| Introduction
-- What? -- Why?
-- Where? -- How? |
How to use Corporate Cartoons |
.....Knowledge is the key! |
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To get the best out of corporate cartoons, you need to get two things right:
- Understand your communication needs
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Know your audience
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1. Understand your communication needs |
Whether your organisation is a multi-national business or a small social group your communication needs have to be considered. That is: what you need to say, who your target audience are, and what you want them to do with the information?
To use Corporate Cartoons effectively this information has to be understood and linked with cartooning expertise to create targeted communications. In a large corporation there will be marketing teams, HR teams and a host of others geared up to understanding professional communication requirements. In a small company it may be one person with a vision, or a governing committee. Whoever is involved they need to share this information with the cartoonist. |
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2. Know your audience |
Second only to understanding your communication requirements is knowing your target audience. They need to be identified, and then understood so you can get your message across effectively.
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If you know your audience you wll be able to:
- Attract their interest. This is vital, if you don't do this up front you can't say anything to them.
- Understand what makes them laugh. The nature of humour is a large and complicated subject but it is quite feasible to determine in workable terms what is likely to amuse your audience . For instance you could base cartoons on word puns, visual puns, things that are within the experience of the audience, the surreal (things out of their normal context), satire, etc.
- Understand what would offend them. This is extremely important. Cartooning often involves making fun of something or some body and if you get this wrong you may alienate rather than attract your audience. You may choose to shock and offend, it's a strategy that has been used in the high street but whatever you decide, to keep control of your message, you need to know where the boundaries are.
- Use language and concepts they will understand. If the audience don't understand they won't be attracted, they won't laugh, and you won't get your message across. I draw cartoons for a science magazine that is read by many scientists covering a wide variety of specialities. There is always a temptation to use some clever joke relating to a niche subject, but this would only be understood by a few. I need to keep the subject matter more generally scientific so that everyone will understand. On the other hand, if you are trying to attract the interest of mathematicians at a learned conference, go specific (if you can) - they'll love it!
- Get a message to them that they will understand and act upon. That's the aim of the game.
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How to work with a professional cartoonist |
Cartoonists draw cartoons, and they come up with the gags. Cartoonists can write cartoons and humorous illustration for many different subjects. However, they need information to work on. If the commission is to draw a topical cartoon for a national newspaper, or something based on the weather or current affairs, then they will probably have enough information to work alone.
When creating cartoons for a corporation, whatever the size, or remit of that corporation – they need in-house information so they can link their efforts to the corporate plans. The more information they have to work with, the better the cartoon will fit requirements. They may get this information by liaising with the staff, reading the publication they are about to illustrate, or researching the subject on the internet.
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What is a professional cartoonist? |
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To make a difference with your cartoons, and to avoid problems find yourself a professional cartoonist. For the sake of your sanity (and the success of your your advertising campaign, or whatever) don’t employ the IT manager’s nephew, a nice kid with a great sense of humour who is planning to study art...one day...
Arguments rage about what constitutes a professional, but to make it easy, the professional cartoonist you want is someone that can do the following: |
- Take a brief
- Ask intelligent questions
- Work with you
- Advise on cartooning matters (such as suitable cartoon size, type, humour, style etc.)
- Come up with funny ideas to suit the brief
- Draw cartoons
- Work to deadlines
- Deliver work as agreed and on time
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Working together
Corporations and organisations vary greatly in the way they operate, and so do cartoonists. The key to a successful relationship is to make use of the cartoonist’s skills. You will know your organisation and have an idea of what you want – share this information with the cartoonist and allow them to bring their unique expertise into play.
These days cartoonists do not have to live close to their clients. Working via Email and internet is very effective and efficient, although for large or complex commissions it can be appropriate to meet. |
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Craft the cartoon
As I mentioned earlier, cartoons come in all shapes, sizes and flavours, and the cartoonist will be able to craft the cartoon to suit the occasion. Below are a few of the things they will be thinking of as they design the work. |
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Comic strip format
A comic strip often uses the same characters and builds on a central theme. A short story is told across a strip, and subsequent strips often continue that story or maybe a sub plot. |
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This strip starts with a gannet diving throught the water watched by a group of fish, it sets the scene. The centre panel shows another shot of the gannet diving at a different angle, again watched by an apparently appreciative audience. Gannets eat fish so there is something slightly wrong with having the smiling fish in the picture and this builds the tension. The last panel finishes the strip with a visual punchline - the gannet is shown looping the loop, obviously taking part in a diving competition, and being judged by a panel of fishy judges, .
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Single panel format |
Single panel gags can carry on a theme and they can use the same characters, but they have less opportunity to tell a story than the strip format.
This single panel gag features two recurrent characters. All the build up is done within the panel by using the flow within the drawing (top to bottom and left to right).
The set-up in this case is the image of the shark having its teeth cleaned, as happens in nature, by cleaner wrasse.
The punchline is presented by the second shark stating that it prefers flossing - obviously completely out of context for the situation.
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The background and situation |
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This is the first panel from one of my OFFSHORE strips. I started by drawing the sharks in a full bar-room situation but decided later that this story, and subsequent stories would be better served by a more natural ocean surrounding. It is a set-up for a series of gags in which the sharks pool-playing is disrupted by circumstances outside their control. As here: |
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In determining the background and the situation the cartoonist will consider the message, the product, the audience, and what is going to happen next. |
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Style
Every cartoonist will have their own style, but within that style there is a lot of room for variation. One of the most fundamental choices is whether to use colour or black and white. |
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This panel was drawn to illustrate the news that it is becoming possible to farm tuna like cattle. There is less work in involved in creating a black and white cartoon, but the major consideration tends to be integrating the cartoon into the style of the overall publication.
The style can be made more or less realistic. For example: hands can be drawn realistcally if they are pertinent to the message, or they can be drawn like a bunch of bananas, and often with only three fingers. Both work - it depends what you are trying to accomplish.
Words can be used in abundance, or not at all. If the audience is familiar with the cartoon series they are more likely to spend time reading, possibly because they know it will be worth the effort. Audiences in academic publications are also more likely to read the text. In many cases however, the audience will not put that much effort in. To grab them, the words have to be succinct or non-existent.
The cartoonist, in conjunction with the corporation, may choose to draw caricatures. To be useful they have to be likenesses of familiar people, i.e. co-workers, organisation chiefs, or people from the public sphere.
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There is a lot more to cartooning and a lot more to using Corporate Cartoons but this will give you some ideas on how they could work for you.
If you want to know more about using Corporate Cartoons contact me at:
Phone: +44(0)1275 875196
Mobile: 07947 803489
Email: bren@brencartoons.com |
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