Times style illustration - what are the types of cg illustration

The most popular and compelling fashion illustrations of the moment are here!

What is the most popular fashion illustrator Helen Downie's work

Fashion illustration, as the oldest medium of visual communication, has not only not stopped developing in the new era, but has also given rise to a lot of new forms of expression with very different styles. How many of the most popular and notable fashion illustrators and their works do you know?

The Golden Age of Fashion Illustration

Early on, fashion illustration had a heyday with fashion magazines. Almost without exception, magazines used illustrations from cover to cover. Readers at that time received information about fashion, art and taste from a beautiful illustration. It can be said that fashion magazines and fashion illustration at that time were the relationship of mutual fulfillment.

Harper's Bazaar Magazine Cover

The Collision of Fashion Illustration and Fashion Brands

In the digital age, photography has become the main source of visual communication for magazines and publications. Although the era of magazines, in which fashion illustration was the main promotional medium, has come to an end, the fashion illustration industry is not sleeping, but is constantly developing and evolving in a new direction.

Collaboration between fashion illustration and fashion brands is one of the most successful new paths that have been explored, and Gucci, as one of the most talked-about brands, often searches for popular illustrators to collaborate with on social media.

The following colorful, poetic pieces were created by illustrator Helen Downie. It's worth noting that this highly professional illustrator is actually a housewife who came from a non-professional background, and whose story has become as popular as her paintings. Her drawing style is so similar to Gucci's new aesthetic that the brand's creative director immediately recognized her work and launched a series of in-depth collaborations.

Helen Downie's work

Though she is already a mother, there is always a touch of girlish innocence in her wildly imaginative work. In particular, the wide, innocent eyes of her characters are whimsical and full of childlike wonder.

Helen Downie's work

However, this is not the first time Gucci has collaborated with a fashion illustrator. Earlier, the brand invited another illustrator, Alex Merry, for a more "artistic" collaboration.

From New York to London, Milan to Shanghai, wherever there is an art wall, the city was occupied by Alex's creative fashion illustrations almost overnight. It's rare to see such huge fashion illustrations presented in such a way, so when the images of the art wall were released, they immediately caused a stir on the Internet.

Alex Merry's work

In addition to the illustrations, Gucci made the products available for sale, so that all of the consumers who were excited by them could find and own them. They make these dreamy, ideal products a reality. On the other hand, the viewer can see from these romanticized fashion illustrations that the style of fashion illustration is no longer homogeneous.

AlexMerry

When it comes to cross-border cooperation between fashion illustration and brands, we have to mention Prada, which invited illustrator James Jean to collaborate with it for a second time at its men's spring/summer 2018 show, which shows the degree of attention that his work has received.

JamesJean and Oliver Schrauwen

This time, JamesJean teamed up with Belgian graffiti artist Oliver Schrauwen to create illustrations of the show space. The showgoers could look at these graphic works as if they were looking at a live version of a comic strip.

At the same time, the author produced a similarly illustrated promotional video for Prada, and James' cool illustration style was a perfect match for Prada's futuristic approach to fashion.

JamesJean's work

The same year, for Prada's womenswear show, the brand also chose to work with fashion illustrators. The collaboration brought together eight female illustrators: Stellar Leuna, Trina Robbins, Brigid Elva, Joelle Jones, Giuliana Maldini, Natsume Ono, Emma Ríos and Fiona Staples.

In addition to their work on the walls of the show space, the eight women also worked on the walls of the Prada showroom.

In addition to creating the walls of the show space, they also integrated illustrations into the new season's collection. Their manga-inspired work has energized fashion and increased the possibilities for stylized fashion illustration.

Today, fashion illustration is no longer the norm, as long as you are willing to put pen to paper, everyone can create their own illustrations.

Grace Coddington's work

Pioneering fashion illustration

Besides collaborating with fashion brands, there are also professional fashion illustrators who insist on working independently. While mastering the basic techniques of illustration, they extend and explore the painting form of fashion illustration, and figure out their own style.

Pioneer fashion illustrator Velwyn Yossy has created a series of unique works. The smooth, clean lines and exaggerated, yet still appropriate proportions of the characters in his works show that he has always practiced a modernist aesthetic.

Velwyn Yossy

Another rising star, fashion illustrator Ernesto Artillo, takes fashion illustration in a more abstract direction. His unique visual expression breaks the public's traditional perception of fashion illustration.

Some of his recent surrealistic works combine motion and stillness, the virtual and the real, using hand-drawn collage to magnify the visual impact of illustration, giving the static fashion illustration some momentum.

Ernesto Artillo's work

His creative works are still published in magazines and exhibited all over the world, and Ernesto Artillo says: "I want to feel relaxed and excited when I see my work. It's the same in my life, I look for the balance and how I can break the status quo."

Ernesto Artillo's work

Even though the golden age of fashion illustration has passed, it is undeniable that fashion illustration still has a place in the fashion world, and at the same time, it contains high artistic value.

