All articles tagged with #illustration
Sports Illustrated commissioned 48 artists from 48 countries to create illustrations that capture soccer’s cultural heartbeat as the World Cup expands to 48 teams, with four covers featuring Argentina, France, Mexico and the United States. The project centers on community, heritage and the way football brings people together beyond star players, offering diverse concepts from national symbols to street-football scenes across nations.
The Verge analyzes The New Yorker’s use of an AI-generated portrait of Sam Altman, exploring how AI imagery challenges editorial illustration, the artist’s workflow, and copyright concerns, while discussing the broader debate over AI’s role in prestigious publications.
Marking the 1,000th Connections puzzle, this interview with editor Wyna Liu explores how board design uses cross-category misdirection, varied wordplay, and solver expectations to create challenge, alongside insight into the companion art process by Calum Heath and Kathy Lee that ties illustrations back to the game’s clues.
A Splatoon 3 illustrator explains the challenges of turning the game’s Splatsville setting into dynamic art. Early sketches overemphasized action poses, making characters feel small and energy‑deficient, so the artist sought input from senior teammates and developers to adjust composition, perspective, and ink quality. Attention to small details—expressions, arm angles, hair silhouettes—and matching ink texture to a “thick yogurt” read helped maximize charm across game boxes, ads, videos, and events. The role, led by someone who has loved the series since student days, required iterating with the team to preserve dynamic movement while conveying a rougher, chaotic world. Work began about a year before launch, and positive global feedback confirmed the improvements; a follow‑up title, Splatoon Raiders, is in development for Nintendo Switch 2.
The article features a cartoon titled 'Very good boys,' likely depicting humorous or endearing scenes involving boys, emphasizing entertainment and humor.
Gary B. Martin, an illustrator and animator with over 30 years on the Upper West Side, shares his experiences and neighborhood life through his artwork, which is featured in the Rag and online.
Doreen and Brian Cronin, a couple who met through Facebook, have successfully collaborated on children's books, including "Mama in the Moon," inspired by a real-life story of a baby sloth falling from a tree. Their work emphasizes themes of comfort and safety, with Brian's illustrations using dark tones and bright highlights to create a soothing bedtime experience for children.
"Our Pool" is a joyful and colorful picture book by author and illustrator Lucy Cummins, inspired by her experiences swimming with her son. The book celebrates the rituals of the neighborhood pool, capturing the sounds, sensations, and connections made in this shared space. Cummins emphasizes the diversity and universal experiences found in city living, highlighting how community spaces like public swimming pools bring people together. Despite writing the book during the pandemic when pools were closed, Cummins' wish to swim in a public pool again came true, and she hopes the book resonates with readers as a reminder of the joy and connections found in these shared spaces.
Costa Coffee, the UK's largest coffee chain, is facing calls for a boycott after a photo of one of its mobile cafe vans featuring an illustration of a transgender person circulated online. Anti-LGBTQ social media users criticized the illustration, while others praised it for bringing visibility to trans people. Costa Coffee, a subsidiary of Coca-Cola, defended the mural, stating that it celebrates inclusivity. The boycott calls highlight the ongoing backlash against LGBTQ+ rights and the impact of social media mobilization on companies' support for the community.
Masatsugu Saito, the character designer for Xenoblade Chronicles 3, has shared an illustration of Mio to celebrate the game's one-year anniversary. The game follows the story of protagonists Noah and Mio as they navigate a conflict between two nations. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 incorporates elements and plotlines from the previous games in the series and introduces new gameplay features such as an Interlink system and class change options. The game recently received an update implementing Pyra and Mythra Amiibo functionality.
The Wordle puzzle for June 11, 2023, featured a whale under the moon shape, with the word "guard" as the answer. The puzzle was moderately challenging due to uncertainty, but strategic choices could help solve it in six guesses. The featured artist for this month's Wordle is María Medem, an illustrator and comic author based in Seville, Spain, who creates atmospheres and landscapes that look a bit unreal.
Chinese game developers are increasingly relying on AI to produce fast and cheap assets for video games, leading to a decrease in illustration jobs by 70%. However, Chinese players are unimpressed with the results, criticizing the AI-generated character skins for being soulless and improperly rendered. Some players still associate human labor with value, especially for premium skins, and hope that there is human labor behind their purchase. The impact of AI on traditional illustration jobs has been significant, with some freelance artists now commissioned to tune works that were created by AI for one-tenth of the pay.
Chinese video game companies are using AI image generators to design and create video game characters, backdrops, and promotional materials, causing widespread anxiety in the country's video game art industry. Illustrators are being laid off, and those who remain are being encouraged to use AI image generators to boost their productivity. While AI-generated art is skilled, it lacks some human capabilities and is unable to come up with designs that address specific client needs. The Chinese government is taking steps to regulate AI art, but the anxiety experienced by illustrators might soon spread to other professions.
Adobe has unveiled a new AI tool called "recolor vectors" as part of its Firefly family of generative AI technologies. The tool allows illustrators to try out different color schemes for illustrations by uploading a vector graphic file. Firefly then generates a quartet of illustrations, each with a new and pleasing combination of colors. The tool is set to be available in the next couple of weeks and works in conjunction with Adobe Illustrator software.