Beyond Image: a close up to editorial illustration

Abstract

The vast universe of illustration and its manifestations in diverse media –such as publicity, commercial and cultural products design, internet and its derivatives, textile and editorial industries, among others– have given place, in the past years, to a particular interest for its study and professionalization in Mexico. In order to contribute to that goal, from an editorial perspective arises this brief study, which offers the comprehension of illustration far beyond the role of a decorative element inside the book. In this article we approach illustration from its formal definition, its origins, its development in México –through a very brief historical review– and its communicative structures. Such reflections are rarely made and constitute the key point for illustration practice. To reinforce this viewpoint and to throw a wider vision of illustration as a discipline, the fields of design and communication will help building the theoretical bases for its formal study. In a similar fashion, an emphasis on the reader’s figure results fundamental to comprehend the graphic and communicative circuit of illustration that makes it a formal visual language that overtakes its container, the book, bringing it closer to subjectivity.

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