
Drawn Together
Illustration, Community and Collective World-Making
Luise Vormittag(Author)
Bloomsbury Visual Arts (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 17. September 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
208 pages
978-1-350-63474-9 (ISBN)
Description
Illustrators are increasingly connecting with community groups and members of the public to explore links between people, local knowledge and image making practices. This raises a number of questions: What processes are set in motion when illustrators seek to engage with community? How can illustration bring to light the concerns, interests and challenges of a group of people? And can illustration help us think about the conditions of sociability more generally?
Luise Vormittag argues that these questions go to the core of what it means to be political. Using both her own work and other illustrators' projects as case studies Vormittag suggests that participatory illustration is a particularly effective medium for illuminating and reflecting on our social interdependence. Rather than accepting conventional, often nostalgic or identitarian notions of community, she positions it as a shared practice of communication and collaborative sense-making. Illustrations that refer to collective matters of concern can be the catalyst, focal point and trace of relational and dialogic interactions.
This book is a contribution to the burgeoning field of illustration research that aims to extend the discipline through theoretically grounded practice-led research. By intertwining illustration practice with European philosophy and drawing on ideas from ethnography, translation studies and theories of the public sphere, Vormittag offers new conceptual pathways for rethinking the practice and potential of illustration.
Luise Vormittag argues that these questions go to the core of what it means to be political. Using both her own work and other illustrators' projects as case studies Vormittag suggests that participatory illustration is a particularly effective medium for illuminating and reflecting on our social interdependence. Rather than accepting conventional, often nostalgic or identitarian notions of community, she positions it as a shared practice of communication and collaborative sense-making. Illustrations that refer to collective matters of concern can be the catalyst, focal point and trace of relational and dialogic interactions.
This book is a contribution to the burgeoning field of illustration research that aims to extend the discipline through theoretically grounded practice-led research. By intertwining illustration practice with European philosophy and drawing on ideas from ethnography, translation studies and theories of the public sphere, Vormittag offers new conceptual pathways for rethinking the practice and potential of illustration.
Reviews / Votes
With meticulous documentation, practical information, and accessible theorization, this book articulates the crucial hands-on roles illustrators are developing as automation changes the profession and the communities they serve - a must-have for socially conscious artists and academics both. A pleasure to read! * Jaleen Grove, Rhode Island School of Design, USA * Drawn Together widens what we think illustration can do. It is generous in method, courageous in thought, and beautifully written - a vital resource for scholars, practitioners and students who seek a more expansive, socially engaged understanding of illustration. I recommend it wholeheartedly! * Hilde Kramer, The Norwegian Institute for Children's Books, Norway *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
45 colour images
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-63474-9 (9781350634749)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Luise Vormittag is an illustrator, designer, researcher, writer and educator based in London, UK. She is Reader in Illustration at Camberwell College of Arts, UAL. Her research currently focuses on the nexus on image making, community and place. Previously she practised as a commercial illustrator completing commissions for nation and international clients.
Content
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Preface
Acknowledgements
About the Cover Design
Introduction
Chapter 1: Illustration, Community and the Political
Chapter 2: Working with Others
Chapter 3: 'But I Can't Draw!'
Chapter 4: Drawing Things Together
Chapter 5: World-Making
Chapter 6: Tracing Expressions of Community
Chapter 7: Afterlives
Conclusion: Common Grounds?
Bibliography
Index
List of Figures
Preface
Acknowledgements
About the Cover Design
Introduction
Chapter 1: Illustration, Community and the Political
Chapter 2: Working with Others
Chapter 3: 'But I Can't Draw!'
Chapter 4: Drawing Things Together
Chapter 5: World-Making
Chapter 6: Tracing Expressions of Community
Chapter 7: Afterlives
Conclusion: Common Grounds?
Bibliography
Index