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Emerging Trends 2020: Abstract Illustration
As we mentioned in our previous article, Resolve to Master these Trends in 2020, Abstract Illustration is one of the emerging design trends for 2020. You can see examples of it being used for branding and advertising everywhere you look. We sat down with Creative Director and Illustrator, Von Glitschka of Glitschka Studios, to talk about what’s bringing illustration to the forefront of marketing and advertising in 2020 and what he thinks is driving that trend. We also covered the future of illustration, including his super-talented daughter Savannah, and what skills are required for others to blaze a trail in this field.
Neenah: In researching our 2020 trends article, we noticed so many brands honing in on illustration, abstract illustration in particular, for their upcoming marketing campaigns. It feels like we are on the verge of an illustration explosion in advertising both on and offline. As an illustrator by trade, are you witnessing this trend?
Von: Because I do illustration myself, I really pay attention to emerging styles. At the moment, the clear leader is a flat-based minimal detailed abstract look in feel. Abstract meaning the proportions are highly exaggerated, the color is saturated, and the visual impact is bold. This has become the go-to look and feels for many of the Silicon Valley tech brands like LinkedIn, Google, Facebook, Amazon, PayPal, Slack, etc.
Many larger brands have agencies of record that manage their brand, marketing strategy, and core advertising. Much like Apple has historically. But that said, many larger brands are embracing illustration and doing much of it in-house with employees who can pull off this trending style.
Neenah: Where do you think this trend is originating?
Von: I think this style has become popular because it is an effortless style to mimic. Meaning, you don’t have to be a full- time illustrator to compose an illustration of this style as it’s very forgiving and appealing.
But like anything creative, I’ve seen good, bad, and ugly abstract illustration. Much of it tends to feel pedestrian because it’s being created at times by people who are not trained in drawing. If you remove brand logos from the art, unfortunately, you’d be hard-pressed to distinguish one brand illustration from another.
Neenah: You’ve been illustrating for a long time. What are some other illustration techniques that you think we’ll be seeing more of this year and into the future?
Von: With the continued rise of ProCreate and Adobe Fresco users on iPad Pro, I think you’ll see more and more organic illustrations. This means using grainy textures and digital brushes to replicate traditional media.
Before social media, a style would become popular and remain so for years. Take continuous line art, for example. It remained one of the most flexible methods of illustration ever because it could work for nearly any genre. With the dawn of social media, there isn’t one style that remains dominant for years anymore. There are too many choices appearing on curated social platforms, forcing our new reality to be in a constant state of flux.
Neenah: When did you first realize that you could make a living illustrating and designing?
Von: When I was twelve, my dad was washing his car in our driveway, and I spotted a squirt bottle on the hood. It was a new product he bought called ‘Armor All,' and I liked the Viking character on the label. It all clicked for me when I realized you could create a drawing and use it to sell a product.
That was the genesis moment for me personally. I later went to art school and learned traditional design and illustration in the context of commercial art, and that is where I figured out that I could make it into a career.
Neenah: What do you think about your daughter following in your footsteps? How would you describe the similarities/differences in your illustration or design style?
Von: Of course, it makes me happy, but I never forced her. I always went out of my way to tell her she could do whatever she wanted too. I remember when she was eleven, she was watching me work and said, "I want to do what you do for a living.” I encouraged her with her art over the years, and she’s become such a natural drawer, much better than I was growing up for sure.
If I had to describe her personal illustration style, I would say that Savannah is the queen of cute. We’re actually working on a promotional piece now for Spring that is based on her strengths. But that said, I can art direct her to produce other styles, too. She does most of her own personal illustration on her iPad Pro now, but she is also very skilled at vector artwork.
She definitely has her strengths, so I try to steer projects to her that align with her style. One project she finds challenging to work on is a continuous line style, whereas I really enjoy doing that. Many projects we work together on, she might do a rough sketch, I’ll refine it, and she either builds it out, or I do. It’s turning out to be the right mix of both of us working together on projects.
Neenah: What do you think the future of illustration looks like? Any people to watch in this arena?
Von: If I had to pick a top seven to watch:
- Savannah Glitschka (Duh) • https://www.instagram.com/savannahfaerie/
- Luke Flowers • https://www.instagram.com/lfcreative/
- Brad Woodward ‘Brave the Woods’ • https://www.instagram.com/brave_the_woods/
- Peter Voth • https://www.instagram.com/petervoth/
- Nick Slater • https://www.instagram.com/nickslaterdesign/
- Josh Emrich • https://www.instagram.com/emrichoffice/
- Lincoln Design Co. • https://www.instagram.com/lincolndesignco/
Neenah: You’re working on a new poster project that happens to take on abstract illustrative styling. Tell us about where you got the idea for that project and about the initial response to it.
Von: I am a content creator for Linkedin Learning via DVGLab.com. I was trying to think of art that demonstrates a script randomly rotating in Illustrator. I doodled some circular heads and liked them, so I started creating more art for fun.
When I started coloring them in, the idea of ‘diversity’ came to mind, and I just kept building on that. I now have over 100 illustrations, and all but one will appear on the poster version. You can see many of them here: http://bit.ly/DiversityArt
Neenah: Any advice to give someone fresh out of design school or just starting out in illustration? Any apps you recommend, continuing education, conferences, friendships, etc.?
Von: I believe these three skills will serve you well your entire career:
- Thinking: Saul Bass said, "Design is thinking made visual.” You have to develop your ability to think through ideas, to take in information, and ponder it. It would help if you made associations, metaphors, connections that all lead to clever visuals that help you creatively problem-solve for your projects. This should all happen outside any creative work inside of an app.
- Drawing: Doesn’t matter if you never want to be an illustrator, all designers should draw. It improves cognition skills, assists in working out ideas in thumbnail form, and will help you discover additional ways to handle something visually. With time and practice, you only improve. It also enhances digital workflow because you figure out what you’re going to create before you attempt to create it.
- Craftsmanship: The ability to create precise artwork. It’s the convergence of a great idea (Thinking) and a visual direction you’re going to build (Drawing) and mastering the software to pull it off. You can think of good ideas, draw out how they should be, but if you fall short in craftsmanship, everything suffers. So you need all three to produce high-quality work.
It’s a process, but the more you define your own systematic process, the better you’ll get over time, and it’ll eventually become second nature.
That’s a Wrap!
We’re thrilled that Von joined us for an interview. We are also excited to announce that Von will be speaking at the upcoming HOW Conference. He will join us at the Neenah booth to sign and give away limited edition copies of his new Diversity Poster! Stay tuned for more information regarding date/time for Von’s appearance in the Neenah booth.