Alaka Kavallur

We started the session with activity and conversation about Identity. Since the first activity is connected with perception and representation, we tried to understand what this single word "Identity" means to everyone. It was helping us to understand commonalities and differences in perspectives and understanding.

Unit Name: Illustration I
Semester: III, Visual Communication Program
Faculty: Alaka Kavallur
Credit: 3
Woxsen School of Arts and Design, Hyderabad

This course aims to introduce the basics of illustration to 3rd Semester Visual communication students. The core learning objective of this course is to build their imagination, perception, and the required skill sets for illustration.

The course follows teaching and learning methodology, allowing students to understand the importance of context and purpose in illustration through 3 mini projects and one major visual storytelling project.

By engaging the students in these activities, visual thinking, critical awareness & mind mapping for developing the context and illustrating the same, the course intended to develop a strong sense of understanding about narrative techniques, storytelling, and the significance of illustration in visual communication.

Intended Course Outcomes

Understanding the history, relevance and context of illustration
Familiarizing with different styles of illustrations
Equipping students with a sense of aesthetic
Building insights on the idea generation process
Understanding visual narrative techniques
Understanding the medium and materiality of nature of illustrations
Understanding the potentials and applications of the subject in professional platforms

The way we perceive everything from the real space to mental space to pictorial space is different. Because of the same, we see differences in representation.
For example, one person perceives a flower will be different from another person even if the flower is the same. The thoughts will be different, and the imagination will be different. This will reflect when they represent the flower from their mental space to a pictorial space/physical canvas.

Even if we consider a social issue, we all conceive that issue based on our existing knowledge, previous experience, cultural background, social status, gender, exposure, etc. Therefore, even if we represent the same issue through cartoons, poetry, articles, or any other form, we can identify the difference in the opinion we make about that subject or the visual narration we are building based on that subject. Therefore what we see, how we perceive, and how we represent are equally important. If we want to improve our representation skills, it is essential to strengthen our observation and perceptions.