Modern Symbolism and Colour

For thousands of year archaic patterns and shapes have been used as symbols for the world around us, The sun, the moon and other such symbols that represent important factors of everyday life. People have been illustrating the events of their days since the beginning of human civilisation. And these pictures are still used today to teach our children in their formative years, one of the most popular careers in modern day and classical Illustration is creating visual narrative for picture books. 

The jobs of these illustrators is to provide a clear and succinct way of showing children, the main aspects of civilisation: the sun is hot, the dog goes woof ect...) 

The modern age of this style is what I wish to focus on for this post and one of the people I have elected to look into is Professor Martin Salisbury, of Cambridge School of art. Here he teaches Illustration and started the first Master's degree course for illustration children's book in the UK. 

   He has worked as an Illustrator since his own graduation in the 70's and in recent times has chosen to focus directly on Children's Books. His own books as of late are fun ways of deciphering the market of these books and a guide for budding artists. 

It is extremely important for children to have these books in their formative years as it aids brain growth through play and visual information and being creative. 

The books tend to be simple with bright colour palettes as children seem to be more susceptible to these tones. Although the symbols and meanings of ancient times are still present in the books, in the past couple of centuries there has been an added amount of narrative through visual communication. The books that sell are ones that are fun and exciting, when I was young it was books such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar, ones that ignited the imagination. 

One example of modern day children's book illustration is from Claudia Bolt and her book, Stargazers, Skyscrapers and Extraordinary Sausages. It tells a story of a young girl and her dog, she wants to take over the world and he wants sausages. The story is fun and exciting but what I really love is Bolt's eclectic mix of styles and how it comes together in terms of being stimulating for children. 

As you can see from the image above, the pages are completely filled with splashes of colour and interesting shapes to observe. In terms of her process, she initially begins with lino cuts and screenprinting alongside Indian ink and basic lines. She then puts it into Photoshop and creates a kind of collage effect, it's really textural and exciting, and through the use of very little narrative word she has a perfect book of wonders for a child to look through. 

Although the symbols and shapes and ways of conveying them may have changed, This age old process of relaying symbols and colours visually to teach is still ongoing in the modern age. 

http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/view/30865