
Photo Invasion as an Experimental Approach to Illustration
Chapter from the book:
Bakar Fındıkcı,
M.
(ed.)
2025.
Transformation of Design: Current Approaches in Graphic Arts.
Synopsis
Illustration is used as one of the tools to make sense of a concept or a situation.It has come from the past to the present using different tools on different surfaces. In this process, it has often intertwined with painting and sometimes manifested itself in images that provide information transfer. Illustration continued its heyday with the Industrial Revolution and the developments experienced afterwards. At turning points such as the First and Second World War and the Soviet Revolution, every nation utilized illustration in their posters. With technological developments and the internet, illustration has become increasingly popular. Illustrations are now produced on computers with computer hardware and software. Today, drawing tablets have become one of the most practical solution tools for illustration production. Therefore, the usage areas of illustration have also diversified and increased. Apart from books, magazines and posters, illustrations are frequently encountered in daily life in cafes, clothes, surfaces of objects such as cups and plates, icons, in short, in life. Over time, subcategories have emerged due to the use of such a variety of illustration. These categories can be listed as editorial, children's book, scientific, city, character, pattern and illustrations used in new media tools. Apart from these classifications, it has been seen that different techniques have been used in illustrations from past to present. These techniques are divided into three groups: traditional, digital and experimental approaches. In the traditional approach, materials such as charcoal, ink, watercolor, gouache, acrylic and pastel are used. Digital approaches include techniques such as vector-based and pixel-based illustrations, digital collage and photomanipulation. Experimental approaches consist of collage, illustration with found objects, embroidery and sewing, paper cutting, polymer clay use, and illustrations made using paper pulp. Photo invasion, which is evaluated within digital approaches, has met with illustration in recent years with its use in art. Within the scope of this research, the photo invasion trend in the field of illustration, which has been increasing recently, has been examined and the artists who design in this field and their works have been examined.