Editorial illustration for NUN Magazin Issue #11
How I playfully connected the magazine’s theme with a text piece about drying racks
Sometimes polemic text pieces can be quite challenging to interpret into one illustration. Very often the text itself already contains many visuals and can be quite abstract. With my illustrations I strive to add another layer and connect the article with the overall theme of the magazine.
My creative Approach
I highlighted snippets of the text piece, that especially spoke out to me. I then thought of visuals that I could connect to the objects, actions and emotions described in the text.
These were the text snippets I chose to work with: “form follows function & ugliness seen in design of the drying rack”, “close to collapsing”, “drying racks that bring wrinkly wet clothes back to life and into their magnificent shape”
My solution
I highlighted the drying racks’ hideous shape even more, by painting it bright orange. Making it seem broken, I chose to show it lying on the ground, but still able to hold clothes. To connect the editorial illustration back to the magazine’s theme, instead of wrinkly clothes, I added a wrinkly naked cat. With the cat using the drying rack as a seat and playing with its broken parts, I breathed life into the scene and added a layer of joy and playfulness.
CLIENT
NUN Magazin: the city magazine of German-Swiss cities Konstanz & Kreuzlingen
Art direction & layout: Annabelle Flaig-Hoepfer
Editorial management: Miriam Stepper
Positive polemic text piece: Daniel von der Vring
2023 – Magazine Theme: Nass und Nackig (wet and naked)
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