What is illustration?
A derelict heritage site in Clerkenwell is being converted into the UK’s national centre for illustration… To celebrate this important moment, The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration collaborated with Studio AKA Director Marcus Armitage to create a 90-second short film celebrating the history and impact that illustration has had throughout history. Rather than focusing on specific illustrators or illustrations, Marcus wove together a storyline showcasing how humans have employed illustration to communicate and shape our lives across time.
The film transports the viewer 40,000 years into the past to see how cave drawings allowed early humans to learn and brings us all the way to the present with maps, street signs, packaging and picture books. Marcus’ energetic, mixed media film is composed around simple cut-out paper shapes, creating backgrounds on which tiny characters interact with the many different forms that illustration can take.
The warm and friendly style aims to give an accessible snapshot of the relevance and importance of illustration in our everyday lives and throughout history.
Studio AKA & Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration
Studio AKA is a multi-BAFTA winning, multi-EMMY awarded and OSCAR-nominated independent animation studio. They're known internationally for our idiosyncratic and innovative work, expressed across an eclectic range of projects.
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration is the UK’s charity for illustration. Their exhibitions and projects celebrate illustration, support illustrators and empower people of all ages to tell their stories.
Credits
Client: Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration
Manufacturer: -
Brand: -
Designer: Studio AKA & Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration
Country: United Kingdom
Photographs: © Studio AKA & Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration
