SubscribeIllustrating the “Qi”
Posted in Visual, Design, Illustration on October 4th, 2007. By Ona Vinyamata.
[Detail of a Neil Duerden work for Urban Organic]
Qi is, according to the traditional Chinese Culture, a kind of “life force” or “spiritual energy” believed to be part of every living thing that exists. It is frequently translated as “energy flow,” or literally as “air” or “breath”.
We’ve recently seen many advertisement illustrations over real photography (or hyper-realistic 3D) using swirls, colorful silhouettes, gradients, glowing lines and heavy flourishing. We even dare to say this style is a little bit played out by now.
© Platinum FMD [for Unimed]
But let’s go beyond the visuals this time, and try to see the conceptual tendency behind illustrations with this defined style. As we said, it’s normally a combination of photography and illustration or, most of the times, hyper-realistic 3D and illustration. What’s important, a mixture between reality and fantasy.
The swirls, the glowing lines or the heavy flourishing complement the central subject, coming from within it. This is were we want to get. The interesting tendency behind these illustrations is a frequent use of a style but also of a message: the will to illustrate the “Qi”, the energy, the invisible force that objects give off.
© Neil Duerden [for Nike]
We call it a visual tendency, and not an strategic one from the brands that use it, because it’s been applied in a huge catalog of products and services, for a huge catalog of targets. We believe the decision to illustrate what we could call the Qi comes more from the illustrator than the client.
The interesting thing about this concept, apart from its clear visual impact, is how the illustrated energy that the objects and subjects release normally gives a huge amount of information about the product, its added value or the target. Illustrators are taking a rather ethereal and philosophical resource to express what’s more material.
© Büro North [for Inside Magazine]
1 Comment
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Very interesting post…’the invisible force that objects give off’. I think this style of illustration is a reflection of our generation’s attitude toward consumable objects… how useful we find them in entertaining and expressing ourselves. Definitely designed to express the positive side of consumer culture. The feng shui of material goods… I am interested in collaborating with illustrators and animators of this style for an experimental documentary on the creative possibilities of our global information culture. contact me at zaigham8@yahoo.com if interested in trading ideas, or discussing art and culture.
Comment by Zaigham Kabir on October 7, 2007