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Halberstam, J. (2018) Chapter 5: Trans* Representations. In: Trans*. University of
California Press: Oakland. pp 84 – 106

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Define what your approach was:

e.g. Was it to be funny? To make dark work? To be simple and graphic? To use a metaphor? Or Just a narrative scene?

My approach to the illustration is based on the keyword and the literal understanding of the article, hence producing work from an unbiased perspective with a humous or sarcastic take. In my illustration I depicted the ‘man’ under ‘ipad baking’ as a twist to ‘sun baking’ to be slightly ironic, with the use of a cool tone lighting I aimed to portray a therapeutic experience based on the author’s approach to technology. However, the use of blue lighting and a claustrophobic space alludes to the toxicity of ‘digital addiction’ based on the article, revealing the negative side. The reference of ‘Facebook’ and the baby peaking through is not only to be direct in visual languages but also to make a clear linkage to the article. Furthermore, the contrast in size between the screen and the man emphasises how weak humans are in relation to technology as mentioned by the author. Overall, I consider my approach to be a metaphorical narrative scene in response to the article.

How has making an editorial piece of work been different to your normal approach to making work?

I think I approach this illustration very differently from how I normally approach my work, both idea and style-wise. Due to my stereotype of editorial illustration and how it is widely represented in the industry, I had a presumption of editorial illustrations in a certain minimalistic commercial style. Therefore, I did not consider accommodating my personal style since I don't think my style fits into the ‘commercial illustration’ category, because it is more decorative and abstract. Instead, I took an approach that the style of art is as direct as possible. In terms of developing the illustration, I focused on the idea of being ‘unbiased’ and that the illustration is meant to assist the editorial and guide the audience visually. Where I would normally approach a piece of work from my subjective understanding and perception, or representing a group that I am a part of. In this case, I have to try to be as objective as possible and consider the aspect of how to recreate the article visually in a straightforward principle.

How or did you have to adapt or sacrifice something in order for your image to serve the article?

As I mentioned in the previous question, the main sacrifice I made was mainly in style. I came to a better realisation of it when I asked all my coursemates to guess which one was my work during crit and no one could point it out when my works are usually very recognisable. This also made me notice how I adapted my style to the extent that it has completely fallen into the unified style of ‘commercial illustration’ in the industry. (From a critical perspective, it's not necessarily a negative thing since it is normal to fit the needs of the market. But also it raises the question of: Is it our illustrator’s responsibility to create a diverse environment in the editorial illustration market? Personally, to what extent am I willing to sacrifice my own identity in my work in a realistic context?) Seeing a lot of my coursemates can still maintain their usual style or personal identity in their editorial illustration also made me reflect on whether my approach to this project is the only way.

What have the challenges been and how have you overcome them? Or how would you approach it differently next time?

Differing from most of my course mate I talked to, whose major challenges revolves around representing culture, belief, identity, and minorities, I find maintaining my individuality most challenging and my relation to editorial illustration in general. Yet, this struggle might vary with an editorial that suits my personal interest or style more. However, I do want to look into how I can merge my style visually or technically into editorial illustrations.

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Cpp: submission format-audible recording:3-7 min with script→ link in pdf

‘In conversation’: theatre of the oppressed

Invisible theatre→ React, direct intervention in society, to provoke debate and to clarify the problem

‘Positionally’

(past/present/future)→creating in reference to the past, also responsible for the future

(intention/—-/outcome)

‘Form’-Why editorial illustrations look so similar these days, Anne Quito

‘Contextualised Practice’

form connects the ‘look’ and the ‘context’

‘Value’

normative values of the society and culture embedded in?

how relate?

‘How to visit certain topics’→ sensitive topics→ when entering topics that are not ours

‘conversation with the text’

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The Wire Magazine - Adventures In Modern Music. (n.d.). Explore the lost world of CB radio eyeball cards - The Wire. [online] Available at: https://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/interviews/explore-the-lost-world-of-cb-radio-eyeball-cards.

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The Wire Magazine - Adventures In Modern Music

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From the late 1970s to the early 80s, Citizens Band, or CB radio was at its height, as enthusiasts would broadcast from rigs set up in cars or garages across the UK. Listening in, you'd find a stew of gossip, traffic warnings, lorry drivers' advice and anarchic conversation. The quasi-legal nature of CB broadcasting -it was legal to own a set, but illegal to broadcast until 1981-created a culture of 'breakers' who went by secretive handles and used coded slang to indicate their locations and evade the police. Lexicons of CB slang can be found all over the internet, but much less is known about the eyeball cards that devoted breakers would exchange on CB meet-ups.

William Hogan and David Titlow's new book Eyeball Cards: The Art Of British CB Radio Culture collects several of these lost eyeball cards, and they range from the straightforward, cheaply printed card with a breaker's name and location to extravagant and fantastical illustrations, lewd cartoons, and downright bizarre secret identities. They are a precursor to online avatars, and a window into a lost corner of DIY graphics and visual culture. Hogan and Titlow discuss this history with The Wire Deputy Editor Emily Bick.

