To begin with, we covered the notion that in the opinion of Lawrence Zeegen, Illustration is in real danger of returning to its role as a cottage industry which lacks content, or a message.
"It's all about the materials, rather than the message. It's all about the quantity rather than the quality. It's all about design doing rather than design thinking. It's all style over content, function following form. Illustration has withdrawn from the big debates of our society to focus on the chit-chat and tittle-tattle of inner-sanctum nothingness."
Though I think that this quote is a huge generalisation and is not at all applicable to many honest, hard working Illustrators, it does highlight the importance of some kind of message or purpose behind the artwork. Illustrations without purpose aren't illustrations, they're just drawings.
Where is the content? Where is the comment? - Lawrence Zeegen - Creative Review
David Shrigley
Above is the 'First thing's First' manifesto from 1964 which expressed the desire of Illustrators, Designers, Photographers etc to move away from trivial consumer advertising and be able express and utilise their skills for more useful and lasting forms of communication.
The idea of fighting the nothingness, and the desire for visual communicators to have a voice and express their thoughts and opinions led us on to the five topics we are able to choose from to begin our written work:
> SOCIETY
> POLITICS
> HISTORY
> CULTURE
> TECHNOLOGY
'Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society' by Raymond Williams helped to define each of the topics that we explored.
Examples of each of the subjects were:
SOCIETY - Illustration that deals with topics or issues raised within the social groups in which we live.
Norman Rockwell's illustrations of the 'perfect America', break away from the way in which the society was perceived and put emphasis on freedom and the American Dream. Also his illustration 'The Problem We All Live With' highlighted racism in a dramatic and emotive way.
Various covers from The New Yorker are based on social situations or events, from lighthearted occurrences to solemn illustrations following the tragedy of 9/11.
Adrian Tomine 2004
Barry Blitt 2011 Art Spiegelman 2001
POLITICS - Illustrating a political message; potentially a strong and persuasive comment and a very effective way of spreading that message.
Steve Bell's representation of David Cameron; a ridiculous, satire illustration which voices a political opinion/message.
Steve Bell 2011
HISTORY - This could be any Illustration throughout history but a specific example would be war time propaganda.
Each of these images are persuasive in nature and convey a strong message of patriotism through imagery and text.
Saville Lumley 1915 E.J.Kealy 1915
CULTURE - This could be a number of things; the group in which we live, ideals that we have been taught, the way in which we classify ourselves within our society and the shaping of a society throughout history which forms a set of rules by which we do or do not adhere.
Below is the work of David Shrigley, which makes a mockery of people who are considered to be upper class art buffs, not only through the speech bubbles and text but through the careless, scruffy way in which it is drawn.
David Shrigley 'Art Lovers'
TECHNOLOGY - This topic would highlight the development of technology throughout history and the ways in which is effects, progresses and evolves Illustration.
The way in which technology has developed to give Illustrators, Designers, Photographers and other creatives the ability to mass produce affordable, easily accessible work could be an interesting topic to explore within this theme. Below is an example of a penny dreadful:
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