The Association of Illustrators
Images Annual 28 - 2004
Environmental Issues

Let's think about the environment. When I say the, I really mean our environment. And by our environment, I mean the space that we occupy both physically and mentally. And by we I mean illustrators. Confused? OK, bear with me, resist the temptation to skip straight to the images, and give this some thought…

Where is it that you create your work? Try to think geographically and physically as well as mentally too. All three spaces, I believe, help to determine and influence the way in which we work and the kind of work that we create.

Let's start with geography. I've heard the arguments before, even contributed to them myself in the past; geographic location no longer matters. We have mobile phones, email, the web and ADSL so illustrators can now work anywhere. True, we are able to deliver projects to clients from almost any spot on the globe, we no longer have to be a stone's throw away or within a courier's pick-up zone but is that really the complete picture? Sure, we can have art supplies on 'next day delivery', we can download software updates in an instant, we can 'Google Image Search' (425,000,000 at last count) for reference and promote our services with web-based portfolios. But does that really mean that geography and location count for nothing? I think not.

We all need more than digital inspiration, the easy one-click access to referencing an image or even an idea or solution. I get a buzz from seeing, hearing, breathing in and being part of my environment, not just where I live and work but places that I travel to and visit. They all feed into my creative image making. I get ideas whilst walking through urban spaces, find reference materials at street markets, see a particular combination of colours in shop signage or just get a kick from coming across some stencilled graffiti. For me the city is the inspiration that can't be delivered via my laptop; I need real life too. This may all sound a little obvious, but I get the sense that the digital promise has failed to live up to every expectation.

I recently started, and completed, an editorial illustration commission on a flight from Heathrow to JFK; I had almost turned the job down but my yearning to discover if I could be a 21st century mobile creative got the better of me. The notion of calling up creativity to order, resolving a job to a very tight deadline and attempting to step into the unknown, strangely appealed to me, as did the fee paying for the flight. The illustration was ok, I have to admit it was not the best job I've ever done, and although my trusty Powerbook and Ncharge battery did not let me down, something was not right; the geography was all wrong. I was in mid-air, I had no visual source of inspiration; save a bundle of images saved on my hard drive; I had no reference to draw from conceptually and nothing to draw from visually. I think it showed.

So, moving on from geographic environment, next up, consider the physical space. This is the space that you actually work in; draw, paint, print, collage, both in traditional and digital mediums and any combination of each of these. Illustration for many can be a solo experience: the kitchen table, the spare bedroom or a studio in the attic. Home-working was a phrase that could have been invented for the illustrator but is it the most conducive location for the creation of work or is it that financial considerations have forced this practice? Art school was never like this; studio discussion, critiques and seminars played a huge part in creative image making. Back to my flight, on route to New York; I can say that it was easily the least creative environment I had ever worked in, I was trapped in a pretty small space, belted in, the tiny pull-out table and lighting less than ideal. But more than that, I had no opportunity to discuss the piece mid-illustration with the art director, with studio colleagues: my fellow passengers were plugged into the movie, I was on my own.

Encouragingly, despite economics, it appears that many illustrators have returned to the shared studio set-up: recognising the need for input into the creative process from their peers, through sharing ideas and thoughts as well as facilities and even client base. A new generation recognise the rewards of working alongside each other, often basing their set-up on re-creating that good old art school experience or, increasingly and depressingly, the experience that they wished their time in education to have been.

What it is not clear right now is exactly where the art school experience is heading. Sadly, too many art and design courses have abandoned access to the studio as a full-time right. Ever-increasing student numbers and never-increasing accommodation has ensured that this can be a no-win situation. Hot-desking has not worked for a number of 'stack-them-high-sell-them-cheap' courses. Introducing students to the concept of home-working has been the fail-proof method for managing the 'numbers' game. Meanwhile, at these institutions, much of the communication between students and peers and students and staff has had to rely on the digital; email tutorials and on-line discussion instead of real head-to-head dialogue. The allure of the digital has started to fade; it was never meant to replace real communication, surely.

It is the theme of communication that brings us to the third environment; the space that describes mentally or conceptually where you work, the approach that you adopt. This is tougher to determine. Illustration has always existed in a pretty interesting place, occupying an area that sits between art and design. Illustration has never truly been considered an adjunct of art with a capital 'A', nor wholly existed without the prop that is graphic design.

Artists drive their own work, their own projects; they instigate the investigation, they formulate the subject matter, they choose the medium, the outlet and manage the process. This freedom supports self-expression, the creation of a personal visual language and if wholly successful leads to the unexpected, pushing the discipline into new areas, breaking boundaries and enlightening both artist and audience. Designers, meanwhile, have an altogether different starting point, they solve given problems. Designers respond to a client's needs; they create visual solutions; they analyse, organise and present information. Design has a particular purpose, fulfils a functional role. Where does illustration fit into either of these descriptions?

With art and design existing so far apart conceptually, I believe, it is the area at the very edges of both disciplines where new forms of illustration can thrive, can evolve. The best new work needs and feeds from both art and design and through these relationships can offer an alternative to the mainstream. It is the understanding of how to utilise a range of approaches to creativity, witnessed across both art and design; that can empower the illustrator. Leading and initiating projects, taking risks, breaking with convention, even seizing control should not sound like revolutionary tactics but more like a game plan for moving the subject forward.

New Illustration does not sit and wait for the designer's telephone call to kick-start a commission; it is out there creating projects, shows and exhibitions, publications, web sites, prints and posters; it is being proactive. The best of new illustration generates and collaborates. New Illustration works with designers and clients and not for them; there is now an equality that has taken a number of years to claw back. Let's not forget how smug design had been because it had embraced and claimed the digital as its own from the start. True, Old Illustration had tried to pretend that the digital never even existed but that was yesteryear; with the digital mastered there is now a new respect for the craft and skills of New Illustration.

Illustration is still going through it's dramatic re-birth, this is a crucial time for the discipline and for the AOI itself, thirty years old this year. New approaches, new scenarios, new challenges, new problems will confront New Illustration and potentially difficult times still lay ahead. New Illustration must capitalise on the opportunities being created, being carved out and the AOI can help spear-head that attack. The bigger landscape that New Illustration exists within may be out of our control but the environment that we work within remains within our domain. And when I say environment, I mean environments, all three of them.

Lawrence Zeegen Academic Programme Leader Communication and Media Arts University of Brighton

© Lawrence Zeegen