39. Why Illustrations Are Valuable

I have always been charmed by the novelty and efficacy of an illustration. So in this post, I want to uplift illustration as a creative, powerful tool within the visual art industry and advocate for the value of my services. In this post, I'll share a couple of the reasons why illustration is a valuable tool, how it has specific powers, why it deserves fair compensation. (Two quick caveats: I'm a visual learner so I suspect that some of my reasoning will be skewed in that direction. And second, AI illus are not in the scope of this post because although I believe it's always going to lack that raw quality that only human-made illustrations evoke.)

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Illustrations are drawings that convey information that could otherwise be written. It can replace words like hieroglyphs or it can complement words like story books. Every illustrator has their own artistic style and their work comes through this lens with a particular look and feel.

Illustrations are just one tool in the visual art industry. There's sculpture, painting, photography, video, animation...yadda yadda yadda . Each of these tools lean towards a specific purpose. Need to see reality? A: photographs. Need to understand space and time of one perspective? A: video. Etc. Illustration is just one other tool, but it is a special tool with personal style and specific charm.

What's so special about illustration's personal style and charm? Well, all visual tools relay concepts, simplify information, increase retention, and enhance focus. But illustration ALSO sows familiarity and repetition through their custom niche style. This naturally sparks visual awareness which is KEY for branding! On top of that, the innate style and charm of illustration creates emotional connections too. Therein lies the magic of illustration that other tools can't capture in quite the same way.

POWERS OF ILLUSTRATION:

Illustrations simplifiy information. Flip open any technical manual and you will see black and white illustrations of the components for your IKEA furniture, your new kitchen gadget or the special gauges from the car dashboard. There's a reason why illustration works faster than photos and it's because of the inherent simplification. It whittles out unnecessary elements (whatever they may be visually) and makes the important features more relevant and easier to understand.

Illustration increase retention. Humans are known to have high visual sensitivity (read here, or here) and most of us remember visual references in memories to recall information. Diagrams are a form of illustration that can lay out a linear process. Lists create the hierarchical relationship of things to each other. Schematics display the arrangement of everything on one level. Illustrations can play with every single one of these visual connections (sometimes all in the same illustration) that can later help us retrieve all kinds of information stored in our brains for quicker recall and better memory retention.

Illustration enhances focus. When you need to bring everyone together about a topic, illustrations can help rally the focus. On a slide presentation, an illustration can bring something straight into everyone's mind. Without using words, it can highlight a problem, change the perspective, show a process, etc. While photos can do this too, illustrations carry a far greater range in variety because every single bit of the image can be tailored for the specific purpose - color for mood, perspective for focus, subject for diversity, etc. The capacity to specifically sync everyone's mind to the same thing is a powerful tool of persuasion.

Illustration sparks visual awareness. I remember as a kiddo recognizing different characters based on the hint of their appearance - Hello Kitty colors vs Snoopy squiggly line. Visual awareness is the immediate recognition of something - it's what helps us see patterns in all kinds of design choices like colors, typography, pen stroke thickness, patterns, etc. It's kind of a super power of visual tools to help people remember a thing, or place. In illustration this is the line-work, painting, coloring of something that extends a personal element beyond just the corporate graphic design. The power to cue associations helps people see and connect quickly.

Illustration creates emotional connections. Illustrations have a unique charm and personal associations that are special for each of us. When we see an illustrations in an app, we build a personal attachment to it. It's a similar reason why mascots become a sweet cherished friend of products or places. (This is especially true in Asia!) We feel a connection with one experience over another when illustrations extend the ethos of a brand, company, corporation. In this way, illustrations create a sense of belonging and emotional link beyond any other visual tool.

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Illustrations spark, simplify, expand, enhance, connect us all in deep ways. The ephemeral beauty of imagination captured in a drawing is always going to be part of a magical space! Yes, there are a hundred other visual tools, but illustration in its static nature gives us the deepest freedom to immerse ourselves and be in the picture for longer. Just like that, illustrations are powerful, wonderful, meaningful.

So if illustrations are valuable, then illustrators are valuable. The time it takes to learn the skills, to practice the techniques, to build the knowledge, to use the tools - all to make the actual illustration...and THEN the endless patience to tweak at it to make it sing visually - well, it's good, hard work.

Please note: since illustrations are so valuable, and my time invested is considerable, I cannot offer my illustrative work for free. However, if you are under the umbrella of social business or social enterprise offering services or products for Animals, Conservation, Culture, Community or Environment - I still honor discounts because I believe in the value of OUR work together. You can send me an email at hello@thesmarti.com and let's see if we can make beautiful things happen.

Cheers to the value of illustrations and acknowledging our worth,

smarti