After completing my M.A. in illustration at the Royal College of Art (1991) I returned to Amsterdam where I successfully ran an illustration and design practice, gradually focusing on editorial illustration. During this time I have been teaching at various Dutch Art Colleges in visual communication and illustration.
My interest in the development and critical discourses concerning digital media, lead me to initiate and curate a media platform OOG (2004-2009), part of the online edition of De Volkskrant, one of the largest Dutch newspapers. Every week in OOG different artists presented their personal reflection on the news, through the exploration of the potential of online visualisations.
In 2008 I set up the Visual Correspondents Foundation, dedicated to further explore the role of the media artist as news commentator. Through its projects and my experience as the curator of OOG, I developed a clear understanding of the issues concerning digital editorial platforms and their potential for visual contributions.
At present I’m conduction a PhD research in practice at the Royal College of Art in London, funded by the AHRC. My research is focused on the understanding and description of the qualities of visual contribution of editorial illustration within the changed parameters of the online news environment.
Research question
What is the current role and immanent potential for editorial illustration in shaping new modes of reading and user experience within online news publishing platforms?
Context
Traditionally editorial illustration, is an intrinsic part of the visual language of the printed newspaper, It visualizes and enhances concepts that lie behind the analysis of news-, science- and current events, as well as opinion articles and fiction. It forms an essential agent for editorial opinion, as well as providing a distinctive tool for design and navigation, reinforcing the newspaper’s identity.
Digitisation, in conjunction with the rapid emergence of reading devices such as Kindle and the iPad, has meant that e-publishing has become the fastest growing format for the newspaper industry. In 2010 61 percent of Americans read their news online, surpassing newsprint readership. This change challenges the capacity of illustration to adapt to the characteristics of these fast-evolving media formats. As yet there are no satisfactory online models for integration of text and editorial illustration. Currently it is seldom commissioned for online contexts and this important form of reflective communication is under-used.
This raises questions about cause and implications of the use and possibilities open for editorial illustration in online platforms. As the only alternative information and communication medium operating alongside text and news photography, what is the significance of editorial illustration? Where illustration in itself is a vehicle for contemporary technological, design and conceptual explorations, what are its specific capacities for engagement within the domain of mass communication? What is the relationship with its contextualising media, whether it is print or digital? Traditionally, what are the editorial formats native to illustration and do online formats share a similar ability to partner illustration? The parameters of the online editorial domain how do they influence the usage, perception and the creative process of images?
If illustration is to be considered an effective part of the online editorial environment, what aspects of its specific qualities might need to be foregrounded or changed?
Illustration and research: www.hoogslag.co.uk
Visual Correspondent Foundation: www.visualcorrespondents.com
