What’s often missed by those who don’t use illustrations in their live illustration work is visual linking.
In the U.K. we have an island called Iona. On Iona we’re sole monks (before printing press) and they created what’s called the book of kells. These are actually the gospels of the Bible, but beautifully illuminated.
Pretty pictures? Nope! The expert in the field was talking to me one day about the book
The images and the colours are deliberate and enable visual cross referencing of passages throughout the book of kells, showing where there are relationships, ideas and so on
That informs my work. The illustration work I use are metaphors (appealing to novelty, and the tiny bit of effort needed to decode the metaphor stimulates neurons and myeline so that the idea is more memorable … I can explain further if you like); but the secondary function it serves is to create a way for people to look at the whole chart or sometimes multiple 4m lengths spread throughout a conference, and easily compare details and information.
Essentially I’m creating a temperate storage and index system through using images. So when I can I try and even use the same image of the same idea pops up sometimes a couple of days apart
Found this super helpful, thank you! I work in an old mill in Leeds and since setting up in Jan I have all the feels of not being interrupted or needing to hang out the washing. So fun!
No, I’m actually in the US. The book is fantasy so really it starts in Leeds and then the world is influenced by the landscape of that area and Portland Oregon where I live.
I really love how you present ideas, the spacing, the typography, the drawings it is great! To use a metaphor it helps clear the way mowing the lawn of messy concepts 🙂
Great article! I love visual metaphors. They can be totally random sometimes, but if they strike a chord then they really stick with you. I like getting ideas from song lyrics, and also all the wonderfully colourful (sometimes too colourful for a corporate environment 😅) expressions my dad and my uncle used to say.
And congrats on the studio! My office is in a converted cupboard/storeroom in my house. It's tiny, but I love it. Just having a door to close makes a huge difference.
Glad to hear you have your own studio set up! I've been in a "work whenever and wherever it's least inconvenient for others" phase for too long, I think.
Love the prompts on visual metaphors, too. Thanks!
What’s often missed by those who don’t use illustrations in their live illustration work is visual linking.
In the U.K. we have an island called Iona. On Iona we’re sole monks (before printing press) and they created what’s called the book of kells. These are actually the gospels of the Bible, but beautifully illuminated.
Pretty pictures? Nope! The expert in the field was talking to me one day about the book
The images and the colours are deliberate and enable visual cross referencing of passages throughout the book of kells, showing where there are relationships, ideas and so on
That informs my work. The illustration work I use are metaphors (appealing to novelty, and the tiny bit of effort needed to decode the metaphor stimulates neurons and myeline so that the idea is more memorable … I can explain further if you like); but the secondary function it serves is to create a way for people to look at the whole chart or sometimes multiple 4m lengths spread throughout a conference, and easily compare details and information.
Essentially I’m creating a temperate storage and index system through using images. So when I can I try and even use the same image of the same idea pops up sometimes a couple of days apart
Found this super helpful, thank you! I work in an old mill in Leeds and since setting up in Jan I have all the feels of not being interrupted or needing to hang out the washing. So fun!
This is the most random thing, my illustrated middle grade novel is set in Leeds and I use the visual metaphor of an old mill early in the book. Wild.
So weird! Are you also based in Leeds??
No, I’m actually in the US. The book is fantasy so really it starts in Leeds and then the world is influenced by the landscape of that area and Portland Oregon where I live.
ah right! so did you come to leeds to research it?
I really love how you present ideas, the spacing, the typography, the drawings it is great! To use a metaphor it helps clear the way mowing the lawn of messy concepts 🙂
Great article! I love visual metaphors. They can be totally random sometimes, but if they strike a chord then they really stick with you. I like getting ideas from song lyrics, and also all the wonderfully colourful (sometimes too colourful for a corporate environment 😅) expressions my dad and my uncle used to say.
And congrats on the studio! My office is in a converted cupboard/storeroom in my house. It's tiny, but I love it. Just having a door to close makes a huge difference.
😍😍😍
❤️ this ✉️ !! 😂 I’m terrible at metaphors, but the world of emojis has opened us to think and express ourselves more in pictures.
Love this! This was fun!
Glad to hear you have your own studio set up! I've been in a "work whenever and wherever it's least inconvenient for others" phase for too long, I think.
Love the prompts on visual metaphors, too. Thanks!
I love visual metaphors. This is a great post explaining and visualizing them!
Congratulations on scoring a room of your own! And thanks for these helpful tips. 🙌🦋