Design with a different kind of illustration…
How can communicators serve humans and machines? It’s been a fascinating question to look at by way of designing and illustrating this year’s Corporate Digital Communications Index Snapshot.
In the report, Bowen Craggs makes sense of the complexities and overlap, setting out the strategies, skills and best practices that have become important. It’s rich in insights and data and it begins with a foreword by Bowen Craggs partner FT Longitude.
The report delves into themes that it introduced last year. So it has made sense to use the same design framework to signal that link. I’ve devised a chart style that works visually and for screen readers. There’s visual differentiation between types and sources of insight.
To mirror the human and machine topic, I’ve collaborated with Adobe Firefly AI to make the illustrations. These are wireframes based on photographs I have taken and the Bowen Craggs visual identity roundel, with human intervention and retouching to make the final images.
Making the illustrations in this way has brought insights of its own. I’ve been dazzled by the capacity and speed of image generation. As a creative practitioner experienced in commissioning as well as creating imagery, I’ve also noticed profound differences between collaborating with machine and human illustrators. This work has shown me where ideas, experience, craft and critical judgment matter. And it’s shown me what I expect.
It's been satisfying to shape and learn from a project in which every element of the design and illustration has been created to support what’s truly an interesting, valuable and as ever, well-written read.
Download your copy here.
