The Gunn Report’s Art of Illustration is a collection of the very best from 50 print campaigns from 21 different countries across 15 years.

Why applaud illustration? This is what the Gunn Report says of it: “In the past, illustration was the norm. Advertising art in the 1880’s consisted mostly of engravings of products in black and white on wood. By 1900 advances in photo-engraving and printing made full-colour art feasible and advertising as an art form blossomed. Now 90% of ads use photography, therefore the use Illustration is already a way to be different or intrusive.

“But, Illustration, when used appropriately, becomes more than just an executional option. It becomes intrinsic to the creative idea. It can make comical ideas even funnier. It can make scary messages even scarier. It can make fantasy more fantastic.”

Neil Dawson, co-founder of Dawson Pickering and ex-founder BETC London, added, “This selection of work uses illustration not for its own sake but because it is exactly the right medium and style for the message and brand. These ideas simply wouldn’t work with photography.”

“Particular favourites of mine are Guinness Extra Cold (they’re funny and actually feel cold); the graphic simplicity and power of Chrysler Jeep; and also the upside down posters for Merrydown – the same principle in each, but every single one so different from the last, and every one a work of art.”

Dawson and his long-time creative partner, Clive Pickering, created Wedding for VW Surprisingly Ordinary Prices while at DDB, which was the Gunn Report’s most awarded print ad in the world for over a decade.