Conclusions
13 weeks ago I described my location between the disciplines of Graphic Design and Illustration as central. I said that I'd "maintained balance between my interest" in them, before starting the course. After six projects on the 'Intro to Graphic Arts' module, I'm surprised that virtually all of my responses have been graphic design centric. More often than not, my designs have started on paper as quite simple sketches that lend themselves to the new skills that I've been learning on Adobe Illustrator. And so, those sketches that had the potential to become illustrative pieces, ended up as clean, graphic pieces.
I think it's the fact I've been learning new techniques on digital software that has prompted me to attack the briefs in a graphic design way. Now that I'm achieving a more refined level of digital work, I've been more interested in putting that new knowledge to use than refining my other skills. The scales have definitely been tipped in this first semester.
In reflection, I'm definitely hungry to return to my set of watercolours and pencils and my classic techniques because that is still a big part of the artist I want to become. I'm not ready to decide my path just yet.
My thought process recently, as a result of reading some articles and from forming my portfolio, is that Illustration and Graphic Design are like two separate branches which intertwine at various moments. Graphic Design is primarily about communication and it will more than likely lead you towards an array of corporate and commercial design jobs, however I've noticed that Illustration can also lead to logo design, which I would have always said was exclusively a graphic designer's job. Graphic designers learn about layout and gain technical skills which can be useful to illustrators, especially when it comes to page layouts for a graphic novel for instance. I'm not sure how to divide these two completely, but my studies are giving me a greater understanding of the visual differences between the works of each kinds of artists. I'm hoping to really understand my craft as an illustrator in the coming months, in the way that I've started to really get to grips with graphic design in the months that have passed. I think only then will I be able to make a decision as to which path I'll follow.
