Week 3

Legibility, tone of Voice and Visual Hierarchy.

These three things are essential when considering and planning your outcome. What do you want it to say? What tone do you want it have? What do people need to see first? Is it communicating the right message? Shown below are a few examples to help explain these notions.

Elsa - Mark Ryden

This sketch is a simple but effective way of showcasing these points. The drawing is almost entirely monotone except for the small splashes of red, which makes them stand out more. It catches our eye first. Because the drawing is also very soft, the red is more shocking and helps convey the dark message of the picture more strongly.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus - Film poster

A great example of visual hierarchy at work. Because this movie poster is so busy with so much happening within the composition, a focal point had to be chosen. This is the girl, who we are immediately drawn into with her large eyes and red hair, and also her central position within the frame. Next our eyes are drawn down to the smaller segments of bright colour, and then finally on to the various other characters and events within the picture. We are pulled further and further in, analyzing the details. It is this slightly confusing and odd design that peaks our curiosity, and might just make us go and see the film.

Emily the Strange

Finally, the genius of simplicity. Emily the Strange is in my opinion one of the best character designs in recent times. The reason she works so well is because of how broken down the human form is into basically just black and white blocks. It’s the shape of those blocks that we read as a sulking face, or a haircut, or shoes etc, yet she retains so much personality about her. This is legibility at work.

Week 2

Influence, Research and Practice.

As an illustrator, the key thing that you can do is research. Observe, collect, study. Everything around us can and does influence us, and when you are aware of this you can start to process it. We figure out what we are drawn to and what we dislike, and these are equally valuable. This goes hand in hand with practice. Record and draw everything you see that influences you , or it will be gone. This should be a constant cycle of learning and drawing and experimenting to develop your skill.

I am personally most inspired by people, films, dolls, nature and obviously other artists. It is important that when doing research and observation you should be recording primary data, always go back to something how it is originally and study it, rather than trying to imitate another existing style. Have your own life experiences. With practice and hard work, your style and skill will constantly evolve and improve.

This example shows how a even few frames from a film, here “The Shining”, can have a great impact and obviously inspired the artist Kelly Haigh, who painted the picture below. When we learn the painting is called “Trial Separation”, it brings on a new meaning. Notice how the original notion of creepy twins may have sparked a thought, but she took it further, researched and explored the idea, and brought something new to the concept. The medium choice of paint also allowed her to distort the features and proportion, and create a broody surreal landscape.

Audience.

Understanding you audience is crucial in professional visual communication. You need to know who you are communicating to so that you can make the message clearer and easier to grasp for that customer/demographic. Thinking about your audience will make your research and practice, and therefore your work much stronger . If you get the right people to respond the right way, then you know you’ve done your job well.

Just to take a quick example from one of my favourite stories, of which there are endless different interpretations and illustrated versions, Alice’s adventures in Wonderland. Shown below are two different images of the same thing, Alice’s scene with the white rabbit. Both inspired by and drawn from the very same words, but completely different in the hands of two different illustrators. The left picture (Macoto Takahashi) is much more likely to be used in a children’s book. Bright colourful, pretty and fun. Whereas the right picture (Fernando Falcone) is much more likely intended for an older audience interested in the more sinister undercurrent and hidden meaning in the story. These portray simply how audience can heavily influence the outcome.

Week 1

Notions of Originality.

Is anything really original? Well yes and no. As much as we as artists and visual communicators are constantly striving to think creatively and come up with original ideas, all the time we are inspired and influenced by everything we have seen before us. We consume so much visual information in our lifetime and learn what we like and don’t like, what we’re attracted to and why, that all these things get filtered down and we learn from and emulate them. We essentially cherry pick elements, styles, content, etc, and combine and twist them into a new distinct vision that is unique to us. It is how we take from something and use it as a catalyst to trigger new representations of that idea that is important, not try to rehash or copy another.

Though we often consciously acknowledge another artist’s work as a direct influence, there will always be things that you have seen that unconsciously contribute to your process and outcome. And probably other works with similarities that you never even knew about. Where do we draw the line between homage and plagiarism? The spectrum is so vaast and grey that this issue divides opinion and is different for everyone.

One visual example of this notion is below, where fine art photographer Karen Hsiao was clearly inspired by the original Trevor Brown painting, both aptly titled “Rubber Duck.” A tribute or copy? You decide.

Historical relationships and Re-contextualising.

What happens then if someone purposely references a previous work for effect? Things are getting reused and recycled all the time, and people look back at the past to give their work a certain anchor or meaning, due to association with the original.

Shown below is how an old concept, when lent to a new idea, can produce effective results in this fashion editorial. The ethereal dream-like beauty of Millais’ “Ophelia” translates well when applied to a more contemporary context and setting.


It’s extremely important to look back at what has come before us. It’s an endless and invaluable resource which gives us understanding and inspiration, helping us grow at what we do. The more information and basis for context we can give ourselves the better. This strengthens our work and helps make it relevant, fresh and contemporary.

This concept, however, is not as simple as taking something and doing it over. Countless “famous” works of art get constantly rehashed and parodied. For example, most commonly the Mona Lisa and Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe prints, arguably to the point where they have lost their original stature and meaning. Is this to be considered commentary, humour or simply unoriginal and derogatory?