How did you first find out about eyeball cards, and were you involved with CB culture yourselves?

William Hogan: The school playground was the first encounter with eyeball cards for me. I remember some older kids arguing over how valuable a 'Nutbreaker' was over a 'Prawnball'. I was intrigued - it made a difference from people wrestling over Panini stickers of Ipswich Town FC's John Wark or the genius-named Alan Brazil.
Somehow, a few days later, my sister gave me a handful of 'Red Arrow' eyeball cards in four different colours. I then realised there were many cards in a multitude of formats. I guess it added to the intrigue before I'd even got in front of CB rig, or tentatively mumbled the word 'breaker'.

David Titlow: I first discovered eyeball cards properly when I stumbled across two photo albums stuffed full of them at a Scout hall jumble sale in Leiston, Suffolk - my hometown. I was immediately drawn to their amazing potential, and knew they just had to become a photo project.

I actually knew a lot of the breakers in these albums and originally had lofty plans to photograph great swathes of them alongside their eyeball cards - this proved to be rather optimistic because by the time I finally embarked on the project most of them were deceased or to cagey/old to want to get involved. Enter my old Suffolk neighbour, Will Hogan, a few years later to kick the whole project up the backside, and back into life again with some top research work and much enthusiastic encouragement.

WH: As far as CB radio experiences go, I used to walk 'up the drift' which is a gravelly pathway up to my friend's shed where his dad had installed a CB rig. It was only meters away from where David and I were once neighbours. I wasn't allowed to even tweak a dial for the first visits, as I was told it was extremely valuable and took ages to set up. This guy's dad was a real electronic tinkerer - who I think were the main users, or what we now call 'early-adopters'. There was quite a lot of improvisation with gadgets with his family. As well as affixing a CB Radio to his son's bike, powered by a car battery from his slowly decomposing Datsun Cherry, he'd installed a set of air horns which played the Colonel Bogey tune save for the last note, which had me in peals of laughter.

This was 1981 in Sizewell in Suffolk, so exciting things were more of an abstract concept at the time. I definitely remember being amazed as we heard a mix of French breakers (being on the coast of one side of the channel) and the foreign-sounding lexicon of the breaker drifting on the airwaves. As the CB phenomenon waned, shortly after legalisation, the scene began to die too. And with that, access to CB rigs, and the breakers themselves.

How did 'breakers' coordinate their meetups to exchange cards? How did they recognise each other?

WH: The CB rig was the obvious choice. There was word of mouth off the airwaves too of course. When starting off attending meets, most breakers' clubs were local and then they'd be talk of more national meets. Apparently, some local papers were another source too - occasionally putting a coded notice in classifieds. To the uninitiated it would have looked like a dodgy personal ad.

They needed the local events to power the bigger ones in cities. Depending on atmospheric conditions and the size of the 'twig' (aerial), and what frequency CBers were using, their network and radio coverage wouldn't consistently stretch to national distances, so these little gatherings came into their own. In Colchester and Cheltenham, breaker events could be 200-400 strong, so police - functional users of CB radio themselves -would always give them a nod to meet up.

Recognising each other would have been a case of asking around at first, but also badges. David sourced some amazing eyeball badges that were used for meets. We mention it in the book that there were many love matches between breakers. Despite being a male dominated pursuit, female breakers were many. I heard that a lot on my travels to CB users today that relationships established on CBs led to marriages (some of which still going strong). There are a lot of couples' cards too. Coral & Concho, Texas T & Calamity Jane, Globe Trotter & Cockney Sparrow...

DT: They also used their rigs to pinpoint a meeting spot, coordinating it that way. I guess most of them all actually knew each other pretty well by sight anyway! It would only start getting complicated when it involved meeting breakers from other counties or further flung parts of the globe - it wouldn't actually be very wise to try and identify them by the description on some of the cards!

What are your favourite cards in the book, and what makes them appealing?

WH: I've mentioned in past that I like 'Bounty Bar' due to its graphic quality and DIY style, simple illustrative lines and an 80s advertising-influenced daftness. But of course, I love them all. There's an unbelievable amount of artistry, craft, and typographic (and probably inadvertent) genius to some of them.

That's not forgetting the names - revealing, self-effacing, self-aggrandising, even self-destructive handles. I would have loved to have met Seafarer Splinters for example, or Mutley & Miss Piggy. There's also a lot of club-handed and downright bawdy creations too like Bitter Lemon, and the 'nudge nudge' shape of Kodak Lady.

Ones that trigger the thought - "What on earth is going on with that person's psyche?' are the most appealing to me I think. If pushed, Garibaldi is a peculiar mix and one that ticks the abstract box distinctively. Supermog & Coconut has some nod to a soul music posters' typography and... I just don't know. I could go on; they're all charming in their own right.

DT: My fave cards are the pastel-coloured thin cardboard budget Xeroxed cards - especially the Desert Fox and Cheeseburger ones. These two would look incredible when enlarged to about 6ft wide, and wouldn't look out of place in a contemporary art gallery.

