Tim Ruscoe writes:
“At simply-communicate we know that cartoons are magnets to draw our readers’ attention so we can land messages with impact. And Tim’s work is both funny and memorable – whenever an article is illustrated with one of his jokes it gets twice the attention.”
Marc Wright, Publisher, simply-communicate.com
A phrase originally used by the well-known actor Roy Scheider in the 1975 blockbuster ‘Jaws’. He utters the line when he gets a good look at the size of the shark that is circling the small fishing boat he is on. Used in day to day life when a situation seems insurmountable. The film crew when making Jaws use this line all the time to indicate any problem that popped-up, a short cut to a description as to what is required to sort a job out but in a humorous way.
We use humour in so many ways, to emphasize a point, to change a relationship or a way of seeing the truth. Like irony! They say Americans don’t get it, ‘We’re going to need a bigger metaphor’
Getting your story told by communicating in words can have its problems with holding the attention of the reader, in film there is always something going on visually to hold the viewer until the interest returns, reading a dull section can switch you off and that is why illustrated text came in to being.
What do you get from this Six Nations Rugby blog banner with its French Title?
The blog described the way England play to the way the French move the ball around, making for an interesting battle, so the differences depicted are intriguing in many way to the reader. The idea of actually eating a snail is hilarious!
I illustrate with cartoons for Internal Communications, helping to tell a story, engage and entertain, by challenging the reader to interact with the writer as to what they have seen.
A piece on booking the right venue for a meeting-
Feedback-
‘’You think that’s funny I had that experience at…’’
‘’Is that the Matterhorn mountain in the background?’’
Being sympathetic to someone’s lot show your understanding of a situation, helping to keep morale up. Let the team’s feelings about the difficulties and changes that are going on be recognised, to say ‘’Hard luck but move on” won’t help these feelings and only result in employees becoming disengaged.
Pitching for a contract and not winning can be devastating, yet you must bounce back and do it all again and better! May be it wasn’t your entire fault…
Celebrate victories and examples of excellence both formally and informally. During times of difficulty, it is especially important for employees to feel like winners.
For some situations you have to be in the know to get the joke, it may be you have to be an employees to ‘get it’ this is a good thing as it shows your all united you all understand what’s been going on in the company, just made for Internal Comms with their finger on the pulse.
How the author’s brief develops into the cartoon, it can be a list of facts and fiction to combined in to one drawing, current goings-on’s, maybe you have a joke that needs illustrating. I start with a rough first draft, we talk, we change or add stuff, when you’re happy I make the artwork in black ink, I can colour it up if required, I can animate it to a sound track, this is a great way to bring a process or tutorial to life keeping the viewers attention.
A private joke that only one department will truly understand creating interest from everyone, prompting interaction and engagement from others.
Private joke – See what I mean?
Many different seasonal reasons to make people smile, linked to work so sharing a common ground, a reminder to what’s on in a witty or just silly cartoon to send you on the way home.
A writer can engage and inspiring people through compelling stories and analogies.
A cartoonist can illuminate, embellish, adorn, enhance, highlight.
I don’t think there is any subject that can’t be made into a cartoon?
Tim Ruscoe
t.ruscoe@btconnect.com
All cartoons © Tim Ruscoe
Latest Blog
by Glenn Marshall
Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival photo album
May 6, 2019 in Comment, Events, General, News
The ‘Plan B’ Shrewsbury Square. Photo © Tat Effby.
Glenn Marshall & Jonathan Cusick write:
With Storm Hannah due to roll in threatening rain and high winds the marquee company wouldn’t put up the festival’s gazebo roofing. Fear of airborne ‘para-boarding’ cartoonists made the festival organisers hastily arrange a Plan B for Saturday, which involved us decamping to the local Darwin Shopping Centre (every third business in Shrewsbury seems to contain the word Darwin)
A distant Steve Bell in front of a crowded audience. Photo © Jonathan Cusick.
Before that, on Friday evening Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell returned to the festival and spoke to a packed and enthusiastic crowd at the University Centre. Surveying his use of animals throughout his career, he picked out highlights including the penguin from his ‘If’ strip and ended with a few live drawings including his toilet-headed Trump. After twenty minutes of audience questions he signed copies of his latest book. A real treat for cartoon fans and definitely one of the highlights of the festival.
Saturday morning at John Cusick’s cartoon animal drawing workshop using exhibits from the Shrewsbury Museum collection. Photo © Jonathan Cusick.
Zoom Rockman cartoons stripped bare teaching how to draw his Skanky Pigeon character. Photo © Kate Lennard.
There were also well attended indoor talks by The Surreal McCoy and TWO by Clive Goddard (above) nothing to do with folk wanting to get out of the bad weather. Photo © Alison Patrick.
Meanwhile in the basement level of Darwin Shopping Centre dry and warm cartoonists began creating. Here Shrewsbury based cartoonist Tat Effby took to the big boards like a duck to water. Photo © Clive Goddard.
Luke Crump with one of his incredible ‘doodle style’ creations. Photo © Clive Goddard.
The Surreal McCoy hot-footed over from her ‘Wolf of Baghdad’ talk to fit in a board before hot-footing off again to join the ‘festival music ensemble’. Photo © Clive Goddard.
Jeremy Banx and Noel Ford mid-boards. Photo © Tat Effby.
Tim Harries & Rich Skipworth colouring in. Photos © Tat Effby.
John Landers’ snakes on a plain surface. Photo © Clive Goddard.
Pete Dredge caricaturing Pa Marshall plus Jonathan Cusick really going with the animal theme. Photo © Tat Effby.
The 30 second rehearsal before the launch of The Shrewsbury Cartoon Players and Puppeteers inaugural performance of ‘The Animals Went In Two By Two’. Photo © Tat Effby. The Noah’s Ark was ironically moved indoors even though it would’ve been perfectly suited to the biblical weather conditions.
Royston Robertson featuring in the festival write-up in the Shropshire Star.
The festival produced a book of the ‘Drawn To Be Wild’ exhibition cartoons which is still available here price £9.95 + postage.
Thanks to all the organisers and sponsors for another successful festival that went down a storm.
Tags: Banx, Big boards, cartoon festival, cartoons, Clive Goddard, festival, Glenn Marshall, Jeremy Banx, John Landers, Jonathan Cusick, Luke Crump, Noel Ford, Pete Dredge, Rich Skipworth, Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival, Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival 2019, Shropshire, Shropshire Star, Steve Bell, Tat Effby, The Surreal McCoy, Tim Harries, Wolf of Baghdad, Zoom Rockman 1 Comment »