What is the difference between an illustration and a graphic designer or artist?
June 25th, 2010 | 
Author: What is the difference? Usually illustration have a separate job than a graphic designer or artist because illustration consider sometimes an "art".
Illustrators design an entire image, either digitally or with traditional mediums. Illustrators usually provide images for things like books or websites, magazines, advertisements, etc. A designer takes those images and creates a layout with text and titles and flow from one page to the next. While one person could fill both roles, they are listed separately because not all designers can create a proper illustration and not all illustrators design very well.
Posted in Illustration
5 Responses to “What is the difference between an illustration and a graphic designer or artist?”
Illustration is drawing, whether by hand or on the computer. Graphic Design is any sort of visual layout art, advertising, etc…basically making things look good on a page, on a sign, product packaging, in a document or similar medium. Illustration is a form of art, and I think Graphic Design is also…they are different ways to express yourself and artistic in nature.
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Any Graphic Designer will use Illustrations to show what they can do. No difference. To be able to do ANY illustration, one needs imagination, creativity and knowlege of desigining and able to manipulate software.
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Professional Graphic Designer / Magazine Editor
Illustrators design an entire image, either digitally or with traditional mediums. Illustrators usually provide images for things like books or websites, magazines, advertisements, etc. A designer takes those images and creates a layout with text and titles and flow from one page to the next. While one person could fill both roles, they are listed separately because not all designers can create a proper illustration and not all illustrators design very well.
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From this and your other questions you seem very keen to create a distinction between disciplines – illustrators and designers work as a team.
One is no more an “art” than another.
Many graphic designers can turn their hand to illustration; many illustrators can turn their hand to graphic design. They are not mutually exclusive occupations, they are integrated – one needs the other.
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I do both — the line blurs. For years I worked as a computer graphics artist in TV as a electronic graphics artist, animator, on air graphics designer. Most of those works were seen for a maximum of 2-5 seconds; other projects had more sustained graphics themes as a "package" such as information videos and Public Service Announcements. These required a consistent theme or look spread out over a given time frame — nothing was set in stone until it hit the air but could sometimes change depending on the topicality of the information presented. At that time I was worried about losing my "hard art" skills but I found it actually improved them. When I began illustrating children’s books those skills as summing up a single communicative concept into one image served me well, especially as a poster type of treatment for covers. Book layouts are different in that you are illustrating a more sustained narrative over 16-30 scenes akin to a miniature movie or a stage play and become even more of a visual storyteller in the process. In this respect however you are your own art director as well since anymore there are fewer AD’s in the business. Also, my illustration work in books has been on the shelves for years and still is for most of the titles, nothing I really considered when doing the work but had to be careful to try and avoid dated references for longevity’s sake. For design work, fads and tastes are constantly in flux.
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Graphic artist and designer, illustrator – traditional media and computer