Product Description

Part manifesto, part instruction manual, this volume's cutting-edge essays, interviews, and course syllabi provide the first-ever blueprint for teaching and practicing the dynamic art and craft of illustration. This revolutionary book fills a practical and an intellectual void for educators, students, and professionals in the field of illustration. Based on interviews with top illustrators and teachers, the book discusses how professionals acquired their illustration know-how and went on to apply it in their careers. Also explored are model illustration education curricula-for both undergraduate and graduate levels-created by leading illustration educators and practitioners. Offering a diverse range of attitudes, philosophies, and visions, this book is the first to address pressing issues confronting education in the illustration arts, including such concerns as authorship, new media, and the marriage of illustration and design.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #206986 in Books
• Published on: 2000-11-01
• Released on: 2000-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781581150759
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Library Journal
Heller (Graphic Design Time Line) is the art director of the New York Times Book Review and cochair of the master's of fine arts design program at the School of Visual Arts; Arisman is the chair of the master's of fine arts illustration program at the School of Visual Arts. Here they have assembled top designers and educators from the illustration and graphics design fields to examine the dynamics of the art and craft of illustration through essays, interviews, and course syllabi. Varying in length and offering a range of attitudes, philosophies, and visions, the entries discuss each illustration's connection to the fine arts, the influence of computers and the Internet on illustration, and the future of illustration. Models of illustration education curricula are offered for undergraduate and graduate levels. This intellectual guide to teaching and practicing illustration is recommended for academic libraries. Judith Yankielun Lind, Roseland Free P.L., NJ
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap
The Education of an Illustrator

“The process of drawing can unlock the entire creative process for an artist. As children, we all used drawing to relate to the world around us. We were not trying to make art. We were trying to make sense out of the world we were experiencing. We told stories in pictures. . . . The vocabulary of the illustrator has to be expanded into authorship.”

—Marshall Arisman, from the introduction

Editors Steven Heller and Marshall Arisman have assembled thirty leading practitioners and thinkers of the illustration and graphic design fields in this first-ever blueprint for teaching and practicing the dynamic art and craft of illustration. This compelling collection of essays, interviews, and course syllabi provides readers with first-hand accounts from various professionals and educators who discuss how they acquired their knowledge of illustration and have successfully translated it into their careers. Part manifesto, part instruction manual, this revolutionary blend of knowledge and practice provides students, teachers, and practitioners alike with an indispensable resource on the teaching and usage of illustration today. Included are twenty-five cutting-edge essays; interviews with Milton Glaser and Thomas Woodruff addressing both the concept of holism and the interconnection between fine arts and illustration; and a diverse and stimulating selection of course syllab! i and curricula designed for both undergraduate and graduate students.

About the Author
Steven Heller is editor of the AIGA Journal of Graphic Design and the chair of the MFA design department at the School of Visual Arts. He is the author or editor of more than seventy books on graphic design, and he is a contributor or contributing editor to nearly 25 magazines, including Print, U&lc, Eye Magazine, Communications Arts, ID magazine, Graphics, Design Issues, and Mother Jones. Since 1986 he has been senior art director of the New York Times, which he first joined as an art director in 1974. From 1967-1973, he served as art director for numerous publications, including Interview magazine, The New York Free Press, Rock Magazine, Screw magazine, Mobster Times, Evergreen Review, and the Irish Arts Center.

He was awarded three design grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, in 1986,1988, and 1990. In 1996, he received a Special Educators Award from The Art Director’s Club of New York. He has been the curator of ten design exhibitions, including “The Art of Satire” at the Pratt Graphics Center and “Art Against War” at the Parsons School of Design. Since 1986, he has directed “Modernism & Eclecticism: A History of American Graphic Design,” an annual symposium at the School of Visual Arts. He lives in New York.

Allworth Press books written or edited by Steven Heller:

Design Connoisseur (See also Louise Fili)

Graphic Design Timeline (See also Elinor Pettit)

Design Culture (See also Marie Finamore)

Design Dialogues (See also Elinor Pettit)

Design Literacy (See also Karen Pomeroy)

The Education of a Graphic Designer

Looking Closer (See also Michael Bierut, William Drenttel, and DK Holland)

Looking Closer 2 (See also Michael Bierut, William Drenttel, and DK Holland)

Marshall Arisman, is the chair of the master of fine arts illustration program at the School of Visual Arts. His editorial illustrations have appeared in such publications as the New York Times, Esquire, Time, Rolling Stone, the Village Voice, and the Nation, and his paintings and sculptures have been exhibited internationally in galleries and museums. He lives in New York City.

Allworth Press Books by Marshall Arisman: The Education of An Illustrator (See also Steven Heller)

Customer Reviews

Mixed feelings
Heller and Arisman are two School of Visual Arts (NY) professors who have achieved much in their careers. The conversation/interview between them is the strongest, most educational and most inspiring part of the book.

Brad Holland writes a detailed (but dry) description of the history of stock houses, the direction they are moving in now and how that relates to working artists.
Educational.

A very large portion of the book is a collection of art excercises useful to teachers creating curriculum or artists without the ability to direct themselves in the production of work. I found this area to be mildly interesting, but quite useless to me as an illustrator.

Teachers often tend to create excercises they would do very well themselves, but don't necessarily draw out the uniqueness of the individuals they are teaching. Success as an artist is following your own values of what a successful peice of art or illustration is.

I would have liked to read the perspectives of a more varied cross section of artists in addition to the New York city old guard. There is so much innovation happening in this field. To bemoan the fact that things aren't what they were, shows a lack of awareness of what the younger generation of artists do. Jump fences.

"I design my students to destroy me."
John Maeda of MIT Media Lab

"You are the next Picassos."
Sheridan College Faculty addressing the class in my foundation year 5 years ago.

Interesting and thought provoking
The entire book is made up of articles written by various established illustrators. I found the sections on art direction and education extremely interesting. Included are sample course syllabii which is helpful if you are teaching illustration courses.

The part that I had a problem (maybe that's too strong a word) with was the section on the state of the illustration market today. To me, it came off as old time illustrators whining and pining for the good old days, you know before the computer when one could make a decent living as an illustrator. It wasn't terribly encouraging to new comers which I think is too bad. I rather felt like they were telling me not to waste my time, that there was no room in the industry for me. In the end, it just made me more determined to succeed despite (or in spite) of their views. All in all, it is a thought provoking book, whether you agree with their view point or not, and it's guaranteed to start some interesting dialog with your illustrator friends.

Essential for any illustration major
My first thought when I really got into this book was "finally. An outlook on the career of an illustrator neither negative nor overly optimistic, but realistic and helpful." Being an illustration major I have several misconceptions about the field of illustration that were cleared up pretty quickly. I found the interview with Thomas Woodruff particularly insightful in the case of the illustration as low art issue, and I laughed my head off at Brad Holland's satirical lesson on art terminology. My advice is to buy this book not to decide whether or not illustration is the path for you, but to make sure you have a grasp on what you're getting into.