Fashion illustration is one of the few industries where business and art can be perfectly combined, and the constant emergence of sought-after illustration works has added to the possibility of fashion illustration's continued advancement.

JamesJean's dynamic fashion illustration works

After learning about these most popular and eye-catching fashion illustration works, we can all lift up our pencils and try to discover a new path of fashion illustration. You may be the next big hitter.

Highlights of the review:

[Editing, text/Chen Zhuo]

Modern commercial illustration style

When most people's understanding of illustration is still stuck in the "small books", "comic books", "children's picture books" and other low-end cultural products, illustration has penetrated into every aspect of people's lives with a rapid and swift momentum, from the animation blockbusters that people enjoy, to the cover design of the record at hand, and even the logo of the product in the supermarket without thinking, illustration and its derivatives are everywhere. One can experience the meaning of "illustration" on a daily basis without having to look up a thesaurus. We still need to clarify the concept of commercial illustration: "Illustration for enterprises or products, to obtain the remuneration associated with it, the author to give up the ownership of the work, only to retain the right of authorship of the commercial trading behavior, that is, commercial illustration."

In fact, the power of illustration in modern life comes from "art" and "business". As a form of advertising communication, commercial illustration is an important part of modern commercial activities. Most of the commercial illustrations are commissioned with a clear purpose; they are copied in large quantities along with the development of printing technology; commercial illustrations cannot be separated from the mass media as a communication carrier - these characteristics doom it to always be strongly marked by the times and cultural characteristics.

The popular culture of commercial illustration

The prosperity of commercial illustration can be traced back to the post-World War II period, when the development of the design industry in Europe was stagnated due to the extreme lack of material resources, while the commercial design in the United States flourished at the same time. From the very beginning, it showed a different starting point from the European design - it was not designed only for the well-paid class, but based on the general public and mass consumption. Nobility and sophistication were no longer important, but rather the pursuit of varied styles, exaggerated decorative techniques and low prices. Corresponding to this is the prosperity of the publishing industry, "Reader's Digest", "Life", "Time" and other publications are popular around the world, and have a circulation of more than a million copies. These magazines are printed more and more beautifully, and a large number of advertisements are instilled into the consumer population, stimulating their desire to consume, objectively stimulating the demand for commercial illustration, coupled with the natural readability of the graphic language so that commercial illustration is more and more widely used. The application of commercial illustration has also expanded from book inserts to all kinds of fashion magazines, outdoor advertising, packaging design, film and television commercials, etc. Popular culture is the main field of commercial illustration today.

In the 1950s and 1960s, young people became the main consumers of pop culture, and in the 1970s, they became the main force driving the changes in Western society. This generation of young people grew up in an era of abundance, were well educated, and their fervent following of new things and indifference to traditional values were completely different from those of their fathers and grandfathers, who were more enthusiastic about rock and roll, pop art, hippie culture, etc. Commercial illustration was also popular in this period. Commercial illustration was also influenced by various popular cultures during this period, and formed a distinctive style tendency. Many things that were new and different at that time were quickly imitated, forming new consumer styles, forms and fashions. The "bull's-eye" and "flag" images created by the American pop artist Johns are often repeated in different commercial illustration works, and have become a visual symbol representing the pop style. Wilson's "Art Nouveau" style font posters designed in the hippie culture movement are difficult to recognize due to the excessive distortion of the font, but because they reflect the counterculture of the hippie culture, and formally give a sense of grotesque and wild, which meets the emotional requirements of the hippie youth, they have also been used as a symbol with a strong symbolic identity. Therefore, it is also used as a strong symbolization of the logo. It is through the absorption and use of different pop culture symbols that commercial illustration has become a means for young people to express their individuality and a powerful weapon to distinguish between different ideologies. Another force of pop culture comes from Japanese anime illustration, which matured after the 1980s and became popular among young people in Asia. The rise of the video game, animation, and toy industries, which are driven by anime illustration, has formed a cultural trend that affects our lives.

The art form of commercial illustration

The form of modern commercial illustration is mainly categorized by communication media. It can be roughly divided into three major categories: one is the print communication media, the second is the movie and television communication media, and the third is the network communication media. Print communication media form of illustration is mainly divided into periodicals and newspapers illustration, billboard advertising illustration, product packaging illustration and corporate image publicity illustration. This kind of commercial illustration has a large circulation, wide dissemination and short production cycle, which can involve all aspects of people's lives and is the most popular among users. Film and television communication media forms of illustration are mainly distributed in television and movies, and the difference between it and the film and television advertising lies in the relative stability of the picture and the stillness of this form of illustration spreads fast, the amount of information is large, and the comparative nature is strong. As the film and television illustration is also the manufacturers and enterprises to strengthen the product publicity and promotion of powerful media. Network communication form of illustration is an emerging form of illustration with the development of computer network, its main carrier is the computer network, which is characterized by a unique form of content interactivity, the performance of the space is large. As a new form of illustration network communication media illustration also has its limitations, that is, the degree of uneven audience, but with the development of the times, this limitation will gradually disappear. By analyzing these three forms, we can see that commercial illustration as a part of visual communication must have its own space, which is given by the society, business and culture. It is no longer a simple art form of localized dissemination of specific information, but has developed into a visual communication element that disseminates information, spreads influence and serves the society in terms of time, space and audience.

