While I’d love to be able to sum up my skills simply by saying “I like to draw fun pictures using a computer”, the correct and more professional title for what I do would be Digital Illustration. But what exactly is digital illustration?
Many people hear “digital illustration” and they immediately say “Oh! You’re a graphic designer! Can you make me a website??”. I usually have to slow them down at that point. In fact, digital illustration and graphic design are rather different. They tend to play on the same field as they both involve designing things, just not in the same way.
What is a graphic designer?
If you’d like to know what a Graphic Designer does, just look at their job title! Graphic designers focus on designing graphic items. This includes printed media like brochures, flyers, menus, books, etc., as well as digital items like websites, blog graphics, images, video graphics, and more. The act of designing something means that the designer determines things like where elements belong in a graphic, what size those elements (or the overall graphic) should be, the best layout for all elements in the graphic, as well as how everything plays together in the overall design. It also involves thoughtful consideration of color, fonts, lines, and shape. If you’re looking for someone who can design a full graphic for you, then you probably want a graphic designer. Graphic designers help to tell stories for their clients. They communicate ideas and values and work to create a brand for their clients’ companies so that they can sell a product. This is usually done using tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign (The Big 3 of Graphic Design).
For example, take a look at the Popeye’s Chicken logo. Notice the type of font they use, the orange color that was probably chosen to represent the golden brown color of their famous fried chicken or the cajun spices they use. A graphic designer came up with all of this in an effort to sell more chicken! (And it works cuz now I’m hungry and that’s all I want.)
What is a digital illustrator?
Much like graphic designers, if you’d like to know what a Digital Illustrator does, just look at the name! Have you ever drawn out an idea for your business - perhaps it was a new product, drawings mapping out your services, a way to share valuable information with your clientele, or an adorable mascot for your business? That’s great, but how the heck do you get that on the computer? Furthermore, how on earth do you get it to look… ya know… good?
Digital illustrators work with clients both large and small to assist with creating elements that can be used in branding, marketing, and advertising. Their focus, however, is more about creating elements that would be used in an overall design (perhaps a design done by a graphic illustrator???), and not creating the design themselves. Don’t get us wrong - there are definitely illustrators who are great at design and can create entire worlds that can be used by a business, but that isn’t always the case. Digital illustrators typically use tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator to create beautiful and customized graphics for marketing. Keep in mind, digital illustration is not just doodling for fun. It is a bit like a marriage between a client’s ideas and the illustrator’s artistic expression and license. If you need a unique image or mascot to go along with the text of your logo or cool and fun elements to incorporate into your blog post, Youtube channel, or website, then you need a digital illustrator to help create one for you.
A perfect example of this is the mascot for Little Caesar’s Pizza. The short Roman guy who’s basically a caricature of Julius Caesar with the catchphrase “Pizza Pizza!”. A digital illustrator was most likely hired to create this iconic character and other characters like him. Digital illustrators usually work for ad agencies, but they can also be hired by comic book houses, video game companies, or small business owners who want custom art for whatever reason. The artwork you see in games today is designed and built from concept artists who are also digital illustrators!
In short, digital illustration takes the traditional form of creating art and makes it digital for use on websites, blogs, YouTube channels, or printed media. Digital Illustrators create narratives and invoke emotion through digitally created drawings or paintings that can be used in conjunction with the work of a graphic designer to help sell an idea or product and establish a company’s brand.
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