Stillustrates

Stillustrates is a term used to describe the practice of illustrating concepts primarily through static images rather than motion. As a verb, stillustrates means to convey information, narrative, or instruction by sequencing still photographs, frames extracted from video, or carefully composed illustrations in a way that suggests progression without animation.

Origin and usage: Stillustrates is a relatively recent neologism found in design, education, and digital-media communities. It is not yet standardized in dictionaries, but it appears in discussions of visual communication strategies, particularly for tutorials, presentations, and museum labels where concise, appealing stills can replace short video clips.

Applications: The method is valued for portability, licensing flexibility, and the ease of capturing precise moments. It is used in textbooks and online courses, science explainers, product storytelling, and archival retrospectives.

Methods:

- Select representative frames that illustrate key steps or concepts.

- Provide concise captions or overlays to guide interpretation.

- Sequence frames to convey temporal order.

- Supplement with diagrams, annotations, or metadata to clarify relationships.

Limitations and relation to other formats: Critics note that stillustrates may oversimplify dynamic processes and remove context that motion provides. Proponents, however, argue that stills offer high-resolution detail, easier comparison, and accessibility for learners with limited bandwidth. The approach sits alongside storyboards, infographics, and narrated slideshows as part of a broader visual-communication toolkit.

See also: storyboard, infographic, still image, diagram.