How did you track down these collections--and how did you find the broadcasters that you interview in the book?

WH: Fortunately, as a jumping-off point, we knew some of the Suffolk breakers from way back. What sparked the whole project was David's initial idea and work on it. However, as David will tell you, a lot of enjoyable but significant legwork has gone into it - by its very nature, CB radio is anonymous, as are the handles that mask the breakers, and codify the activity.

DT: With great difficulty. Every internet site, car boot site you can think of, classifieds etc., searching actual car boot sales, charity stores, hassling radio forums, friends and friends of friends. Every time we got a good lead it usually fizzled out, which was obviously very frustrating! But we're hoping the book will flush out some participants for an upcoming exhibition. I'm personally always looking for these cards now - it's incredibly exciting (and incredibly hard) to find them.

How secret were breakers' identities, especially in the early days when CB broadcasting was illegal in the UK? Was anyone ever outed?

WH: There was a very exciting edge to it all. It shows in the sheer volumes of people doing it and the rapid demise after it became legal. Your 20 meant your location, so of course, when someone asked 'What's your twenty?', it would always be a rough idea of where you were broadcasting from. All places had nicknames too - just to add another layer of mystery to it. In smaller areas, the breakers would have put two and two together, and after a while known who was behind the handle, but to the outside world, no.

If there were busts, everyone would know about it and warnings would be shared so others wouldn't get caught. The police were on CB radio, but it was not their job to enforce fines and clamp down on users. That responsibility fell with the Post Office and the DTI - the Department of Trade and Industry. It was more akin to not having a TV license with fines and confiscation of equipment being the main punishment. It wasn't unheard of for a high wattage signal to disrupt TV and radio reception, so non-CBers would report them in those cases.

In the book, you talk about an unwritten set of rules--including that no music was to be broadcast on the CB channels-why was music out of bounds?

DT: I'm not sure exactly. I guess it was purely a medium for chat. If you wanted music you put the radio on as it would be pretty annoying if you were looking for gossip and local CB action to be met with someone practising to be a DJ.

WH: Invariably, there was the odd person who'd crank up a few 45s. David knew someone in a nearby village who'd occasionally have an hour playing music - Jazz, mainly. But then that was let slide because he was old and out in the sticks.

What were some of the other 'unwritten rules'? And how was civility policed?

WH: I was talking to Dart Player and he mentioned that a breaker (who shall remain nameless even omitting her handle) had an aerial and a wattage so large, it cut over all electronic equipment - from other CBs to TVs for five miles. One breaker was so annoyed, after weeks of trying to persuade her to lower the wattage and her refusing, he drove round to her house and cut the cable while she was out.

In theory, there's nothing to stop anyone saying anything, listening in or hogging the airwaves, but it somehow basically self-regulated. With meets and avid users, respect was shared and in some cases enforced themselves. There was also the functional element - it was also a work tool, by farmers and truckers etc. so when important messages about roads or breakdowns with CBers needing assistance, then there was a general respect for it as a given.

DT: I agree, but it's also hard to say definitively, but I doubt anyone would have grassed anyone up - that would have been super bad CB etiquette. Swearing was frowned upon I seem to remember and I'm pretty sure any lewd stuff would have been out of bounds.

Some of the cards are quite crude - was there a seedy side to CB culture?

WH: There are hints of that in some of the card groups certainly. We're looking at an entirely free-for-all medium. Invariably, there will be talk and imagery (in the case of the cards) around sex. We have to remember this is the late 70s/early 80s, where casual misogyny emanated from every TV set in the land. A few of the seaside cards we found definitely have an overt seedy side. Blue Eyes and Angel J are almost blatant calling cards, and Pinto has depicted a huge cock on a horse! That's just plain odd.

DT: I think the cards were more Carry On Camping rude, rather than Velvet Underground rude. More like British saucy seaside postcard style humour - very early 80s and of its time I guess. I don't think the scene was particularly seedy. As Will mentioned earlier, some breakers met their future wives and husbands through the power of CB.

Can you explain a bit more about the 'hunt the broadcaster' games. This sounds like something from the days of pirate radio.

DT: These games were called 'foxhunting' and involved triangulation of signals in cars. I believe Will can explain better as Fruitcake explained it to him.

WH: Yeah, it was using signal meters that monitor how strongly a broadcast is transmitting. One person would drive in their CB-fitted car and three others with signal meters would be able to locate them by triangulating their position. Apparently, it was loads of fun with the 'fox' sending out a broadcast every 10-15 mins. It was people having a laugh in their cars essentially, trying to create a game with this new technology.

Finally, what do you miss most about this lost world?

DT: Most definitely the beautiful cards! They're pure folk/outsider art - I love them. Such fantastic ephemera from a time before cell phones and the internet.

WH: I agree about the cards. People forget that CBing was so popular - I heard that CB radios were in the top ten of the most-purchased Christmas presents in1981. The bits and pieces we've collected are a paean to a more innocent time I think. There is also a spontaneous camaraderie and an 'on-air personae' that we probably won't find ever again in mass media.

