Burning Out - Editorial illustration and design

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Editorial illustration and design

Burning Out

Article based on authorial text

This is an illustration I created for a text I wrote about burnout syndrome. Burnout is a condition of extreme fatigue and emotional exhaustion related especially to the work enviroment and observed mainly among some kind of professionals submited to high levels of stress. The main thing we should highlight about burnout is that it's not a matter of a private or individual dysfunction but a social problem caused by a number of factors, including poorer living conditions that have made workers more emotionally vulnerable.

The concept of this illustration was based on two views we usually have about psychological conditions. On one hand, some people may see a condition such as burnout as something that the individual climbs into willingly. On the other hand, we can see it as something that you just fall into without any possible action. Above those two views we can try to understand the burnout syndrome both as a psychological and sociological problem.

I've used a clear reference to psychological issues by drawing a cracked and open head. Flames are also an explicit reference to burning things. The gray color makes the central person seen almost like an statue, referring to such a paralyzing condition. I used the purple color in the background to contrast with the yellow and orange tones of the flames and the falling body.

Up here is the finished illustration and you can take a closer look at some details bellow.

I got the idea for the spiral from the Vertigo's poster. The concept of vertigo is so interesting to refer to psychological issues because it's about feelings of frustation and illness, of falling without being able to stop. The original poster was made by graphic designer and filmmaker Saul Bass.

Bellow you can see a little bit of the process. I made the first sketch with ballpaint pen and then I took it to digital media and worked it on Photoshop till the final result.