Throwback Thursday: Research a Genre

30526a – Learning Activity 6

Research a Genre

by Colleen Sedgwick

I have chosen Technical Illustration as my genre – this is defined as 'a type of illustration designed to visually communicate information of a technical nature'[1]. 

Three main categories of technical illustration include:

1.      Communication with the general public – such as those in car manuals and those for consumer electronics;

2.      Specialized drawings for scientific or engineering purposes;

3.      Communication between highly skilled experts – used by engineers to communicate to people who aren't engineers yet still have some expertise in some field (such as electronics). 

4 kinds of drawing include:

1.      Conventional line drawings;

2.      Exploded view drawings -a diagram, picture, schematic or technical drawing of an object, showing the relationship or order of assembly of various parts[2];

3.      Cutaway drawings – 3D drawings, diagrams, graphics or illustrations which the surface elements are removed to make internal features visible, without sacrificing the outer context entirely[3];

4.      Clip art images – pre-made illustrations or drawings used to illustrate any medium[4]. 

Common uses for Technical drawing include:

1.      Engineering;

2.      Medical illustrations;

3.      Scientific Illustration;

4.      Architecture;

5.      Archaelogical;

6.      Technical communications

I believe they have their place in graphic design as they are designed to convey specific information via a visual channel to the observer[5].  They help explain technical information to a non-technical audience through accurate dimensions and proportions and to enhance the viewer's interest and understanding.  They go hand-in-hand with text: without the illustrations, the text itself is very dry to the viewer, but without text, the viewer would not know what the images (or parts of the images) are.  Hence the reason for its existence.

A drawing of a hand showing the skeletal/bone structure

[1]    Wikipedia (2015): Technical Illustration, in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_illustration, accessed 13/03/15 at 03:08:19.

[2]    Wikipedia (2014) Exploded View Drawing in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploded-view_drawing, accessed 13/03/15 at 03:25:08

[3]    Wikipedia (2015): Cutaway drawing in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutaway_drawing, accessed 13/03/15 at 03:29:27

[4]    Wikipedia (2015): Clip Art in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clip_art, accessed 13/03/15 at 03:22:23

1.[5]     Ivan Viola and Meister E. Gröller (2005). "Smart Visibility in Visualization". In: Computational Aesthetics in Graphics, Visualization and Imaging. L. Neumann et al. (Ed.)