Illustration Summer School

The Illustration Summer School was designed as a pedagogical approach that seeks to provide a plural, expanded view on the current state of illustration and visual communication. Self-publishing and the rising importance of design research have been profoundly influential to the practice of illustration, allowing it to broaden not only its media and output, but also methods and strategies.
The school puts emphasis on the role of the archive in illustration practice and the importance of establishing connections across disciplines when investigating a specific subject, promoting ways of working that facilitate debate, alternatives and multiple perspectives. Tutors from varied disciplines and expertise were brought together to articulate—in parallel with guest tutors from museums and institutions in Porto—a broader definition of illustration. The participants worked effectively as co-researchers, developing their practice collectively. The attitudes, processes, debates, visits and bibliography are condensed in a book compiled, edited and produced by them.