Hasta La Ideas

Business in War: a symbol of warfare, with an element of business secreted within

To provoke a second glance, Noma Bar expertly uses negative space: his illustrations are formed of both a single image and a series of themed elements that give the final piece its shape. Click through for a selection of highlights from his new book…

The Big Squeeze: piece for an article on the oil gains to be made from Iraq

As a follow up to Guess Who?, which largely contained portraits (and was blogged about here), new book Negative Space looks at how Bar has tackled weightier subjects such as global warming, race relations and national identity. It features many examples of editorial work for The New York Times, The Economist and The Guardian.

Gun Crime illustration

The Truth in Jamestown: illustration for a piece revealing the mixed history of the US colony on its 400th anniversary

When Doves Cry: white doves meet a VW van; mourning the loss of the hippy dream

Bar has referred to his editorial work as a form of “pain relief” – a kind of buffer against the issues contained within a particular article – but his eking out of a discernable whole from a range of minimalist elements is certainly painstaking work in itself.

As Buzz Poole asserts in his introduction to this new collection, Bar’s art is attuned with that of the writer’s. It’s one of showing, not telling.

Beware The Wolves: an innocent Red Riding Hood is trapped by a wolf, for an article on older men with younger women

This is The End illustration

Fat Cat: for a piece on how CEOs invest their personal wealth

Negative Space by Noma Bar is published by Mark Batty Publisher (£16) and available to buy here. (All captions are edited versions from the book.)