Illustration strikes back.
At times where photography is instagrammed and has become everyone’s hobby, and when digital is the new black, old-school hand-drawn illustration is making a strong comeback, on blogs, in brand communications, for event promotion.
The Oatmeal has been a star of the genre for numerous years now, bringing one of the simplest forms of expression under the spotlight across the web. Fueled by coffee, a sketch blog by Craighton Berman, is another witty example.
For the beloved newsletter, book and website My Little Paris, Kanako Kuno’s illustrations have been an integral part of the branding and editorial content since its launch in 2008.
Recently, Fast Company used illustration for its 100 Most Creative People in Business 2012 cover, an animated gif where all the individuals featured appear one by one on the image. A very talented illustrator and writer, Wendy MacNaughton, was a one-of-a-kind reporter at the 99 Conference in New York. Her account of the conference is one of the best I have ever read - and watched.
C2-MTL, the first edition of a conference on commerce and creativity that will take place in Montreal next week, used illustrations (sketch below by N. Vallet) to present the venue, a “multifaceted innovation village” to be built just for the event.
Perhaps simple images and phrases help us concentrate on ideas? Because they are a depiction rather than a copy of the real world, we need to use our brain to imagine and therefore we remember more? Then illustration would increase message retention. But that is really just an idea, I have no scientific studies to support it.
