Creating editorial illustrations can be challenging. Each illustration has to balance the message of the article, help pull in readers, showcase the talent of The Verge’s style (as well as the artists themselves), all while working toward an indefinite deadline. But it’s these challenges that make the illustrations so rewarding for us as creators — and hopefully you as the readers.
Below is a collection of some of our best and favorite illustrations from 2017.
January
Signal Boost
Illustrations by Cam Floyd
February
The VC-funded day job of a fringe online philosopher
Illustration by William Joel
March
The Empathy Layer
Illustration by Peter Steineck
The Future Agency
Illustration by William Joel
April
Massive Attack
Illustrations by Jude Buffum
Instant Recall
Illustration by William Joel
Sad!
Illustrations by Peter Steineck
April 29th marked President Trump’s 100th day in office. We wrote five essays detailing the first 100 days and commissioned the talented Peter Steineck to create illustrations that would complement each essay and then to mix all those together for a great lede for the entire article. My favorite part of art directing a project is ideation, and working with Peter — pitching ideas back and forth, sharing sketches — was amazing. – William Joel
Galaxy S8 wallpaper
Created by William Joel
Okay, so this wasn’t an illustration for an article, but nonetheless it is one of my favorite illustrations for The Verge. The idea was to create a custom wallpaper to show off the edges on the Samsung Galaxy S8 for our review. I spent a few hours playing around with the idea of “lines,” eventually landing on the final composition. Immediately it hit us that we should be creating a custom wallpaper for every phone review. And so far we’ve done just that. – William Joel
The Replacements
Illustration by William Joel
May
Flying taxis or futuristic tunnels won’t save us from the misery of traffic
Illustration by James Bareham
Free Chelsea
Illustration by Eric Petersen
One of Us
Illustration by Eric Petersen
How Anker is beating Apple and Samsung at their own accessory game
Illustration by William Joel
The Viral Machine
Illustrations by Alex Castro
Mossberg: The Disappearing Computer
Illustration by William Joel
June
How close are we to building the virtual Big Market from Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets?
Illustration by William Joel
July
Opening Act
Illustrations by Garret Beard
Two-factor authentication is a mess
Illustration by Garret Beard
This is one of my favorite things I’ve crafted here at The Verge because I felt it nailed the most important part of an illustration: the idea/concept/magic sauce. I started out sketching a few ideas and kept coming back to this idea of stairs because, ya know, two step = two factor. It just felt right. After settling in on the idea I started on execution and thought an isometric illustration would be able to show the stairs best, and shipped this a few days after. – Garret Beard
The Internet is Fucked (Again)
Illustration by William Joel
Gallery View
Illustrations By Garret Beard
August
The Women Who Sell Nudes on Patreon
Illustration by Alex Castro
This piece was one of my favorite from the year not because of its visual complexity, but for its depth of meaning in relation to the story. Patreon, a website many use to support artists they follow, has seen a growth in models using the service to trade nudes and private video sessions for money. It leads to a broader conversation of what is art or what is an acceptable type of content to be hosted on an artistic platform. The usage of a Venus statue in and response to it in our comments section related to this conflict. Many users were surprised to see a nude statue on our homepage, stating that it was NSFW. However, as some users pointed out, this isn’t any different than what you’d see in museums. What is and isn’t art? What is and isn’t appropriate? Where’s the line, not only for Patreon, but also for The Verge? – Alex Castro
Internet Culture
Illustrations by Garret Beard
This piece is definitely in the top five most challenging projects I’ve done here. Character design was something I wanted to sharpen up on, and this project dropped on my lap and gave me that chance. I started with a ton of research, knowing each character was pretty unique. Sketching was next until I had a set of characters I felt were strong enough to get onto the screen. From there the process was straightforward with vectoring to motion to completion. – Garret Beard
As net neutrality dies, one man wants to make Verizon pay for its sins
Illustrations by Alex Castro
You can’t fix something by ignoring it
Illustration by William Joel
Slimed
Illustration by Alex Castro
Looking for the future of technology among the startup strivers
Illustrations by William Joel and Alex Castro
How YouTube perfected the feed
Illustration by William Joel
September
Searching for Help
Illustrations by Eric Petersen
Diary of a Concussion
Illustrations by Alex Castro
Liz Lopatto’s “Diary of a Concussion” beautifully and intimately recounts recovering from a biking accident that left her with a concussion. The story details what it’s like to wake up with a brain that is physically different from before, and how this impacted how she interacted with the world around her. I wanted to communicate this change in the illustrations. Showing how everyday stimuli turns into one’s enemy, making them unable to listen to music or go out in the sun. How even the noise of birds chirping outside can turn into nails on a chalkboard. Having a sudden change in how your brain works also places you outside yourself, questioning what’s happening to you. I decided to blend this concept with the actual impact on the brain, showing a shockwave pushing her conscious aside. – Alex Castro
October
Meet nocebo, placebo’s ‘evil twin’
Illustration by Alex Castro
Ghost in the cell
Illustrations by Cam Floyd
Why’d You Push That Button?
Illustrations by Garret Beard & William Joel
Guiding Light
Illustration by William Joel
Extreme weather has already cost the US $350 billion — and climate change is going to add to the bill
Illustrations by Alex Castro
November
Pro-science group sets up new ways for government scientists to blow the whistle
Illustration by Alex Castro
Drug Hunters
Illustrations by Alex Castro
December
Smoke Screen
Illustrations by Alex Castro
Net Neutrality is Dead
Illustration by Alex Castro
Coming in right at the buzzer for the year in review, this illustration has to be one of my favorite of 2017. Building off the foundation of a previous net neutrality illustration, this piece was able to push to a larger scale of world building. Being a massive fan of Star Wars and newer fan of Blade Runner, I’ve always wanted to create my own universe. Illustrating a dystopian future post-net neutrality was the perfect opportunity. This piece isn’t exactly my prediction of our future but the interpretation of the emotions of the public as a result of the FCC’s decision. This world is a look into the internet's worst nightmare. It might not make sense, but it still terrifies nonetheless.
Special thanks to James Bareham for taking the photos of circuit boards that make up the city’s foundation, and to William Joel for teaching me how to use Cinema 4D to create the buildings. – Alex Castro
The internet we left behind
Illustration by William Joel
In 2017, key Facebook builders disowned their creation
Illustration by William Joel
Vulnerabilities and Exploits
Illustration by William Joel
2017 was YouTube’s best year ever. It was also its worst.
Illustration by Garret Beard
How recreational marijuana in California left chemists in the dark
Illustrations by Alex Castro
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