Vibrant Illustrations by Yann aka Blind SALIDA

Vibrant Illustrations by Yann aka Blind SALIDA

“I really don’t like art where you need to know so much theory to understand. If the theory is removed, it doesn’t do anything. That means that this work is an illustration of theory, and I don’t believe in the power of the work itself.”

– Marina Abramovici

It is no secret that we are absolutely head over heels in love with illustrations. Whether they are watercolor, pencil, or digital, they have a special place in our heart, and we just can not get enough of looking at them.

Illustration really took off as an art form during the 15th century, after Johannes Guttenberg invented the printing press, and started printing books with it. To these books he would add woodcut illustrations, which soon became really popular.

It would, however, take until the 19th century for illustrators to become respected artists in their own right. People like George Cruikshank, Hablot Knight Browne (who is most famously known as Dickens’ illustrator), and Honoré Daumier were in high demand, mostly for creating character drawings that encapsulated or caricatured social types and classes.

As the years went by, illustration just became more and more sought after. We do not think it is too much to say that, in the present, illustrations are at their most popular, and we are as pleased as punch about it, because we keep getting to see awesome artists, do awesome work.

Today, we will be showing you the works of one of these artists, namely Yann, or how he is better known, Blind SALIDA.

Yann is a French illustrator and designer, currently living in Paris, France. He began his career back in 2001, when he worked as a graphic designer at Madeinédit, a web development studio in Paris.

After his brief stint there, he moved on to Pole Nord, a company which was later acquired by the Publicis Group. He served as art director here for two years, before moving to TriBeCa, to occupy the position of senior art director.

This last move happened in 2006, and one year after it, he began working under the pseudonym blind SALIDA. It is under this name he got the most recognition, having collaborated with agencies like Leo Burnett, Oglivy, Publicis Conseil, Proximity BBDO, Young and Rubicam, Havas, and Bismark Philips Communications to create ads for an impressive roster of clients, which include Samsung, Orange, Coca-Cola, Honda, Gillette, Sony Playstation, RATP, Head & Shoulders, PSA Peugeot, Renault, and AOL.

His ads, as well as his artistic endeavors have been featured in a number of printed publications, like Computer Arts UK, Belio Magazine, Advanced Creation, Blackpool Magazine, Optiumum, and Advanced Photoshop. His work on the Azzaro Collection even got showcased in high-end fashion magazines Vogue, La dépeche, Les echos, Men’s Up, and Marie Claire.

Aside from publication, his works also attracted the attention of several art and design blogs. To name just a few, we have Abuzeedo, PeopleofDesign, DiryMouse, DesignYouTrust, FormFiftyFive, CreativeReview, IDN, K10K, and now Pixel77.

Aside from illustrations, he also does does infographics, line, landscapes, isometrics, and portraits. So feel free to check them all out on his website, by clicking this link here.

1. Sounds

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These two images have been published in Graphic Studio, and they showcase blind SALIDA’s ability to create comprehensible yet chaotic images. The colors are really well chosen, and the shapes have an interesting “organic” feel to them, which makes the illustration kind of come to life, as it were. They kind of remind us of Akira, for whatever reason.

2. Graminator

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Done for a soon to be released app called Graminator, these illustration have a similar feel to the ones before. What is different, however, is the fact that here, the colors used do not contrast with a black background, making them a whole lot friendlier, whereas the ones before could be described as being “edgy”.

3. Bank

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Moving away from the wavy, chaotic style of our previous entries, these two illustrations are made for Bank, and commissioned by EuroRSGC, currently known as Havas Worldwide.

They depict two coat of arms, each with different motifs: one with textiles, and the other with electronics. It is a much more tame style, but they are essentially logos, so of course we had to put them on our list.

4. Thinking

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These are two of a set of four illustrations for bank card holders, commissioned by Macwell Creative for Thinking. The illustrations are cool even if you do not think about them too much, but once you do, they just get cooler. They are made for card holders, and the word “card” brings to mind playing cards, and we think that is the core concept here.

There might also be a play on words here, using the word “thinking”, which if you split into two different words are “thin” and “king”, or “thin king”. This might stand for the second illustration, as it depicts a King of Hearts, and cards themselves are thin… but that may just be overTHINKING it.

5. Azzaro

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We have mentioned earlier in our article that Yann’s work for Azzaro got noticed by fashion magazines, so of course we had to show what work we were talking about.

Inspired by the Azzaro universe and Reporters without borders, this marvelous illustration commissioned by Bismark Philips Communications brings together fashion and information in a truly unique way, making it a real statement. We know one thing for sure: we want the watch, and we want it now!

6. French Navy

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Yet another work commissioned by Havas Worldwide, this time for the French Navy. It is getting interesting projects such as this one, or the one for Azzaro, that truly makes commercial work worthwhile.

This is a set of medal illustrations done for the French Navy’s website, and there is no denying how cool these medals look.

That wraps up our article on Yann aka blind SALIDA. If you enjoyed his works, check out more of them by clicking the link we provided earlier in the article, or by clicking any of the images’ source links. You can also follow Yann on Twitter, Behance, Pinterest, or Facebook, so go ahead and do that as well.

And don’t forget to share your thoughts on this article, and tell us which of his illustrations you liked the most, in the comment section below.

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