Abduzeedo Inspiration Guide for Designers

Chapter 3. Illustration

Destroy, by Adrian Romero

An illustration is a pictorial image used to complete, explain, or add information; it can also serve to synthesize or simply decorate a text. Although the term illustration most often refers to drawings, paintings, or collages, a photograph is another type of illustration that may serve these purposes when accompanying a body of text. Furthermore, an illustration is one of the most important elements of graphic design.

Illustrations have been a part of human culture since our ancestors lived in caves. It is in caves that we’ve found the oldest kind of illustrations: petroglyphs, or rough drawings ...