Great Illustrations and Great Design
Tuesday, January 15th, 2008
I was reading this book ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle to my youngest daughter the other night and I was struck by the thought that really this book has become somewhat of an institution. I remember my mother reading it to me as a child and I loved it too.
The illustrations are such a unique style, in fact the whole design of the book is what makes it so memorable and successful. As I’m sure you all remember it has the little holes in the pages that children love to stick their fingers in:
And of course the favourite page that all children want to rush on to because it makes the parent talk very fast! Genius:
I then started to think about other book illustrators whose work has been absolutely instrumental in the success of the publication. For me, when I first read ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ by Hunter S Thompson with illustrations by Ralph Steadman, I was just blown away. How perfectly the illustrations worked with the story, in fact, they made the story for me.
Apply this to Web and Graphic Design
In any graphic or web design project it is vitally important to get the balance and relationship right with the text and the illustrations or pictures so that they are complementing each other. Even if you are designing a simple flyer or leaflet you must apply the same rules;
- It must be designed firstly to catch your eye and your attention using a sympathetic balance of text, graphics and imagery.
- Then you must feel compelled to give it a closer look and read it.
- Then if it has been designed well, the imagery and the message should leave enough of an impact for it to become memorable. Hey presto job done!
Have you got a favourite illustrator? Have you been influenced by the work of someone in particular? How effective do you think a design can be with no illustration or imagery at all?
Toni
