Diversity is in our hands
Dear Illustrator,
According to a recent survey by CLPE only 1% of British children’s books published in 2017 feature a main character who is from a Black or minority ethnic background. ONE PERCENT. That doesn’t reflect the British population. As illustrators we have the power to change this, it’s in our hands, whatever colour they may be.
Over the past ten years I have seen an additional note on the briefs I’m receiving, (let’s call it an addendum because that’s a fun word to say). Clients have been specifically asking for a variety of skin tones, ages and genders to be illustrated. Occasionally they’ll ask me to add a disabled person or an LGBTQ+ couple for no particular reason other than to have them in the scene. These requests are brilliant, I love it every time I read it, I like to think I would do it anyway, but to know the client is aiming to normalise diversity is a big step in the right direction. But here’s the thing… *the beat stops and everyone realises things are never completely idyllic*… 90% of the clients that are requesting that I specifically depict diversity are corporate clients, B2B or internal communications. These are artworks that don’t often get seen in public, they’re in brochures and annual reports, not on billboards or magazine covers. That’s not to say that these areas aren’t doing the same thing, I can only share my own experiences, but are they? Are the bigger mainstream magazines considering diversity enough within illustration? Can an ad campaign have a disabled hero, when the disability is actually irrelevant to the story? Are children’s books considering the beautiful array of cultures in our society?
I’ve not worked in the children’s publishing industry (with the aforementioned 1% problem), but I have worked in editorial, advertising and educational publishing, and although each industry or sector might be dealing with diversity in different ways, we need to push it ourselves. That’s us, the illustrators. We the illustrators need to ensure we’re depicting the full rainbow of skin tones, we need to mix up the body shapes that we draw, we need to add LGBT+ couples, show an amputee or an elderly lady, and not just to comment on an issue, but in our normal cool-as-fuck illustrations. If you’re commissioned to illustrate a cafe scene, and you completely mix up the characters, every size and shape and class and wonderful physical difference, then what is an art director actually going to say? Hopefully nothing (they’d be a grade-A asshole if they did). If you’re in talks to illustrate a children’s book, then suggest that the hero or heroine might be not be a white, middle-class kid, but perhaps he or she is something else, it doesn’t have to be part of the story, it’s just a particular character we’re bringing to life.
So it’s on us now my illustrating friends, every brief and every project, every comic book heroine, every crowd scene and every story, every magazine cover, annual report and news article. Push for diversity, illustrate the wonderful variety of people and build that 1% up to a happier, more realistic number that reflects the world.
Extra Content!
I have to say a huge thanks to Aimeé Felone from Knights Of Publishers for assistance with this post, both for her opinions and her grammar wizardry! Knights Of are an independent publishers focused on inclusivity so do check them out and support them.
