When we founded artbridge, we didn't think purely in terms of genres, we only knew that we wanted to bring unique art into people's homes, halfway between elite fine art and IKEA posters, straight from the drawing boards of the contemporary artists and illustrators who create around us. Over the past 5 years, we have slowly developed what a real artbridge print is like, and your interests and tastes have shaped the portfolio that can be purchased on artbridge today. It is becoming more and more apparent in what direction we are heading, who are the interesting, talented creators, applied graphic designers, illustrators, with whom we love working together so much, and whose work we - and our customers - can be proud of.
In the meantime, we have also developed a very strong printing method and production process, which uses the most modern, museum-quality gliceé printing, on acid-resistant paper, with environmentally friendly ink, so that the created posters and art prints represent the highest quality in their material, giving eternal value to the digitally reproduced image. .
Most of the images uploaded by our artists to the artbridge webshop are now illustrations. But what is an illustration? It's hard to adjust between the concepts of art if you're not dealing with it. In this article, we attempt to clean up this emerging segment and showcase our favorite creators, from home and around the world.
An illustration is a work (picture, video, animation) that serves as a supplement or explanation of some text, sound or individual inspiration or story, i.e. it illustrates it. Practically as long as storytelling has existed, illustration has also existed, at least that's not what it was called, just think of the recording of an unusual hunt on the walls of caves, Egyptian wall drawings, or medieval frescoes. However, the concept of illustration is mostly related to book printing, and illustrations have been interpreted primarily as part of books to this day. The appearance of the printed book as a platform for information dissemination brought enormous progress in the dissemination of culture, since books could then be created in an incomparably larger volume than before, and this also had a great impact on the works that decorate books, as carriers of visual culture. The juxtaposition of the printed and digital book then further modified the role of the illustration, somewhat liberating it, liberating it from the captivity of the pages, since instead of the usual hand prints (lino engraving, etching, woodcut), the employed graphic artists and illustrators began to create in the digital space. Attention, however, this does not only mean digital drawings created with a computer, because the drawings are made freehand on tablets and drawing machines, albeit on a digital surface. So starting with pure hand drawing. from tablets to fully computerized design, graphic designers now have countless opportunities to leave their mark on surfaces.
Of course, you can find many areas, topics, and ways of using illustrations, but if you think about it or look around you, the following are the most frequently encountered. Book illustrations can be found in children's and fiction publications, informative and scientific books, educational materials, this is one of the most important areas of applied graphics. In connection with advertisements and image, we come across illustrations for commercial purposes as part of logos, pictures, posters, packaging aimed at promoting, identifying and recognizing a specific brand, or even in the form of wall painting. The editorial illustration is created in connection with newspapers, magazines, and websites. In this latter area, the appearance of cartoon illustrations instead of the boring stock photo solution used so far represents a big step forward and a leap in quality. And last but not least, the images released from the world of newspapers in the form of posters and art prints have also conquered the walls of homes and offices, so much so that today we cannot even imagine a truly unique interior that reflects our personality without a contemporary poster or print.
What are the trends in illustration and who are the best? We are now mainly focusing on the trends of the poster world, although there are a lot of illustrations that affect us visually at all hours of the day, from social media to giant poster ads, but among them there is the volume and quality that works magnificently in our apartment and is worth the time spent on it many times over. , both in terms of inspiration and creating calm and safety. In recent years, flat illustrations without spatial elements have become increasingly popular, and have infiltrated the world of the Internet and printed magazines and prints, and how well they have done it! Artists of simple shapes and vibrant colors think about topics taken from their everyday life and nature, to which we can easily relate, and our philosophy of life is also expressed in it. These already mentioned pictures, drawn on a digital surface but drawn by hand, often take nostalgic, simplified forms reminiscent of previous decades, drawing from the illustration traditions of past ages. This trend can be felt in the works of many domestic and foreign artists, such as the wonderful prints of Judit Zengőváry and Henry Rivers.
Enikő Katalin Eged: Orange and black horse
Modern digital illustrations, after breaking free from the world of books and interfaces and setting out on their conquering journey in the printed and internet space, have also become imprints of social movements, moods and trends. The images bring difficult, unfamiliar topics closer to viewers, easily and comprehensibly present social diversity (feminism, LGBTQ), current world problems (health, economic and political), and can also influence our habits (environmental protection). Aliz Buzás presents very delicate questions and circumstances from our lives, as naturally as if she were just buying a kilo of bread at the store. Katalin Enikő Eged is a master of animal protection and LGBTQ sensitization, her posters and limited edition prints are highly appreciated and loved by people of all ages. Flóra Lénárt's elegant, light and clean colors and forms, under the surface harmony, also stir serious questions and important thoughts.
The detailed mood drawings created on a tablet or drawn freehand often capture the moods of everyday life, in a modern form, with almost painting-like compositions, as in Sandra Poliakov's wonderful pictures. With the spread of digitalization, the world of simply, quickly, software-created images and hand-drawn illustrations, which take time, energy and personal ideas and inspiration, are separating. The greatest additional value of the latter, pictures made in the traditional way, lies in the personal inspiration, the depth of the conveyed thoughts, and the sincerity. The use of geometric shapes is also in demand. The ever-spreading minimalism and simplicity trends do not overthink the decoration of the walls either, so quickly, playfully, creatively drawn shapes, angles and lines provide an exciting, but not distracting, background for interiors or even an illustration. This style was strengthened during the Bauhaus and won its rightful place in the world of illustrations. At the same time, it is also a sure point in home furnishing and wall decoration, as even a Scandinavian-style, very clean space can be wonderfully crowned by a framed geometric picture or gallery wall.
In addition to the illustration styles with more complex structures discussed so far, a simple but great trend also made its way in parallel. And this is nothing but line art built from continuous lines and clean shapes. In the age of the constant flow of information, this style would not only have lost its power, but recently it has become even more popular in the circles of design graphics. From the artbridge webshop collection, you like TheHousePlant's line drawings the most.
Hand-drawn letters, i.e. lettering or calligraphic style, are also becoming more and more popular, as "letter pictures" can be used for many purposes. In addition to their classic use (logos, publications, advertisements), they can be combined with illustrations or even stand alone as compositions. In the artbridge webshop, you can find mainly ABC-type children's room pictures in this style, in special prints by Fru Farkas or Hanna Melin.
The style of 3D solutions, almost film-like frames, has recently appeared in illustration. The style, initially associated with video games and the design of their characters, has also broken free from its primary interface and become a popular trend in other creative fields independent of virtual playgrounds. In our portfolio, you will find NikonOne, the graphic designer, illustrator and polymath who became a legendary Pest graffiti artist, in a similar style. No matter what style, no matter what message an illustration is made, if we are captured for a moment and we dwell on the details, it has already achieved its goal, because it conveyed an idea, a thought, between people! If you want to be a part of this wonderful environment, the environment of contemporary visual culture, then follow us and our artists on Instagram, Facebook and if you can, get some prints to take home!
