A contemporary synthesis of the philosophical, theoretical and practical methodologies of illustration and its future development

Illustration is contextualized visual communication; its purpose is to serve society by influencing the many aspects of its cultural infrastructure; it dispenses knowledge and education, it commentates and delivers journalistic opinion, it persuades, advertises and promotes, it entertains and provides for all forms of narrative fiction. A Companion to Illustration explores the definition of illustration through cognition and research and its impact on culture. It explores illustration’s boundaries and its archetypal distinction, the inflected forms of its parameters, its professional, contextual, educational and creative applications. This unique reference volume offers insights into the expanding global intellectual conversation on illustration through a compendium of readings by an international roster of scholars, academics and practitioners of illustration and visual communication.

Encompassing a wide range of thematic dialogues, the Companion offers twenty-five chapters of original theses, examining the character and making of imagery, illustration education and research, and contemporary and post-contemporary context and practice. Topics including conceptual strategies for the contemporary illustrator, the epistemic potential of active imagination in science, developing creativity in a polymathic environment, and the presentation of new insights on the intellectual and practical methodologies of illustration. 

• Evaluates innovative theoretical and contextual teaching and learning strategies
• Considers the influence of illustration through cognition, research and cultural hypotheses
• Discusses the illustrator as author, intellectual and multi-disciplinarian
• Explores state-of-the-art research and contemporary trends in illustration
• Examines the philosophical, theoretical and practical framework of the discipline

A Companion to Illustration is a valuable resource for students, scholars and professionals in disciplines including illustration, graphic and visual arts, visual communications, cultural and media and advertising studies, and art history.

Alan Male is Professor Emeritus, Falmouth University, UK. He is an internationally recognized academic, writer, illustrator, and lecturer on communication, historical and cultural studies, and professional illustration practice. Professor Male is author of Illustration: A Theoretical and Contextual Perspective, Illustration: Meeting the Brief, and The Power and Influence of Illustration. He has won numerous international awards and has illustrated more than 170 books.