Excuse Me: I Have To Take This


phone call cartoon

I tend to write first, then draw. But sometimes when I just can’t think of anything, I put the process in reverse to see what happens.

It goes like this. . .draw a standard scene, but add a talking animal, or a random object, or, in this case, take a standard object and exaggerate it. It’s a great way to get your mind working differently and break out of your rut.

I don’t know exactly what motivated me to draw the giant telephone in this cartoon, but it pretty quickly occurred to me that when that phone rang, you’d really want to answer it. Problem solved.

4 Comments ▼

Mark Anderson Mark Anderson's cartoons appear in publications including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review. His business cartoons are available for licensing at his website, Andertoons.com.

4 Reactions
  1. Well, things would be more horrible when a cellphone that size rings…

  2. Anita Campbell

    Mark, I love the insights you give into your creative process of coming up with business cartoons. I think it adds richness to the experience of reading these cartoons…. We could just put up a cartoon and call it a day, but when you add your backstory about the inspiration for creating the cartoon it makes it more interesting…

    Thank you!
    Anita

  3. Aw shucks… Thanks Anita! 😉

  4. I was at a car dealer where the service manager took a phone call during our discussion. I allowed it to end and then told him how rude he was.

    The phone rang again and I reached across his desk and hung up his phone for him, again told him what I thought of his behavior and then left, never to return.