JILL 5 (2) pp.

225–233 Intellect Limited 2018

Journal of Illustration
Volume 5 Number 2
© 2018 Intellect Ltd Visual Essay. English language. doi: 10.1386/jill.5.2.225_7

visual essay

Adam Paxman
Manchester Metropolitan University

Eye Heart Theory: Not to be

taken lightly

Keywords Abstract
illustration This visual essay criticizes the notion that illustration education and practice without intellectual engage-
theory ment, theory or inquiry can exist. Whilst providing a humorous yet sincere rebuttal of this stance, Eye
practice Heart Theory advocates the sublime importance of theory in art, design and visual communication curric-
praxis ula from several perspectives – those of the professional illustration practitioner, Contextual Studies lecturer
discourse and personal practice as research experimenter. Drawing on diverse secondary sources including Crow,
reflection Heller and Chwast, Lupton, Lynch, Male, Maslow, McLuhan and Fiore, O’Shaughnessy, Poynor and Zeegen
context and Roberts, Eye Heart Theory analyses the role of the illustration educator in fostering autonomous
eye learning, creative thinking and cognitive skills within undergraduates and future design professionals.

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Presented as a visually dense information burst and impassioned commentary on the topic incorporating
lateral references to popular culture and visualizations of illustrative, theoretical and semiotic devices, Eye
Heart Theory is not designed to persuade or interpolate but rather challenge the reader to think about and
question the content as a conscious critical observer in much the same manner as a theatrical work featuring
verfremdungseffekt – alienation or distancing technique – by playwright Bertolt Brecht.

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References
Bierut, M. (2007), Seventy-Nine Short Essays on Design, New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Crow, D. (2016), Visible Signs: An Introduction to Semiotics in the Visual Arts, 3rd ed., London: Bloomsbury.
Donne, J. (2018), ‘John Donne: Poems “For whom the bell tolls”’, http://www.gradesaver.com/donne-
poems/study-guide/for-whom-the-bell-tolls. Accessed 4 February 2018.
Heller, S. and Chwast, S. (2008), Illustration: A Visual History, New York: Abrams.
Koh, M. (2014), ‘12 quotes by Millard Fillmore, 13th president of the United States of America’,
https://thoughtcatalog.com/michael-koh/2014/02/12-quotes-by-millard-fillmore-13th-
president-of-the-united-states-of-america/. Accessed 4 February 2018.
Lupton, E. (2011), Graphic Design Thinking: Beyond Brainstorming, Princeton: Princeton Architectural
Press.
Lynch, D. (2006), Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity (audiobook), London:
Penguin Audiobooks.
Male, A. ([2007] 2014), Illustration: A Theoretical and Contextual Perspective, London: Bloomsbury.
McLuhan, M. and Fiore, Q. ([1967] 2008), The Medium is the Massage, Penguin Design series ed.,
London: Penguin Books.
Messerly, J. G. (2017), ‘Summary of Maslow on self-transcendence’, https://ieet.org/index.php/lEET2/
more/Messerly20170204. Accessed 13 February 2018.
Neumann, K. (1958), The Fly, DVD, USA: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
O’Brien, B. (2017), ‘The eight auspicious symbols of Buddhism: Images and what they mean’, https:/ /
www.thoughtco.com/the-eight-auspicious-symbols-of-buddhism-449989. Accessed 4 February 2018.
O’Shaughnessy, M. (2007), Illustration: A Dialogue, Manchester: Cornerhouse Publications.
Poynor, R. (2010), ‘The missing critical history of illustration’, http://www.printmag.com/article/the-
forgotten-history-of-illustration/. Accessed 12 February 2018.
____ (2016), ‘Illustration, illuminated: Turning a critical eye toward the history of illustration’,
http://www.printmag.com/illustration/discourse-history-of-illustration-illuminated/. Accessed
12 February 2018.
Thomas, D. (1952), ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’, https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/
do-not-go-gentle-good-night. Accessed 10 February 2018.
Zeegen, L. and Fenton, L. (2012), The Fundamentals of Illustration, 2nd ed., London: Bloomsbury.
Zeegen, L. and Roberts, C. (2014), Fifty Years of Illustration, London: Laurence King.

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Suggested citation
Paxman, A. (2018), ‘Eye Heart Theory: Not to be taken lightly’, Journal of Illustration, 5:2, pp. 225–33,
doi: 10.1386/jill.5.2.225_7

Contributor details
Adam Paxman is a freelance illustrator, with recent clients including The Beatles Story museum and
Stride Studio. He illustrated the cover for Neo-Victorian Freakery: The Cultural Afterlife of the Victorian
Freakshow, published by Palgrave-MacMillan. Adam is a lecturer in graphic arts and contextual stud-
ies at Hugh Baird University Centre, where he is editor of the HE staff journal, The Unicorn. He is an
associate lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he delivers seminars on
Contextualising Practice to Graphic Design and Illustration with Animation undergraduates. His
research interests include semiotics, fundamentals of visual communication, ideation, Brechtian
devices, materiality, anthropomorphism and metanarrative.
Contact: Hugh Baird University Centre, L20 Building, Hugh Baird College, Balliol Road, Bootle,
Liverpool, L20 7EW, UK.
E-mail: adam.paxman@hughbaird.ac.uk, adampaxman@yahoo.co.uk

Adam Paxman has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be iden-
tified as the author of this work in the format that was submitted to Intellect Ltd.

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