Eye 72
Posted 05/08/2009 by pw.

We were very happy to be featured in the graphic design quarterly Eye earlier this month.

Adrian Shaughnessy's article The graphic designer as illustrator features a full page reproduction of some of our brand illustration for EVO [http://du.st/focus/36].

Extract "There was a time when graphic design and illustration used to sleep in the same bed. Look through any design annual from the 1970s and early 80s - Graphis, D&AD, the New York Art Directors - and much of the work on show has drawn imagery as its main ingredient. During the fizzy, go-go 1980s, however, something happened to the relationship between design and illustration. Design was promoted to the front line of commercial life: professionalised and strategised, it took ownership of identity and branding within the corporate world. Not long afterwards designers discovered that cheap technology and reduced repro costs allowed them to use photography where once they might have relied on illustration; they also discovered that new digital tools enabled them to make their own images, collages and visual effects. Illustration, on the other hand, clung onto the notion of autonomy of expression and refused to learn the language of strategy and branding. It was banished to the sofa..." More here: http://du.st/dcc

We've been reading Eye since we were knee high to a Mac Classic so this made us smile somewhat.

Our other illustration outing Fine & Dandy gets a mention in Steve Hare's article Drawn into conversation [http://du.st/c53] - which discusses the increased usage of illustration by big brands. The article carries examples by F&D colleague Mick Marston [http://www.thefutilevignette.com].

Related work can be found here:
The Economist [http://du.st/focus/7] &
Vodafone [http://du.st/focus/58].