Illustration: A Theoretical and Contextual Perspective

Description

Illustration: A Theoretical and Contextual Perspective is a comprehensive guide to contemporary illustration. It provides readers with an understanding of the theory, research, conceptual processing and contexts involved in illustration practice. This book describes a variety of definitions and philosophies of illustration, together with a relevant historical overview. Illustration introduces the notion of the illustrator as a socially and culturally aware communicator: an able professional with knowledge, understanding and insight regarding the context within which they are working and the subject matter that they are engaged with.

Alan Male is an illustrator, educator and writer. Since 1993 Alan has been head of the BA Illustration program at University College Falmouth, UK, and has lectured throughout the United States. A professional illustrator since 1973, Alan has worked nationally and internationally producing work for children's books, editorials, CDs, reference books, encyclopaedias and advertising. He has won several awards and has exhibited in London, Arizona, Denver and the Museum of American Illustration. He also has work in the New York State Museum's permanent collection.

Full of beautiful illustrations, the book is a fascinating and thought provoking read, which is a clear 'must have' for any aspiring or established illustrator. If focuses on illustration, education and theory, especially helpful for both undergraduate and post-graduate study and research. -- Katy Cowan * Creative Boom, October 2010 * The illustrations are a definite strong point as they are both relevant and of a high quality and come from a wide range of both contemporary and older artists. [Illustration] would make a great accompaniment to higher education illustration course with focus on theory and contextual importance. -- Rosanna Franklin * Amateur Illustrator, 14 August 2007 * This book is an excellent overview of the business of illustration ... and this easily transfers over to graphic design ... The book is really well designed, clearly laid out and organised and full of information, easy-to-read text and great examples ... it is great value. * Andy Gossett, Middlesex University, UK * [Illustration] is aimed at final year undergraduate and post-graduate students. I reckon that it will be a godsend to all students and many new practitioners of illustration. If your subject is illustration ... do yourself a big favour by reading this book. -- Esther Dudley * Varoom Mag * Beautiful book. Nice large images and a suitable level for foundation and HND students. Very helpful text when talking to students in tutorials about illustration as a career pathway. * Lucy Orr, East Surrey College, UK * I loved the layout of the book. The focus was on the illustrations, and body copy was easy to read ... The illustrations throughout were interesting and well chosen. * Janey Menger, Algonquin College, Canada * I welcome the publication of this book, especially for illustration students, as illustration is probably the area of visuak communication that is most under-theorised and least served by relevant academic studies. Thank you! * Ruth Pelzer-Montada, Edinburgh College of Art, UK * A serious look at illustration? Very unusual. Intelligent reading! At last. * Alison Barratt, University of Sunderland, UK * This book will be a particularly useful point of reference for students who are writing and developing self-initiated briefs for the first time ... I look forward to referencing it in tutorials. * Philip Trenerry, Plymouth College, UK * Our course has a very strong ethos of academic research and this book underpins that notion but also covers the context of the specialism. It is very comprehensive in its outlook and covers all of the aspects that we cover on our course with a strong emphasis on the social and cultural aspects. * Maureen O'Neill, University of Portsmouth, UK * A well written and comprehensive guide to the subject, the education section is a must read for third year students who negotiate their own Illustration projects during the final year of the course. * Ben Kelly, University of Wolverhampton, UK * This richly illustrated text includes detailed commentary alongside visual examples, showing how professional illustrators cultivate insights into the subject matter they're working on. * Dynamic Graphics, Oct/Nov 2007 *