Illustration: A Visual History

by Steven Heller, Seymour Chwast

This unique visual history of the art of illustration, by the foremost historian of graphic design and a well-known illustrator and designer, joins the authors’ previous Graphic Style as an indispensable resource for anyone interested in art, design, and popular culture.

Illustration has long been a significant popular art—and is often more visible, recognizable, and memorable than “higher” arts. Editorial and advertising illustration in all its many forms is so integral to our understanding of news, views, literature, and commerce that it is easily taken for granted. Nonetheless, it has an impressive history and remains a vital influence on visual culture. This book is a rich chronicle, celebration, and survey of well over a century of illustration. It deftly reveals the visual mannerisms, quirks, and tics that characterize drawn, painted, and digitized illustrations in different styles, and places leading illustrators in historical context.

Genres: Art, Design, Nonfiction, History, Reference

272 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2008

About the author

Steven Heller writes a monthly column on graphic design books for The New York Times Book Review and is co-chair of MFA Design at the School of Visual Arts. He has written more than 100 books on graphic design, illustration and political art, including Paul Rand, Merz to Emigre and Beyond: Avant Garde Magazine Design of the Twentieth Century, Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design Second Edition, Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age, Graphic Design History, Citizen Designer, Seymour Chwast: The Left Handed Designer, The Push Pin Graphic: Twenty Five Years of Design and Illustration, Stylepedia: A Guide to Graphic Design Mannerisms, Quirks, and Conceits, The Anatomy of Design: Uncovering the Influences and Inspirations in Modern Graphic Design. He edits VOICE: The AIGA Online Journal of Graphic Design, and writes for Baseline, Design Observer, Eye, Grafik, I.D., Metropolis, Print, and Step. Steven is the recipient of the Art Directors Club Special Educators Award, the AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and the School of Visual Arts' Masters Series Award.

Reviews

[Andi Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a third through this and already would buy it. By Steven Heller also, and he admits it's not an exhaustive piece on every type of illustration/illustrator, it's certainly comprehensive to me, and one would have a difficult time finding a better publication. If you want to learn about how illustration has evolved, this is definitely worth a trip to your library.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite part was the chapter about children's illustration.

[joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book collects great samples of illustration from the entire global history. The images are also accompanied by text describing the history of the various media and genre.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative brief look at many styles!