At age 31, American Illustration is still shaking things up with the year's most subversive work byillustrators, fine artists and designers. American Illustration 31 draws you in with an anatomicalcover that shows you where you're going and where you're coming from, with the first and lastimages revealed through die cuts in the eye's pupil. Created by Zachary Zezima and designed byPaul Sahre, the cover art turns in on itself with layers of musculature, eye floaters and bloodvessels until you reach the whopping collection of 439 winning images, as selected by a jury ofart and design professionals from over 8,000 submissions to the annual competition. Asillustration continues to evolve into a more widely utilized yet less obviously defined medium,opening American Illustration 31 may leave the reader with more questions than answers, as theysink into its visual wonders. Print still reigns supreme with images from the country's topmagazines and books represented, but also included in the mix are little oddities and gems thatdefy categorization. Lowbrow versus highbrow has a firm place in the collection, with an intriguingselection of images representing assignments that include a stamp project for the United NationsPostal Administration and a set of limited-edition coins for The Royal Canadian Mint.