Introduction

Close observers of the discipline of Illustration will note that for years the visual landscape has been populated by some very persistent tropes: antlers, tree stumps, owls, psychedelic cats, anthropomorphism, mushrooms, spermatic ghosts, Gordian knots of hair, graphic rainbows, unicorns, crystalline geometry, corrupted innocence, exquisite corpses, retro cartoon characters, screen printing, wood panels, and classical draftsmanship- amounting to a neo- or super-naturalism that one might surmise is a reaction against a digital world. But given the fact that most of this work was created through, or for, digital application, a more likely explanation is that illustrators simply embrace dissonance. Or what initially seems dissonant until they do their job, revealing unexpected harmonies and connections. This has always been the case for concept, but now, with growing opportunities to mash up tools and techniques, unexpected connections have as much to do with media.

The graduates of OCAD University’s BDes Illustration program best exemplify this new generation of innovative, entrepreneurial image-makers. Their work collectively represents a wide scope of media, from traditional to digital, editorial to advertising, print to animation, and graphic novels to gallery art. Graduating from an interdisciplinary, academic and practice-based curriculum that culminates with a yearlong thesis project, these emerging illustrators prove their capacity to create and communicate with professional portfolios that are recognized internationally with awards from American Illustration, Communication Arts, CMYK, 3×3, Creative Quarterly, and the Canadian Association of Photographers and Illustrators (CAPIC).

As the latest chapter in OCAD U’s stellar Illustration history, which began notably with members of the Group of Seven, and has since included countless acclaimed illustrators, the class of 2011 now wants to connect with you- the creatives, viewers and readers for whom their work is intended.

I recommend you take a look and see what the unexpected looks like.

Paul Dallas
Chair, Illustration