Clin D'Oeil - Jan 2004
Introduction - The Art [& Design] of Illustration

The evidence is right in front of your eyes, you are holding it in your hands; illustration is back.

It had to happen; finally making a dramatic return to form the discipline has stepped back in from the wilderness, from almost a self-imposed exile, after too long away from the spotlight. Of course, the time was ripe for a radical re-emergence, re-birth, re-invention, or rejuvenation: call it what you will, but who would have dared guess at how this transformation would take place?

Illustration has always existed in a pretty interesting space. It occupies an area that sits some place between art and design. Never truly considered to be an adjunct of art with a capital ïAÍ, nor allowed to wholly exist as a solo design discipline, without the prop that is graphic design, illustration has often been disowned by both artists and designers, whilst continually taking knocks from both sides too.

In the world of art, a blanket refusal to acknowledge the importance of the role that illustration plays and the cross over from art to illustration occasionally being deemed appropriate but visa-versa rarely accepted. Meanwhile, over in the design world, designers plunder freely from the fields of illustration, yet infrequently taking any responsibility for sowing new seeds, little time or space being given to nurture growth in emerging talent.

So, ïdespite ofÍ rather than ïbecause ofÍ its relationship with art and design, illustrationÍs recent dramatic return to form should be seen for what it is; a remarkable self-initiated transformation. Although not before time, I hear you utter, and it is fair to say that illustration, globally, had been in a depressing state of affairs, had begun to look tired, worn-out, run-down, jaded and out of fuel.

ïSomethingÍ had to happen and happen it did; a new breed of illustrators with something to say, with the ways and means of saying it, started to command control. No longer pandering to the needs of dull business-to-business corporate clients: a savvy, more fashion-conscious, style-aware illustrator started to create images for an audience made up of its own peers. The ever evolving ïstyleÍ mags; on the hunt for cutting edge and creative ways of staying visually ahead of the pack as well as record labels eager to promote new independent bands alongside fashion companies tapping into a zeitgeist created away from the glare of the photographerÍs lens, all took the bait willingly.

A renegade, but global, group of illustrators and image-makers, albeit independently, started to set new standards in illustration, aiming at a new audience. Young, keen, motivated but ultimately talented illustrators bucked trends; creating work that felt good, looked right and had attitude. A raw mix of the digital, the analogue, the traditional, the photographic, the hand-drawn, the stencil, theƒ nothing was out of reach to a group that believed that the creative outcome was more interesting than the technical input. This new breed felt empowered by technology, not confused, as had the previous generation, having spent more time avoiding it than embracing it.

Utilizing digital technology, once held captive by designers, and creating images about subjects that they were motivated by, in the same way that artists approach their own work, new illustration, for a short time, was not dictated by client demands. In fact, this quest for creating new forms of image making had meant that much was done outside of the confines of the commission. Illustrators, acting like artists, initiated their own projects; followed their own instincts, set their own parameters and then just like designers sought out new clients, previously unimpressed with the offerings from yesterdayÍs generation of illustrators.

Not all the new work followed the age-old mantra that deemed that the best illustration contains a great ïideaÍ; much of this new work captured a flavour, a mood, an essence or a moment. For many, it was about the look and feel, more than the communication of that ïcleverÍ idea. Gritty urban backdrops vie for attention with drawings of beautiful, yet often vacant looking people, set against themes that include sex, relationships, music, fashion; sometimes dark and surreal, sometimes humorous and playful. The strand that holds this range of diverse subjects and picture making skills together, as evidenced in this book, is the belief in the importance of the creation of unique new visual worlds. Those that truly exist in that space where art and design meet have reinvented and rejuvenated illustration, forcing the discipline back out into the light. This time, contemporary illustration is a force to be reckoned with.

And the evidence is right there in your hands.

Lawrence Zeegen
January 2004