10 Inspiring Illustration Books by Steven Heller
(Illustration by Christoph Niemann)
If you’ve ever wanted to get an Art Director’s perspective of the Illustration industry, then you should definitely check out one of these books written and/or edited by Steven Heller, former Art Director of the New York Times Book Review for 30 years.
I recently interviewed Steven for Episode 25 of the Escape From Illustration Island Podcast, where he shared tons of great advice for both professional and aspiring Illustrators, and I got an overwhelmingly positive response from the community.
There’s nothing like hearing things straight from the Art Director’s mouth.
Here are 10 inspiring Illustration books written and/or edited by Steven Heller:
Inside the Business of Illustration
By Steven Heller, Marshall Arisman
Marketing Illustration
By Steven Heller, Marshall Arisman
The Education of an Illustrator
By Steven Heller, Marshall Arisman
The Education of a Comics Artist
By Michael Dooley and Steven Heller
Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age
By Steven Heller and Mirko Ilic
Illustration: A Visual History
By Steven Heller and Seymour Chwast
Art Direction Explained, At Last!
By Steven Heller and Veronique Vienne
Innovators of American Illustration
By Steven Heller
Push Pin Graphic: A Quarter Century of Innovative Design and Illustration
By Steven Heller and Seymour Chwast
Teaching Illustration
By Steven Heller and Marshall Arisman
Click on one of the books above to learn more about it at Amazon, or find it amongst over 100 Books and DVDs in the EFII Bookstore.
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- Book Review - Artist’s and Graphic Designer’s Market
- Book Review – Pricing and Ethical Guidelines
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I own a copy of this book – Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age having “had to get it” after loaning it from my local library. A great inspiration as too is Push Pin Graphic: A Quarter Century of Innovative Design and Illustration a book I have also loaned from the library.
I currently have Seymour: The Obsessive Images of Seymour Chwast which is edited by Mr Heller, as is heaps of other books I have read in the past, is there not a book he hasn’t had a hand in. Truly a man who loves art, design & illustration.
I concur. I’ve read “Inside the Business of Illustration” and “Marketing Illustration.” They are both excellent! The best part is the many, many, many illustrator interviews.
thanks! for the great list… I’ll make sure http://www.ocad.ca has them in the library!
where I teach…
Steve Heller and Marshall Arisman are a pretty powerful duo!
I’ve read “Inside the Business of Illustration” cover to cover. It really covers the different facets of illustration, like what art directors want to see, how to promote yourself, and even parts you may not have gotten covered in school, like how to deal with ethics. There’s a nice discussion about the great debate- how does one find a style? I really like the ending sections, which had interviews with many famous illustrators/art directors today who offer their own witty insight to the business of illustration.
I’ve also read “Teaching Illustration”, which has bits of illustration assignments from different teachers. As a recent graduate, I really warmed up to it because I felt glad to have an “assignment” again. They range from beginning assignments (create a halloween card without black or orange, for example) to really in-depth ones. I’m almost kind of sad that my teacher didn’t have this book, because there are some really hardcore assignments in here that make the ones I did at school seem kind of wimpy. (My class was only kind of well versed in the art of “thumbnails”.)
I have also peeked inside “Marketing Illustration”, which has great interviews with some forerunners of the different areas illustrators can make business in. Having been published within the last year, it has some really great insight on current trends in the illustration world, like designer toys.
Just thought I’d offer some insider info. Thanks for the amazing podcast as always, Thomas!!
Thanks Stephanie. I’ve read Inside the Business of Illustration, and it’s nice to hear from two people who have been in the business for many years. Steven definitely has a lot of valuable insight to share.