An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video games and films. An illustration is typically created by an illustrator. Digital illustrations are often used to make websites and apps more user-friendly, such as the use of emojis to accompany digital type. Illustration also means providing an example; either in writing or in picture form. The origin of the word "illustration" is late Middle English (in the sense ‘illumination; spiritual or intellectual enlightenment’): via Old French from Latin illustratio(n-), from the verb illustrare. Illustration styles Contemporary illustration uses a wide range of styles and techniques, including drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, montage, digital design, multimedia, 3D modelling. Depending on the purpose, illustration may be expressive, stylised, realistic, or highly technical. Specialist areas include: Architectural illustration Archaeological illustration Book illustration Botanical illustration Concept art Fashion illustration Information graphics Livre d'art Technical illustration Medical illustration Narrative illustration Picture books Scientific illustration Technical and scientific illustration Technical and scientific illustration communicates information of a technical or scientific nature. This may include exploded views, cutaways, fly-throughs, reconstructions, instructional images, component designs, diagrams. The aim is "to generate expressive images that effectively convey certain information via the visual channel to the human observer". Technical and scientific illustration is generally designed to describe or explain subjects to a nontechnical audience, so it must provide "an overall impression of what an object is or does, to enhance the viewer's interest and understanding." In contemporary illustration practice, 2D and 3D software is often used to create accurate representations that can be updated easily, and reused in a variety of contexts. There is a Guild of Natural Science Illustrators and Association of Medical Illustrators. The Association of Medical Illustrators states that the median salary is $70,650, while for science illustrators it's $72,277. Types of jobs range from research institutes to museums to animation. Illustration as fine art In the art world, illustration has at times been considered of less importance than graphic design and fine art. Today, however, due in part to the growth of the graphic novel and video game industries, as well as increased use of illustration in magazines and other publications, illustration is now becoming a valued art form, capable of engaging a global market. Original illustration art has been known to