digital illustration and design
In the digital age, it’s easy to think that illustrations are a thing of the past. But new technologies, coupled with time-tested methods, prove that nothing could be further from the truth. Illustrations are still an effective and necessary element of advertising, helping to convey an image, feeling, or idea that that a photograph sometimes cannot.
Illustrations were traditionally created with materials such as pencils, charcoal, paint and ink. With modern technologies, illustration can be created on a computer or as mixed-media. By using those traditional methods, paintings look realistic, and with the different style of each artist, paintings can evoke personal emotion and feeling.
Digital illustration can also be very realistic using software like Adobe PhotoShop, Illustrator, and CorelDraw. When used properly, these programs can create digital art that looks very similar to traditional illustrations.
Illustration is used in many ways. In advertising, illustration can be a small element in an ad, a symbol in a logo, a cover of a brochure, an element in a website, an event poster, the driving force behind an entire campaign, or many other possibilities. Illustrations can be also be used as parodies. For example, the covers of MAD Magazine with Alfred E. Newman feature illustrated parodies of pop culture and news that would be difficult to replicate without illustrations.
Generally in advertising, illustrations are rarely abstract in the traditional sense, but there can be abstract illustrations with photography to show feeling, movement, or emotion. And illustration can also be surreal or impressionistic, using real elements, products or people. They are represented in very stylized ways which helps create a memorable visual for the audience.
Illustrations can also create the unreal. Whether it’s historical figures from different lifetimes coming together or dogs playing poker, illustrations can bring real elements together in an unreal format.
Sometimes illustrations have an even stronger impact than a photograph, even if the illustration is based on photography. For example Shepard Fairy’s illustration of Barack Obama is one of the most recognizable and memorable images from President Obama’s 2008 campaign because it created a unique image that a photo could not achieve.
Illustrations can give an advertising campaign a more eye-catching appeal for the target customer. An advertising element or even an entire campaign targeted at young adults may have a bright energetic feel (Sony PlayStation®3, Honda Fit).
On the other hand, if the target is upper class, middle-aged adults, the illustration will have a more sophisticated feel. This can be achieved with photography, but through illustration and illustrative elements, the feelings can be made stronger and better aimed at the audience.
Rescuedsites.com and our parent company J. Fitzgerald Group are well-versed in developing a wide variety of illustrations that consistently hit the mark, and add memorable elements to your campaigns.
Make a splash in your campaign today with our digital illustration services.
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