I saw Quentin Blake, the famous illustrator of Roald Dahl books, in the news this week. He came to talk at my school back in the 1980s, so it was lovely to see that, at 93, his creativity is as strong as it ever was.
They were talking about the opening of the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration tomorrow, Friday 5 June 2026. This brand new £12.5 million museum is the largest of its kind in the world, devoted entirely to illustration.
It got me thinking.
I’ve always loved illustration. But it has always seemed to sit below “real” art in our consciousness.
Why is that?
A short film crafted by the clever people at the museum made me think about the discipline in a broader way.
It made the point that illustration isn’t just a pretty picture.
It’s a vital way of communicating.
Long before humans wrote words, we drew pictures. We used them to share knowledge, explain ideas and make sense of the world.
And we still do.
Maps. Emojis. Icons. Road signs. Diagrams. Packaging symbols. Infographics.
I hadn’t really thought about all of those as illustrations before, but of course they are. They’re visual shortcuts that help us understand something quickly, often without needing words at all.
That’s something I do every day at work. I often find it easier to convey something with a quick sketch - even on a Microsoft Teams call. They say a picture paints a thousand words, don’t they?
When illustration works well, we don’t always stop to admire it. We just understand it.
We Are Acuity is working on an animation project at the moment about a complex finance and insurance product. The kind of subject that can easily become complicated and, dare I say it, boring.
But illustration helps do the heavy lifting. A timeline, a simple character, a visual metaphor or an animated sequence can explain ideas far more clearly than paragraphs of text.
That’s where illustration really adds value.
It builds understanding. And that’s especially relevant now.
We live in a world where making images has never been easier. AI tools, design platforms and smartphones mean almost anyone can create something visually appealing in seconds.
But creating an image and creating understanding are not the same thing.
The real value of illustration isn’t just that it fills a space with something pretty. It’s that it can explain, simplify, guide, persuade and connect.
So here’s to illustration!
It isn’t an optional extra. And illustrators should be applauded.
Not just a pretty picture. A way of helping people understand.