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If you look through the last few centuries of illustration, it has always been subject to fashionable trends that are informed by the processes used to create a
by Fricken 7y ago
If you look through the last few centuries of illustration, it has always been subject to fashionable trends that are informed by the processes used to create and publish illustrations in their respective eras. There have always been distinctive and original illustrators, but the other 90% are usually playing to style trends. Ultimately concept is king and the style is malleable.
These days illustrations are much more commonly produced with fast turnaround time and smaller budgets. The print industry ain't what it used to be. Illustrations are now viewed on multiple platforms and have to be readable and graphic when only a couple inches wide while (in some cases) still looking good on a magazine rack.
I would say illustration went through it's most diverse and creative phase in the late 90s up to the iphone. Before Steve Jobs killed the print industry there was just such a rich tapestry of career illustrators making a comfortable living producing polished and distinctive work.
- goto11 7y agoSurely the golden age of illustration was the 1950's. After that photography largely took over in magazines, advertisements, posters etc.
- Fricken 7y agoThe industry peaked in size sometime in the 50s, but it was more quantity than quality. While at the top you had superstars like Rockwell, Layendecker and Artsybashef, you also had massive industrial scale illustration houses hiring kids out of high school and training them up quickly to produce stylistically rigid and uniform illustration work at scale and for low pay. It wasn't a whole lot different than the way the Animation and video game industry works today.
- paganel 7y agoFor me the golden era is the 1930s and its art deco styling, something like this [1] or this [2] [1] https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ce/62/b9/ce62b9cf9c349ea8101827f1535e4001.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ce/62/b9/ce62b9cf9c349ea81018... [2] https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3c/67/d5/3c67d54d2fe785c773d29c6058517e23.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3c/67/d5/3c67d54d2fe785c773d2...
- close04 7y agoLet's not forget the "almost '30s" (1927) Metropolis movie poster [0]. One of the most iconic illustrations and my personal favorite. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_(1927_film)#/media/File:Metropolis_(German_three-sheet_poster).jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_(1927_film)#/media/...