{"title":"Illustration as an announcement of a world","authors":"Luise Vormittag","doi":"10.1386/jill_00084_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jill_00084_1","url":null,"abstract":"Illustration is often casually assumed to be a representational practice, where ‘something out there’ is represented, i.e. shown again, in visual form. The prefix ‘re-’ in ‘representation’ suggests that something exists prior to its pictorial rendering. With reference to a project I worked on as an illustrator with a group of older feminists who had come together to record their memories of their involvement in the Women’s Liberation Movement, I use this article to propose an alternative possibility for illustration. Rather than considering illustration as representational, I submit that illustration in the process of its creation can produce the reality it refers to. It can therefore be understood as a form of performative knowledge production. In this piece, I draw on my project with the feminist group and interweave this with Jean-Luc Nancy’s work on community, Rosalind Krauss’s reflections on indexicality and Jacques Derrida’s article on the nature of declarations.","PeriodicalId":40349,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Illustration","volume":"11 1","pages":"45-68"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147900169","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Generative AI and illustration: Questions from the field","authors":"Susan Doyle","doi":"10.1386/jill_00089_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jill_00089_1","url":null,"abstract":"The multi-year international project ‘Illuminating the Non-Representable’ (IN-R) sought to consider the breadth of possibilities in contemporary illustration practice. A question was how, in an ever-more global context, illustration might sensitively communicate concepts of ‘the other’ – meaning persons who do not share heritage or characteristics of the perceived audience or illustrators themselves. With growing AI image generation in 2022, new questions arose regarding types of AI images users were prompting and whether resulting images perpetuate bias inherited through machine learning that is trained on databases already proven to encode bias. This article shares an analysis of a sampling of AI-generated images in response to those questions and includes expert opinions on the benefits and limits of AI creativity, ethical issues related to plagiarism and the unauthorized scraping of copyrighted works into training databases, as well as more generally on the erosion of professional practice that generative AI portends.","PeriodicalId":40349,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Illustration","volume":"11 1","pages":"165-189"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147896679","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Building bridges between images and the tangible world in children’s picturebooks","authors":"Danielle R. Ridolfi","doi":"10.1386/jill_00087_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jill_00087_1","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines how pedagogical theories prioritizing objects and direct sensory experiences can be applied to the creation of picturebook illustrations. In response to the need for what illustrator Eric Carle characterizes as a bridge between the tactile world of objects and the world of images, this article proposes an ‘archaeological’ approach to image-making that prioritizes observation, collection and curation of found objects and materials and harnesses those materials as image-making tools and media such that the resulting images actually contain objects instead of just mimetically reproducing them. This exploration builds upon the work of two pedagogues who attempted to unify object-based theories with picture theories – Johann Pestalozzi and Lucy Sprague Mitchell – and uses the threads of their work to weave together recommendations about archaeological image-making strategies best suited for strengthening connections between pictures and the tangible world – namely, photography, collage and tactile enhancements.","PeriodicalId":40349,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Illustration","volume":"11 1","pages":"115-141"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147919426","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Paint me a picture: When AI goes editorial","authors":"Nina Martinez","doi":"10.1386/jill_00090_7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jill_00090_7","url":null,"abstract":"Editorial illustrator positions in 2024 now require knowledge, comfort and enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI). I reflect on my career as an editorial illustrator and the issues that AI usage seeks to address and the issues it may exacerbate.","PeriodicalId":40349,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Illustration","volume":"11 1","pages":"191-195"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147894983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"What is illustration? A shadowy definition for illustration research","authors":"Jaleen Grove","doi":"10.1386/jill_00083_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jill_00083_1","url":null,"abstract":"The field of artistic research in illustration requires an updated definition of illustration to accompany recent exploratory research methods, concepts and media. A consideration of the etymology of ‘illustration’ and ‘illumination’ leads to the pre-Latin root, leuk (‘light’), and the problematic conflation of illustrating with enlightenment. Referring to Derrida’s Socratic theory of illustration and critique of mimicry, I argue for expanding illustration definitions to include ‘shadows’ – illustration’s propensity to mislead or falsify. I adopt the ancient word ghel (‘glow’) to recuperate the illusory aspect of illustrating as a more embodied, alternative conceptualization of shining light and casting shadow, one that puts visual and affectual meanings before verbal. Then I provide examples of how in practice ghel , iconoclasm and aniconism illustrate ‘non-representable’ events and experiences. I conclude with a definition of illustration for illustration research.","PeriodicalId":40349,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Illustration","volume":"11 1","pages":"21-44"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147905114","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sketch Circle: Using collective drawing to illuminate the personal identities of South Koreans","authors":"Karen Jiyun Sung","doi":"10.1386/jill_00085_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jill_00085_1","url":null,"abstract":"Through practice-based research, I co-developed an illustration method called