The chat, the style, and the attitude was straight out of Dukes Of Hazzard in rural areas - somehow British CBers connected with that and made it their own. I think it was the early eighties feeling of optimism in the face of economic uncertainty, a 'what the hell' DIY reaction. You can see that in the cards - a mix of materials and styles and the effort to just make things for themselves, especially their imagined identities and their qualities that they may not have been able to emulate in real life. Let's not forget that it was essentially a bit of fun.

These days, everything is heavily curated, censored or simply too self-conscious. You were free to express yourself on air and on your card. Anyone could create an alter-ego that existed only in the temporal, and not the 'eternal' digital footprint that exists today.

Eyeball Cards: The Art Of British CB Radio Culture, Hbk 192pp, is published by Four Corners Books

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Explore the lost world of CB radio eyeball cards - The Wire

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William Hogan and David Titlow discuss the golden age of CB radio and their new book Eyeball Cards: The Art Of British CB Radio Culture with Deputy Editor Emily Bick

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For this exercise I mainly picked landmarks that I encounter during the holiday when I was in China and Japan. I also included some places in London that I have special connection to.

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In this practice, I have written down my Chinese and English names in different writing types. I also wrote down my English name and translated it phonetically back to Chinese, which is a nickname that most of my Chinese friend refer me as.

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This task is mainly about laying out draft for the eyeball card, since I have already have a rough idea of what I am doing and I want to start doing more experiments digitally. Therefore, I skipped this task and went straight into development

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To start off, I want the eyeball cards to act as an implicit name card. I picked the translation of my English name into Chinese, since it's a familiar nickname for me. I tried using ink brush to draw out the name in desired font on paper first then digitally manipulate them.

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I took influence from the small flyers they stick around in China, as shown in the above two images. They share a similarity with the aim of my 'name' being emphasized as the 'advertisement'. I will also take inspiration from the use of text and numbers, these will be used as texture but also numerical information that is associated with me.

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I started by combing the scanned version of the characters with the materials I gathered in Procreate. I wanted to work with only black and white due to my personal stylised choice. As shown in the image, I experimented with digitally manipulating the texture and layout with the materials I gathered, aiming to combine the main subject with the extra information.
For the final piece, I added some abstract spikey shapes as a border for the card mainly to fill the spaces but also to make it more personalised and recognizable.

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Summery and annotations included

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Quick visualisation of my chosen words. I mainly used a black ink brush pen since I am very familiar with this media and allows me to make quick visualisation of ideas. As shown in the image, Some of the words I chose a literal approach to illustrate, and for words that correlates to emotions I chose a more abstract form in order to capture 'feelings'.

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Whats editorial illustration?
- respond to text or a certain theme/concept
-magazine, journal, newspaper, online platform
- visually convey the idea

Why?
- commissioned for style
- learn new things
- visible way
- get paid quickly
- collaboration with Art Directors

What does an art director do?
- Bridge between editor and artists, verbal and visual
- Communicate between the publication and the artist
- Curate articles/ illustration/ artist
- Support artists

Collaboration:
- take criticism
- respect opinion
- be ok with working with other people's ideas

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As shown in the image above, the first one is a combination of 'anxiety, solace and polytheistic', and the second one is a combination of 'digital addiction, ignorant'. I divided my 8 quick sketches into more literal representations apart from the more abstract ones, which is how I approached the process of merging the visual representation of the words. As a result of this, the first drawing became a pattern-like structure that fills the page, while the second one is very direct by alluding to the idea of 'digital addiction'. However, I am not satisfied with both of these as one of the drafts, since the first one is not straightforward enough, and the second one is more of a cliche.

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the two images on the left has a clear reference to it, even tho I do want to develop it more, but I choose not to due to the nature of editorial illustration and how it may be inappropriate.
Top left: inspired by the cult leader Jim Jones, and how cult members would hold up signs that says 'I believe in Jim Jones', this is also because the author mentioned 'polytheistic religion'
Bottom Left: This is inspired by the new Saw movie poster with the eyeball suction device.

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During this workshop, we are grouped in pairs to give each other feedback on the 10 thumbnails we have done during the previous workshop. The aim of this discussion is to comment on each briefly and see which one has the potential to further develop or maybe draw inspiration from a few different ones and merge some elements.

My partner and I both think the above two thumbnails are the most eye-catching, in terms of composition and subject matters illustrated.

Discussions:
Thumbnail 1- The concept is a man under 'sunbaking' of an iPad. My partner thinks this approach to the article is unbiased, considering both the toxicity of digital addiction but also how it is soothing and relaxing for a wide range of people as mentioned in the article. I also really like the simple composition in this, as the size of the iPad and the man creates a distinct contrast, alluding to the vulnerability humans are compared to technology. Therefore, I would definitely keep the basic concept and the composition of this thumbnail.

Thumbnail 2- This rough illustrates a man on the iPad being trapped in a pill bottle with a baby peeking from outside. We both agreed this illustration is very straightforward as the pill bottle clearly represents addiction. My partner also suggested that including the baby draws more linkage to the article instead of just about digital addiction itself. I am very inspired by this point which I think I should be including the baby in the illustration.

