work and I agree for the most part with Mr. Webber's view of what makes a good illustration, I also object to a couple of things:
I've been commissioning book cover illustration and magazine illustration for over 20 years. While I appreciate the showcasing of top talent, I'm surprised that the only examples shown of "good illustration" are those of an extremely high-budget illustrator. Great! Now we know what to aim for. How about featuring effective and stunning illustrations that didn't cost a mint to produce? And that perhaps need to encompass a few other ideas than a one-word concept, like courage or security. Are we still in art school, working on the ideal project at all times?
What about illustrator that is a true collaboration between an illustrator, art director and editor? Was there a "back-and-forth" effort here, or was the illustrator merely given the concepts and asked to deliver?
A word on courage and the representation of: Illustration is a highly subjective matter. I'd place a healthy chunk of change to say that if the illustrator were a woman, we wouldn't be seeing a warrior represent the concept of courage. Yikes.
Love the national security piece though, it cuts to the core of the matter and presents the simple fact that the approach to national security hasn't changed much over the entire history of humans. -
While I find the opinions expressed by the readers here very interesting, I think some of the Illustrators/Designers are forgetting something very valuable...illustrating for a client is not about your opinion and what you think conjures war and courage. It is the opinions of the readership and what they will see when looking at the illustrations. Who is suppose to understand the thoughts and opinions of their readership? The Editor. At the end of the day it is the Editor, if her or she is a good Editor, who will know their readers and the views of their readers. While an Illustrator and a Graphic Designer are experts in what they do (visual communication) the wants and needs of the client (the Editor) take precedence. In collaboration, their should be a consensus with the expertise of each (Editor and Illustrator/Designer) contributing to the final image. I find too often young (and sometimes old) Designers and Illustrators, in their quest to create exceptional design and art, forget who the client is and the wants and needs of the client. There is a psychology to business and marketing which has little to do with the opinions of the Designer/Artist or the Editor. Personally, I can see where the Editor is drawing his analogies. Just my two cents.
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I don't respond as positively to the executions as Mr. Webber so the article doesn't prove a point for me. Perhaps, as one reader suggested, he had included more than one artist as a "good" example of connecting the reader to the subject matter, I may have found his opion column to carry more weight. The two illustrations are finely done, but they don't say "historical" to me because there is a cartoonish tone in them. I get the connection to caveman drawings (and like that). For me, however, the warrior looks a bit too Cirque du Soleil and the riders on the horses look like English gentleman from the 1800's on a foxhunt in the countryside. In other words, I don't find them to be as serious as the subject matter they were supporting even with the appropriate textures and colors.
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I agree that pictures can and do help a story but i had to look a few times to get ALL of your meaning. I can see your points but I do think it is a bit of a stretch.
What is courage?
What is security?
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