illustrerillustrer

Illustrerillustrer is a neologism appearing in digital design and education discourse to describe the practice of illustrating a concept through multiple, diverse visuals rather than a single image. The term combines the French verb illustrer, meaning to illustrate, with reduplication, signaling multiplicity and iterative refinement.

Origins: The coinage has appeared in online design blogs and pedagogical discussions in the 2010s and 2020s, often as a descriptive rather than a formal term. It is not widely recognized in standard dictionaries and remains primarily within niche discussions.

Usage: In practice, illustrerillustrer means composing a suite of images, diagrams, icons, and sketches to convey facets of an idea, enhance comprehension, and support different learner types. It is commonly applied in instructional design, user guides, and concept visualization. Critics argue that excessive illustration can distract, so the approach emphasizes balance and alignment with text.

Examples: A technology onboarding guide might use a sequence of micro-illustrations to explain a feature, while a lecture slides deck might pair short captions with varied diagrams to cover use cases.

Relation to related concepts: It intersects with multimodal learning, visual rhetoric, and infographic design. It differs from a single, static illustration by prioritizing multiplicity of representation to address diverse audiences.

See also: illustration, infographic, visual rhetoric, multimodal learning.