The profession of illustration has undergone dramatic changes over the last decades. These changes (one may think here of the wide-spread use of ready to copy and very cheap images in all kind of visual databases) seem to jeopardize the very future of the profession. For the author of this study, a renowned and much awarded illustrator himself, they also create new opportunities, provided one accepts to broaden the idea of what illustration actually means and to adopt a new professional ethos that fits this changing definition. Illustration is thus no longer to be seen as the technical “colouring in” of a previously determined idea but as a form of “applied imagery; a ‘working art’ that visually communicates context to audience” (I am quoting here the opening words of the book). In a similar way, the task of the illustrator includes more than just image-making. Illustrators have become researchers and their research is strongly context-based. Last but not least, illustrators also should develop their skills as polymaths, actively participating in all steps and aspects of the creative process and even taking the lead, without of course forgetting the constraints of an illustrator’s assignments. Illustration is not to be confused with fine arts, even if the two domains are no longer always easily distinguishable. The same can be said of the relationship between illustration and graphic design: illustrations definitely relies upon graphic design techniques, but its aim always remains the unambiguous communication of a well-defined message.

Communication itself has changed a lot as well. Illustrators are now often working for global audiences, which may react very differently to the visual language used to channel a certain idea (not to speak of the idea itself, always highly context-sensitive). Hence the need for any modern illustrator to make an in-depth research of the audiences and to have a profound knowledge of the different forms but also of the do’s and don’ts of visual language (the “literal” or descriptive one as well as the “conceptual” or metaphorical one). In other words: a modern illustrator has to strike the right balance between the technical and aesthetic skills of a project (this would be the fine arts dimension) and the communicative and persuasive competences that are no less needed (this would be the applied arts dimension). At the same time, the strong need of “unambiguously” communicating an idea (this constraint runs like a mantra through the whole book) should not be incompatible with the implementation of the illustrator’s personal input (and this as well is a permanent concern of the author).

In this lavishly printed third edition of Alan Male’s authoritative textbook (the previous edition is from 2007), the author has included 280 new illustrations. Their presentation and analysis remains a little bit superficial, however, given the absence of a strong theoretical contextual framework. The often stunning examples are described as “excellent”, “clear”, “exemplary” etc., but no details are given on their specific context. One would be curious to know for instance how the commercial aspects of an illustration project are handled or how actual audiences have reacted to them.

There may be indeed a slight misunderstanding in the expectations raised by the subtitle of the book, “a contextual and contextual perspective”. Alan Male rightly emphasizes the need of visual theory and contextual knowledge, but these general claims are not supported by a real discussion of neither context nor theory (as a look at the index also makes clear). The purpose of this textbook is different. Alan Male defends an updated curriculum for what is no longer an example of vocational training, insisting on the value of practice-based research and a rethinking of the relationship between patrons and illustrators. He also showcases the countless possibilities of illustration 2.0, perhaps a little too broadly and enthusiastically, for there seems to be nothing visual that does not come down to illustration. Are comics really an example of illustration? What does it mean to call conceptual illustrations “surrealistic”?

Students of illustration will read this work with more than professional interest. Visual language and communication scholars will find no new ideas or insights, but the iconography of the book will undoubtedly prove helpful for the development of their own research questions and analyses.