Moreover, I suggested that I might combine the elements and the composition in these two roughs. Therefore develop further by merging the two ideas.

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I trailed with different approaches for merging the two thumbnails, and this is the one I chose that I am most satisfied about. Where it keeps the main composition and also includes the baby. I purposely enlarge the baby's head, to create a contrast with the man, implying the irony of the baby being neglected by the narrator in comparison to digital devices.

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I scanned in the sketch I made in Procreate, because I want a pencil paper drawn texture that is casual and inform. Then I added the perspective structures digitally since it makes the lines more static and straight. It act as a base for my colouring in process. I also added a paper texture to the image to enhance the aspect of 'hand drawn', I chose the watercolour brush in Procreate for the same reason. The colour scheme I chose for the man's outfit is very mundane dull green toned, which should be relatable and mediocre exactly like what the audience expected. In contrast, the baby is coloured with a very bright and warm toned colour pallet, to portray that the baby is in a complete different stage of life with the man.

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To create more linkage with the editorial, I chose to add a reference from the text. The logo of 'Facebook' has been chosen due to its publicity and the multiple reference of it by the author. I think by adding this direct logo makes the scenario more straightforward and easier to understand. I also duplicated the logo and blurred it out slightly to create the reflection on the man.

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The last process for this editorial illustration is adding lighting  to the ipad shining down towards the man.
Trial 1: For this one, I think the cool blue tone of the light is not emphasised enough, and the effect of light ray is not desired
Trial2: I layered a blue tone over the original light sources, however the edges are still too sharp. I also added light sources that are more perspective oriented
Trial 3: During this process, I blurred out the white layer of light source, trying to mimic the effects of light a bit more
Final: Basically slight adjustment on Trial 3 to finalise the image.

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10/10 In conversation work shop group discussion 

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10/10 In conversation work shop group discussion 

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During this group discussion, everyone talked about the image they took inspiration from (Due to time limit I did not get to mine, however I did talk about how I have a fixed 'norm' for the style of editorial illustration, and how it limits me during this project-which it shouldn't)

Ayshe-Mira: we mainly discussed about even how her artist doesn't use skin tone colour to illustrate skin, instead its cool toned colour like purple or blue. But the race of the characters can still be differentiated due to the depiction of facial features.

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Main point:

style (norm) in editorial illustration, How it effect? Diversity in the industry?

The role of the illustration, What is the point of the visual language?

Questions:

- How did you approach to this illustration and how does it differ from your usual works?

- What sacrifice did you make to fit the article, the platform and the audience more?

- connotation and self-reflection based on the sacrifices?

- limited to ‘norms’, and why have they been viewed as norms for me

- What’s your definition of illustration and how does it differ from editorial illustration?

- How does your approach differ from the author?

- What’s your positionally on the article, the subject and the audience, and how will that affect your work?

- To what extent can your positionality be fully represented while not defeating the purpose of the article?

- How does your illustration fill the gaps in the article?

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Rough script and questions for recording

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Rough script and questions for recording

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Introduction

Introduce ourselves (name)

Introduce the work we made - basic description

Metaphorical narrative depicting the man’s addiction to ipad through ‘ipad baking’

Question 1

What’s your positionality on the article? To what extent can your positionality be fully represented while not defeating the purpose of the article?

Julia - the purpose of editorial illustration (unbiased depiction of the article, clear visual language for the audience), how personal style is sacrifice

AM - hating man, centring woman’s narrative, could have strayed too far from article by making inferences about what knowledge was omitted

Question 2

How can we avoid reproducing narratives of misrepresentation through a consciousness of the various connotations that could be encoded in the visual language in our work?

Julia - link back to the idea of whether editorial illustration should be unbiased and strictly follows the article, however, the article itself is subjectively male centered where I dont agree with. Thus, questioning whether my illustration is really unbiased.

AM - reflecting on how women (e.g. mothers of newborns) have been positioned in narratives of misrepresentation, and how i can counter that to create work that is empowering of women

Conclusion

Refer to our responsibility as illustrators

Julia - As Gillian rose said ‘Visual imagery is never innocent; it is always constructed through various practices, technologies and knowledges’, and its almost impossible to produce an unbiased illustration in the media, therefore any approach is

AM - even tho we are asked to constantly produce work like a machine, slowing down, listening and absorbing knowledge is also important - being critical when consuming media and having an awareness that we are participating in visual culture

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'Visual imagery is never innocent; it is always constructed through various practices, technologies and knowledges’
Rose, G. (2016) Visual Methodologies: An introduction to the interpretation of visual materials. Los Angeles: SAGE.

* We thought this quote will be a good approach to start wrapping up, and allows us to link the conversation to a wider range of topics that engage the audience to think about.

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Farinati, L. and Firth, C. (2017) The Force of Listening. Los Angeles: Errant Bodies Press.
Rose, G. (2016) Visual Methodologies: An introduction to the interpretation of visual materials. Los Angeles: SAGE.

