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PART I1 THE PAGE
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charts and graphs
Charts and graphs are quantitative illustrations that reveal relationships between different elements that must be explicitly identified.
The clean and accurate structure of vector illustrations makes them ideal for visualizing data and complex qualita- tive relationships.
display art
spot art
These three examples show that when computer draw- ings are relieved of a need to carry information, they can move toward the abstract. Spot art is a great op- portunity to show your creative chops. Stephen B. Nguyen; Stephen B. Nguyen; iStockPhoto
Clip art includes illustrations made available for anyone to use.
Dover Publications offers a huge library of books containing designs from various eras. The company also sells CD-ROMs, but as of this writing does not have an online marketplace.
Original illustrations used to fill space in publications and screen layouts are called spot art.
The term clip art originated in the era of photo-offset print- ing. Designers would cut out interesting images and literally paste them into layouts, which were then photographically prepared for offset printing. Of course copyright was a big is- sue then—as it is now. A number of enterprising companies began collecting copyright-free images and putting them into books that graphic designers could purchase and use to their hearts’ content.
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CHAPTER 4: ILLUSTRATION [ 139 ]
The term spot art originated at The New Yorker magazine for the wonderful variety of handmade illustrations (sometimes representational, sometimes abstract) used for decades to provide visual interest on pages dominated by columns of type. Spot art does not have any direct, content-specific rela- tionship to the text it adorns. Its purpose is to give readers a visual break and an emotional jolt.
Getty Images has a live feed of images from current events in addition to contemporary stock photography, illustrations, and archival images. Getty also offers stock video footage and stock music.
A vector drawing application like Illustrator allows you to make custom graphs that blow away the default graphics of MS Word, PowerPoint, or Excel. iStock Photo; iStock Photo
Display art includes an original illustration commissioned to accompany a specific story or theme.
When most people think of illustration, they envision display art: ambitious digital imagery used on covers of books or magazines or featured in blogs and Web sites. Display art is front and center with greeting cards of both print and electronic flavors. Of the many forms and functions of computer-based illustration, undertaking a piece of display art is the most chal- lenging, the most high profile, and the most satisfying.
Display art often conveys editorial content. When well conceived, it can be much more than a pretty picture. It can establish characters, places and moods. Stephen B. Nguyen; Stephen B. Nguyen; Heather Ben-Zvi
clip art
Corbis is a privately held company owned by Micro- soft’s Bill Gates. It offers a collection of more than one hundred million images, including the famed Bettmann Archives. Corbis owns Snapvillage, a consumer photo- sharing Web site.
iStockPhoto is a relatively low-cost collection of royalty-free images (once you purchase the license to use them). It is more user-to-user oriented than Corbis or Getty and represents a large group of similar sites including Photos.com, Archive Photos, and Photofest.