Geoff Grandfield

Geoff Grandfield is an award-winning illustrator born in Bristol, England and now living in London. He has worked with major newspapers and publishers since 1987. His work centres on the visual communication of ideas, narrative and atmosphere, influenced by the cinematography of film noir and the reductivism of modernist graphic art. As an educator he has led BA Illustration at Middlesex University (1994-2005) and is currently Course Director and Associate Professor for BA Illustration Animation at Kingston University (since 2006). As co-founder of ‘Mokita’ the illustration forum (since 2010), he has campaigned for the greater recognition of Illustration as a subject and its significance for international visual culture.

Abstract:
Memory and place in illustration practice

My practice has been influenced by the visual language of cinematography, 1940’s film noir in particular. In hindsight it seems an obvious choice for my commissions for crime subject material but the way I adapted the influence through chalk pastel was not a wholly conscious one. I am seeking to understand more about what creates significance for the practitioner and how a larger audience then understands that. This paper will situate my practice as a response to this phenomenon establishing a definition of the local that is understood as life experience in time. It will seek to address the question of originality of image and answer the question; is there a pure source of synthesis, the vision that creates something genuinely new or is the constructed image for mass communication always derived?

By reflecting on my work and making comparison with that of 2 other illustrators (from North America and Japan) I will explore the origination of imagery used in different geographical contexts.

I will look at the theories of visual memory (referencing Professor Bruce Brown’s work on this subject) and the relationship between place and visual imagination, specifically looking at the developing perception of a practitioner.