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This image is the first image came up when I searched 'editorial illustration digital addiction'. I'm surprised to see the composition, the idea, the angle of the phone is similar to one of thumbnail sketches. Although this image does not have copy right or author, I do think it illustrate the 'cliche' of digital addiction very clearly.

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Kumar, G.K. (2016). Internet addiction’s a public health issue. [online] G Krishna Kumar’s Columns. Available at: http://bloggerkrishnak.blogspot.com/2016/07/ [

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Editorial illustration with similar topic 

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Editorial illustration with similar topic 

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I also looked into other editorial illustrations with a similar topic. Here is an example, but I find most of them have a blue tone to represent technology and internet. Which I will defiantly draw inspiration from, since I already decided the main tone of my image will be cool toned.

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This Article "Internet addiction's a public health issue" I wrote appeared in the Hindu Business Line on 16th July 2016 , editorial page. The article looks at the following:

1) IAD is a serious global issue and countries like the US have witnessed employability issues linked to IAD. Countries like japan are worse off with over half a million kids impacted

2)How countries like Japan and Korea are providing intervention for IAD. Japan has started "Internet Fasting centers" to help children get over severe screen addiction/ Internet addiction.

3)India could soon see a huge problem with 12% of Indian internet users already considered to have the internet overuse problem.

4) Possible solutions for India

a) Getting 4 ministries to work together (Telecom, Health, MHRD and AYUSH)

b) Embark on mission to increase awareness of the issue, schools

c) Put the onus on Internet service providers to educate users about IAD

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Articles related to ICT, Economy, Infrastructure and Education

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I currently don't have the raw copy of the recording.

First practice: we followed the script a bit too strictly and talked too fast cuz we were scared to run out of time

Second Practice: we tried to slow down and only looks at the main points we listed. we find it important to actually listen to each other and being engaged, for example of asking question back like an actual conversation instead of being too nervous and only thinking about what we are gonna say next. Therefore, this round is not as stiff and we still manage to control it around 6:56 minutes

Final recording: We aimed to finish the recording in one run, even though we had to pause it twice due to mistakes but we end up editing things together. We both like the idea of not having the conversation too stiff and still maintain a bit rawness.

We did find it hard to have an in depth conversation about the points we proposed without kept jumping into the next point, we do think it is because of the time limit and we wanted to talk about things from two different perspectives, which makes it harder.

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Concepts and images I took influence from but end up not using

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Concepts and images I took influence from but end up not using

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I do find these almost body modification images are very interesting, especially from the aspect of being consumed by technologies and digital devices. However, under my consideration, there are more aspect of the article that is more than just the over consumption of digital devices. Also in consideration of the 'New York Times' and the author himself, I do want to take a more subtle approach than using this concept. But I would love to further explore it in my own time.

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I wanted to understand why I had an impression of editorial illustration should have a fixed, simplified and unified style. First of all, this impression isn't completely incorrect since it is the main stream in the industry. The cause of it can be varied into: underpaid artist, limitation of time, 'easier for audience to relate with simplistic and unpersonalised characters', commercial trends etc.
SVSLearn Forums. (2020). Why editorial illustrations look so similar these days (article). [online] Available at: https://forum.svslearn.com/topic/8606/why-editorial-illustrations-look-so-similar-these-days-article/5 [Accessed 22 Oct. 2023].

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Great article. Need more time to properly digest. I don't work in editorial market, but always aware of it's issues and impact. It could be argued (to a point, and I'm not sure it's a hill I'd die on) that children's books have a similar "style" issue. Arguably for much the same reasons.

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Why editorial illustrations look so similar these days (article)

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An illustrator friend posted this article and I thought it was interesting, so I'll share it here to see what you guys think: https://qz.com/quartzy/1728767/why-editorial-illustrations-look-so-similar-these-days/ It talks about low pay, but we knew that a...

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In 2019, it's highly possible to make a living as an illustrator without learning how to draw in the classical sense. Virtually anyone can produce professional-looking artwork using illustration software and digital tools. Clumsy drawing gestures snap into perfect shapes, stock digital brushes generate instant texture, and a few mouse clicks can result in a perfectly convincing composition.

Technology is one reason why editorial illustrations are looking flatter, sharper, and arguably more generic. It's hard to miss the trend.

Here's an example on the Quartz app:

Another instance in the New York Times opinion section:

On the cover of Los Angeles magazine

On Time magazine:

A recent instance in Le Monde:

The illustration style even routinely appears on the cover of The New Yorker:

Note that all these examples were made by different illustrators.

Query the word "illustration" on Google Image search and you'll see these type of results.

The vector-based style, characterized by flat colors, simple shapes and a pared-down color palette, doesn't have an official name. It's most widely referred to as " flat illustration" or, pejoratively, " Corporate Memphis," alluding to its frequent appearance in ads and interfaces for tech companies like Lyft, Spotify, Oscar, Airtable, and many others. Facebook calls its "gangly-armed" cartoon figures "."

