Review: Editorial Illustration by Andrew Selby

Illustration isn't just about making images; it's about making smart images. This phrase stuck out to me from art school, and it is especially true with editorial illustration. Back in January, I purchased the book, Editorial Illustration: Context, Content and Creation by Andrew Selby, with the hopes of improving my clever image-making abilities. I had made it my goal to build up the editorial side of my portfolio after all. I ended up with mixed feelings about the book.

What’s in The Book?

Andrew is incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to editorial illustration. He shows off this knowledge by starting the book with a history of editorial illustration and how different art movements affected that part of the industry over the years. He breaks down how powerful editorial illustration can be in influencing its audience and the most common types of issues covered in today's editorial landscape. Andrew discusses different theories behind editorial illustration and different subcategories of editorial illustration you can work in such as portraiture, decorative, narrative and cartoons. In the next chapter, he covers the techniques used to make a smart image, metaphor, parody, symbolism and how to manipulate visual language to convey a message to the viewer. The last section of the book covers the more business-related aspects of editorial illustration. It's not much different from other forms of illustration, make sure you have a website and online presence, what illustration annuals are etc. The section I like most is when Andrew walks you through the process of developing clever editorial illustrations, and how to research and come up with various ideas. Unfortunately, this section is the shortest part of the book.

How Easy is it to Read?

Andrew’s writing is dense and hard to get through at times but I never found myself unable to understand what he was trying to convey. The book is also full of examples from some of the biggest illustrators in the industry. If you love clever images this book is full of them. The sections are colour-coded so it's not too difficult to flip through to the page you want to look at. The back also has a nice section crediting all the illustrator's images used in the book and an index for even more specific topic searching.

Do I Recommend it?

Suppose you're looking at this book with the hopes of it teaching you how to make more successful editorial illustrations, then like me, you will probably be disappointed. The book feels like a school textbook. This is likely why all the recommendation quotes on the back are from teachers. It’s very wordy and difficult to get through at times. You could get the point across with half the amount of words. If you are completely new to editorial illustration and want to know about its history and technical terms you might like this book. However, if you wanted something you could actively apply to your craft it’s lack luster. The business practice section is bare bones and has been done better in other books. The only parts of the book that are useful to me are the section breaking down different techniques commonly used in editorial illustration and the section about developing creative ideas. Had the book been just about that I’d have been thrilled. If you’ve never been to art school and want the experience give this book a read. For the rest of us, the book is much more about context than about content and creation.