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Communication Arts and the Polymath Principle: Intellectual Multi-tasking and the Creation of Knowledge Bearing Imagery

Published title: ‘Communication Arts and the Polymath Principle: Intellectual Multi-Tasking and the Creation of Knowledge Bearing Imagery’

I am the sole author of this paper which is developed from the transcript of an invited keynote address, ‘Illustration, Authorship and the Polymath Principle’, delivered at ‘CONFIA’, the First International Conference on Illustration and Animation, Polytechnic Institute of Cavado and Ave, Portugal (December 2012).

The thesis is summed in this passage from the paper and my second book ‘Illustration: Meeting the Brief’ (Bloomsbury 2014): ‘We are beginning to see a return of the Polymath Principle, in other words, an illustration practice that exudes authority and a breadth of intellectual skills and learning … illustrators will have wide ranging and in-depth knowledge of subject matter and acquire an esteem driven ownership for their work. Examples might be new or original knowledge embedded in their work, literary authorship for fiction, documentation, journalism and commentary’.

This work presents originally-defined criteria and a framework for their implementation. The paper covers three contexts of visual communication practice: ‘Knowledge Exchange and Research’, ‘Commentary’ and ‘Narrative Fiction and Creative Expression’. ‘Polymathy’ is widely endorsed by the creative and communication industries as a growing and relevant currency for employability. The paper analyses ten case studies, each representing a contemporarily relevant advocacy for this multi-disciplinary and creative ownership approach to illustration practice.