Alex Eben Meyer, a Brooklyn-based illustrator who works in this style, prefers describing his work as computer-made collage. "I think of my work more as shape-driven," he explains. "When I am creating my images, I'm putting together shapes and pieces, practically an illustration cut paper collage."

It's useful to point out that the word "flat" doesn't mean boring or uninspired. There are in fact many editorial illustrators working in this style who manage to inject wit, personality, and invention, like Meyer and the illustrators in the publications cited above.

How did this style come to define today's illustration practice? The answer boils down to three T's: technology, taste, and terrible pay.

The trap of technology

Flat illustrations, for lack of a better term, is a subset of a style called "flat design." It's the design principle behind the scourge of minimalist logo makeovers that's prevalent in corporate branding. A rejection of the skeuomorphism trend in the 2000s, flat design's ultimate goal is to ensure that graphic elements work well in various digital displays-from tiny Apple Watch screens to building-sized banners.

"Flat design is about embracing the native format of digital," explains Andrew Allen, WeTransfer's head of product who co-developed a popular drawing app called Paper. "Computers want to render simple forms. Even with high-definition screens, flat shapes tend to load faster and scale easier."

Like any other artistic medium, the tendencies of technology manifest on the finished work. Programs like Adobe Illustrator have many shortcuts to help illustrators automate the production of geometric forms, color palettes, and other effects. A trained eye will recognize stock tools and preprogrammed brushes, like the oft-used Kyle Webster brushes in Photoshop.

Most editorial illustrators today prefer working on the computer for the sake of efficiency. "Working in Adobe Illustrator allows me to change sizes, move pieces, thus giving me a great deal of flexibility when it comes to editorial work," explains Meyer. "This allows me to quickly and easily make changes in order to get the piece right."

Digital illustrations are also easier to animate. Time Out, Bloomberg Businessweek, The New Yorker, and Elle are among the growing list of publications experimenting with and augmented reality as a bonus for digital subscribers. David Hockney's beguiling iPad sketches featured in The New Yorker are early examples of this innovation.

Shanghai-born illustrator Xiao Hua Yang says technology can be both freeing and limiting. "It makes things easier and faster. But there's always going to be a disconnect between your brain, your hand, and the computer," he explains. Even after years of using Photoshop, Yang says he's still learning new features every day. With the frequency of software updates, drawing with Adobe's software can often feel like working with an infinitely shape-shifting brush. "Nobody can be perfectly fluent in technology," he observes.

Yang says social media also contributes to the lack of heterogeneity in editorial work. "If you see an illustration on Instagram has 10,000 likes, you'll likely be curious about the techniques used."

The effect of technology doesn't end with drawing tools, adds Allen. "I think it affects the process, too. You take some of the ideas of product-building [software development] into illustration, like the agile method, which is this idea of working fast and iterating rather than producing one final piece." An illustrator's ability to change elements on the fly allows them to respond to requests from clients faster and cheaper. This won't necessarily be the case for a watercolor painting.

A taste and tolerance for vector art

Earlier this year, a tweet from The Baffler's art director Lindsay Ballant caused a firestorm.

Many were angered by how she appeared to shame professional illustrators on Twitter. The kernel of Ballant's criticism was about content and tone, arguing that "cutesy, friendly, utopian" artwork wouldn't be appropriate for The Baffler's heady articles about NATO's foreign policy or the failed revitalization of Appalachia. Everyone, however, was hung up on the words "flat aesthetic."

Minimalist flat-colored illustrations have of course appeared in publications prior to this decade. The Japanese graphic designer Ikko Tanaka, for instance, built an international reputation for his wonderful geometric designs in the 1980s. His editorial and commercial work offered a pleasing counterpoint to the scrapbook punk aesthetic of the decade. Many digital illustrators working in the flat style also cite artists Ellsworth Kelly and Henri Matisse's cut paper collages as influences.

Khoi Vinh, Adobe's senior principal designer and former design director of the New York Times suggests that "the prevalence of a single, monocultural aesthetic" might be blamed on software development firms who cling to the flat design aesthetic. In a 2018 blog post, Vinh warns us not to lump all digital illustrations into one category-or Pinterest board. "Product illustrations are there to make the user's experiences easier; editorial illustrations are there to make the reader's experience more interesting-even more challenging."

Meyer, whose illustrations have appeared in the New York Times, Time and Chicago magazine, argues that it's less about the media but about the quality of ideas. He isn't particularly worried that other illustrators are using similar vector tools. "I think it is less about an artist working in a particular genre and more about having a strong point of view, ideas, style, and craft," he explains. "For me personally, color (regardless of depth) and humor are some of my most important attributes."

The economics of editorial illustration

Ultimately, it's a matter of money. Illustrators strive for efficiency to fulfill more assignments to cobble together a living wage. A US-based editorial illustrator earns an average of $47,000 a year, according to the job site Indeed.com. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't have a category for illustrators. They fall between "craft and fine artists" and "multi-media artists and animators," which are significantly different jobs. The average annual salary is these two categories are and respectively.

