What is illustration for you?

When an entrepreneur,someone looking for an illustration and thinks illustration how do you picture it infront of you.

A better customer I have (nice and all that, who now ends his current employeer unfortunately) called me for two assignments lately (that I made ​​and delivered), All though I didnt initially thought so much about the meaning, on my part, when he said: ”we did not know how we would image-wise layout and present this article, so we were thinking of an illustration as a solution.” I took no offense, but the comment like this is very common among many newspaper editors and art directors.
 
I was happy to do the illustrations. And the customer was satisfied and happy, but what do the words stands for, what do they tell?

Another much less good client, art director, who worked at another newspaper magazine (idg sweden) saw illustration only as decoration and especially nothing that could be used for illustrating a serious subject in an article, only photos could do that she said. After a brainstorming/storyboard meeting with the rest of the editorial staff, she asked me and the photographer to stay for a minute and told us in the face, ”if I ask for a carrot then I want a carrot and no artistic carrot”.

I still hope this comment is not a common attitude among editorial staff at newspaper & magazines.

She had clearly never opened the eminent magazine WIRED. www.wired.com.

Illustration may very well be ”a carrot is a carrot is a carrot” (paraphrasing ” Getrud Stein), and product images for example to IKEA packages is not there to be artistic. But the illustration of an article can be there to really highlight a topic or product. Many times in a way that photos can not and vice versa.

If you are a client assigning illustrations, how do you picture illustration, and which meaning does it have for you and all that.

In any case – I do most types of illustration, do not hesitate if you have anything on your mind

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Stefan Lindblad
Illustration, graphic design, art