Illustrated worlds

The practice of the contemporary illustrator is no longer exclusively defined by the traditional orthodoxies of the commissioner and illustrator relationship. Contemporary Illustration has expanded the parameters of the discipline to include toys, games, animation, collectable objects, fashion and other forms of media and merchandising. This multi-disciplinary and authorial practice is often predicated on the creation of an identifiable, virtual ‘world’ that is manifest across an illustrator’s output, independent of variations in audience, purpose and subject matter. This paper will explore the illustrator’s use of visual language in constructing virtual, illustrated worlds.Drawing from a range of contemporary examples, the paper will explore the capacity of illustration to generate a virtual world that engages and absorbs its audience. The paper will argue that a sense of place established through non-representational approaches can address the actual, socio-historical world through the interpretation of the constructed world’s diegesis. The paper will also consider how a world is realised across personal and commercial outputs and the interrelationship and interface of authorial and commercial imperatives.

The practice of the contemporary illustrator is no longer
exclusively defined by the traditional orthodoxies of the
commissioner and illustrator relationship. Contemporary
Illustration has expanded the parameters of the discipline
to include toys, games, animation, collectable objects,
fashion and other forms of media and merchandising.
This multi-disciplinary and authorial practice is often
predicated on the creation of an identifiable, virtual ‘world’
that is manifest across an illustrator’s output, independent
of variations in audience, purpose and subject matter.
This paper will explore the illustrator’s use of visual
language in constructing virtual, illustrated worlds.Drawing from a range of contemporary examples, the
paper will explore the capacity of illustration to generate a
virtual world that engages and absorbs its audience. The
paper will argue that a sense of place established through
non-representational approaches can address the actual,
socio-historical world through the interpretation of the
constructed world’s diegesis. The paper will also consider
how a world is realised across personal and commercial
outputs and the interrelationship and interface of authorial
and commercial imperatives.