the Sketch Circle to illuminate a visual definition of self for South Koreans to fill the void left by language. The method merges various participatory methods, such as Empathic and User-Centred Design, Digital Storytelling and Illustration, to empower the participants to sketch their own visual vocabulary that refers to their personal sense of self. The article outlines the methods, trials and iterations that led to the facilitation of illustration as a co-creative method to illuminate the abstract sense of self in South Korean individuals and how drawing served as an alternative form of reflection, reflexion and expression of self among others. The article concludes with how the practice serves as a pilot case for the development of the Sketch Circle method to be used in other participatory illustration research.","PeriodicalId":40349,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Illustration","volume":"11 1","pages":"69-87"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147915579","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Speculative illustration: From thinking with images to speculative visuality","authors":"Tymon Adamczewski","doi":"10.1386/jill_00088_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jill_00088_1","url":null,"abstract":"The article aims to address the challenge that the current wide-ranging and multifaceted planetary crisis poses to representation and to ways of thinking about it. It focuses on examining the role of illustration and images in selected recent theoretical works, especially in the ones concerned with the relationship between humans and the environment. What is surveyed is the terrain of selected theoretical texts associated with New Materialisms and Speculative Realism (including Object-Oriented Ontology), as both orientations, respectively, argue for a recognition of a vibrant sense-making agency of matter and for thinking that does away with privileging specifically human ways of interacting with reality. More importantly, these discourses often rely on visual arts and artistic projects or interventions as important means to make their point and to illustrate the ‘non-representable’.","PeriodicalId":40349,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Illustration","volume":"11 1","pages":"143-164"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147891485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Resisters: An illustrated project addressing shame among women","authors":"Subir Dey, Deepika Anandan","doi":"10.1386/jill_00086_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jill_00086_1","url":null,"abstract":"This article presents a research-based illustration project titled ‘Resisters: An illustrated project addressing shame among women’ self-authored as a semester-long postgraduate project at the Department of Design, IIT Delhi. The project began with understanding shame and shameful experiences of women aged 18–30 years, including college students and working professionals, through qualitative data collection and interviews. Anchored in visual communication design, it evolved into publication design and related collaterals to support the design brief. The publication serves as a resilient voice to be heard, read, shared and understood, delving into complex themes of shame and belonging. The inquiry-driven project stands at the intersection of societal messages and creative practice, validated through public display and critical feedback. Illustration as a communicative practice is crucial in today’s visually overstimulating environment, with such projects challenging the status quo within academic illustration practice.","PeriodicalId":40349,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Illustration","volume":"11 1","pages":"89-114"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147907082","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"‘Mere’ illustration","authors":"John Vernon Lord","doi":"10.1386/jill_00080_7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jill_00080_7","url":null,"abstract":"John Vernon Lord is an author, illustrator and teacher. He began his career in freelance illustration in the early 1960s and has carried out commissions for books, magazines and advertising. His books include a number of editions for the Folio Society. As a university professor, Lord has lectured for over sixty years in the United Kingdom and abroad. Here he presents a personal view of the historic and contemporary roles of the illustrator, particularly the book illustrator, examines the distinctions between fine art and illustration, and gives a passionate defence of illustration in the face of often dismissive attitudes, epitomized by the use of the term ‘mere illustration’.","PeriodicalId":40349,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Illustration","volume":"10 2","pages":"385-405"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147886988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Curious transcriptions: Turning online meetings into illustrated spatial atmospheres1","authors":"Tânia Alexandra Cardoso","doi":"10.1386/jill_00074_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jill_00074_1","url":null,"abstract":"How We Stopped and Listened to the Birds is an ongoing urban illustrated reportage that follows my artistic practice as research in Amsterdam during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is based on informal online interviews with inhabitants and specialists in urban studies. Through this illustrated reportage, I wondered how the illustrator-researcher could embody urban space through digital/online mediums and online interviewing. Transcription refers to creating a written record of spoken or musical expressions. However, it falls short when it comes to interpreting these online conversations in illustration. Besides transcribing, the process of creating the illustrated reportage dealt with imagining the entanglement of memories, stories and geographies provided in the participants’ words and expressions in hopes of creating a sense of place in an affective storyworld. The transcribing of these online interviews in illustration reflects the interviewees’ perspectives and experiences and, simultaneously, my interpretation and reconceptualization of space. Consequently, How We Stopped and Listened to the Birds becomes a privileged space for discussion where the urban illustrations can disrupt official narratives of urban space by containing simultaneous traces of reality and imagination and creating a unique affective atmosphere between both.","PeriodicalId":40349,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Illustration","volume":"10 2","pages":"279-299"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147905577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}