Dismal pay isn't just an American phenomenon. In a 2018 global survey of 1,400 illustrators, Ben O'Brien, a Somerset-based freelance illustrator, found that 70% of illustrators believe that they can't survive on drawing alone. Over half of the respondents confessed that they often feel uncomfortable negotiating rates.

In writing a book about the glory days of magazine design I learned that in the 1970s, New York magazine paid illustrators what was then considered a "miserly amount" of $100 for spot illustrations. Adjusted for inflation, that's $650-which is still somehow more than the illustrators can expect today.

For a cover illustration, Time's former art director Walter Bernard recalls paying $2,000 (equivalent of $8,473 in 2019) during his tenure as art director from 1977 to 1980. (For context, the median household income in the US in 1977 was $13,570.) Four decades later, Time's rate appears to have barely budged. The magazine paid $3,000 for a cover illustration in 2014, according to a survey published on Format.

The subject of fair compensation came up again this week among Brooklyn-based illustrators. It's not just the dismal pay. It appears that illustrators are still constantly being asked for pro-bono work.

"It's remarkable how often I'm still asked to work for free or a reduced rate as if making art is a bit of a silly hobby," writes British illustrator Jon Burgerman on Instagram. "Only a month or so ago I was invited to create a cute cartoon logo for a new business here in New York City...and the fee was nothing! Instead I was offered 'favors in the art world'!"

Bernard says there was a time when it was possible for illustrators to live handsomely. Norman Rockwell, best known for beloved Saturday Evening Post covers and Coca-Cola ads, was a millionaire when he died in 1978. "Rockwell was not the stereotypical artist who 'struggled to make ends meet,'" writes economist Elliott Morss. He left an estate worth more than $26 million.

Apart from the sliding editorial rates, illustrators also have to compete with stock illustrations offered on sites like iStock (owned by Getty), Adobe Stock, the iSpot, IKON Images, and the Illustration Source. The pensive ape on top of this post, for instance, can be instantly downloaded for under $10 with a subscription plan with Getty.

The pressure to produce more work eradicated time for experimentation and refinement. While illustrators like James McMullan might hire live models or observe theater performers to draw a figure, a time-crunched, cash-strapped illustrator today will cling to available shortcuts. The bounty of articles about "illustrator tips and tricks" attest to this.

In a 1968 essay on style (pdf), art historian Ernst Gombrich reminds us that every artistic movement in history is a mirror of an era's preoccupations. In our case, the golden age of flat illustration speaks to our obsession with technology, speed, and survival.

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Why editorial illustrations look so similar these days

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The answer boils down to three T's: technology, taste, and terrible pay.

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illustration for an article: how long does it really take to get over your ex

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/relationships/a19926456/how-long-does-it-take-to-get-over-someone/

Science Says It Takes About This Long To Get Over An Ex

Illustration took inspiration from:

How did you approach?

self care for millennial (plants, bath bombs etc.)

Bright colours→ experiment with colour pallet

-Night time, safe environment (home), reflects the theme of the article being self care, dating, night life in the city

-Use of positive and negative space to build form and contrast

unconscious idea→ the elements chosen are based on things that the artist associates with the article, e.g. plants (self care, healthy)

Critical: why its not a good thing→ should be actively (consciously ) thinking what elements to put in your illustrations instead of putting biased or stereotypes in it, every small decisions can leads into a harmful depiction of things

example: knife crime→racist and classist without researching on the group of people who are actually being affected

Editorial illustration:

Introduce your work

-How did you approach the article

approach it with more focus on the neglected, no empathy for the author (selfish)

unbiased.

-Do you think its appropriate to be biased for an editorial illustration?

depends on the subject, harmless since the author is privileged, the article written is biased as well, everyone have the right to express but also should be responsible for their own positionality and how they express it

paid by the people→unbiased, creative platform→specific artist, can be biased and express how they feel

came to realisation —- Just as gilian Rose said ‘Visual imagery is never innocent; it is always constructed through various practices, technologies and knowledges’

As an illustrator how to avoid messages being misinterpreted by the audience?

people can interpreted the illustration however they want, most interpretation is valid,

misinterpretation→ due to the audience’s bias

or the artist could be biased

Conclusion

-more responsibility on the artist to do research

*Intentions and how the message get pass to the audience

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I did two videos due to last minute partners

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I treated this project as an informal audio form of a written critical essay that I can be engaged with any topics or opinions related to editorial illustration.

We did find it hard to answer the questions and be constantly responsive to each other under the time limit. However, after couple trials we managed to keep the conversation as raw and as natural is possible while still managing to go though all the points. There’s definitely more aspect of each questions we could talk about.

I’m fascinated by the fact that even tho my partner and my approach to the illustration or the podcast are every different, we still manage to link back to each other’s points by finding connections and key words.

Due to unexpected situations I ended up doing another podcast with another partner. It is interesting how both of them took a similar approach in the conversation, potentially because of a similar positionality, allowing our conversation to be revolve around the responsibility of editorial illustration, illustrator.

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https://padlet.com/jwu03202231/julia-wu-unit-5-personal-archive-6k5832itflnrbl5j