so THAT'S why all those illustrations look the same

Ooooh yes this Quartzy explainer on why editorial illustrations look so similar these days answers a LOT of questions while perfectly situating the once-you-see-it-you-can’t-unsee “flat aesthetic” trend as the logical result of Silicon Valley branding and the overall (dismal) state of the digital creative economy. 

There’s also a good line in here about one important difference in types of illustrations, quoted from Adobe’s senior principal designer: “Product illustrations are there to make the user’s experiences easier; editorial illustrations are there to make the reader’s experience more interesting — even more challenging.” 

So, next time you’re commissioning some spot art for an article, it’s worth taking a pause and considering: is this illustration supposed to **explain** something and make it easy to understand...or is it supposed to complicate the narrative in an interesting way?? 

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