Commercial illustration's expression should pay attention to the popularization and practicality of illustration, so most of the commercial illustration adopted expression is to express the objective things, which is mainly divided into three forms of realism, abstraction and mixture.

Commercial illustration of the economic industry

For the economic problem, we can't help but understand how the illustration products circulate. As a matter of fact, like any modern product, it needs to go through three stages in the process of entering the market: production - sales - consumption.

1, illustration designers

As a designer in the digital age, it is necessary to master a few basic drawing tools and skillful use of them, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, flash, etc., because most of the illustrations about the manuscripts are delivered through the format of the electronic document.

At the same time, illustration designers work in a more free and diversified way. Designers can choose to work in a design company, or set up their own studio, or use part-time work in their spare time. Due to the highly developed hardware, software and means of communication, more and more illustrators are inclined to intervene in the market in a personal way. Some star illustrators are mostly freelancers. Good reputation and excellent talent make it easier for them to get business.

In the age of the Internet, a website that produces a personal online portfolio is a great way to gain access to client resources. It has the advantage of enabling clients to see your site and learn about your style of work at any time, which provides designers with a large potential client base.

2, sellers (sales channels)

In the traditional art sales channels. The dealer has always played an important role, he is a critical eye to identify the painter's work, while identifying buyers to get profit from it.

Illustrators do business directly with their clients, but after all, finding clients takes up a lot of their time. So many of them choose professional agencies to represent their work and contact them for business and exhibitions, and these companies actually play the role of a dealer.

3. People who consume illustrations

There is a difference between enthusiastic consumers and occasional consumers.

The same piece of illustration products, different people have different degrees of love for it. For example, an old comic book from the "Cultural Revolution" period. Older people will show strong love for it, while young people have no interest in it, mainly because young people do not have the relevant cultural experience for this old comic book. This cultural experience makes people interested in the symbolism expressed by the illustrations, which results in the emergence of enthusiastic consumers. Moreover, the more this part of the consumers love and pay more attention to this kind of products, then it will accumulate more relevant experience and knowledge, compared with those occasional consumers, for the works of the understanding of the angle is also different.

Commercial illustration is different from general merchandise, it is a cultural industry. Its operation is different from other industries in its own rules. The American economist Kevs puts forward the vertical and horizontal distinction of cultural products in "Economics of Creative Industries". He pointed out that "cultural products also differ in their characteristics, tone and style, which are independent of the buyer's assessment of the quality of the product. In economic terms, they are horizontally differentiated. When horizontally differentiated products are sold at the same price, they are favored differently. Creative products are usually a mixture of vertical and horizontal distinctions." It is this characteristic of cultural products that makes them so diverse and from which consumers benefit.

Commercial illustration is often characterized by collaboration between different cultural industries, and popular comics are not only distributed in large numbers as print publications. They are also likely to be adapted into animated cartoons, and even movies and TV dramas. This phenomenon has evolved into a trend. Other related industries caused or spawned by illustration design can be called "added value", and the management of such added value of cultural products should also be considered as part of the long-term profitability of illustration. In this regard, Disney's experience is worth learning from, Mickey Mouse's virtual image from the comic book was moved to the screen. And it has become the image representative of a variety of cultural products such as magazines, clothing, websites, and so on, and today it has become the image representative of a multi-billion dollar entertainment empire. But the question of how to sign contracts that accurately define illustration and its share of profits from added value in other industries is new to the commercial illustration industry.

While some people have so far been dismissive of the combination of art and commerce, there is no denying that their union has already borne fruit, and the trend is irreversible, as is the bright and short-lived debut of commercial illustration, the attitude of the times is both exciting and thought-provoking.

cg illustration what types of

cg illustration has the following types:

1, thick coating style: thick coating is not only the most popular style of cg illustration, in other paintings is also one of the most common styles, in the CG board painting is very popular. Thick paint from the traditional oil painting, characterized by the use of pigment accumulation, to increase the sense of volume and layering, will use simple line drawing, and then layer by layer superimposed color, not too much attention to the performance of the line, the picture is very texture.

2, flat style: flat style illustration presents a flat or abstract features, this type of illustration overall simplicity, light, neat, is also widely used in various fields, is a very common illustration style.

3, ancient wind illustration: these years the national trend of wind by more and more people's favorite, the ancient wind type of illustration is also more and more, will use a lot of Chinese painting elements, such as cranes, auspicious clouds, flowers and grasses, ancient architecture and so on, the national trend of illustration in the character portrayal will be biased towards the Chinese aesthetic.

Cg illustration there are many styles, such as secondary illustration, 2.5D style, graffiti style, Mori style, etc., and with the development of the times, the types of illustration is also increasing, so you can look at the work of the excellent illustrator to find their favorite style!