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.

From Small Business Trends

Excuse Me: I Have To Take This

Summer’s here and I’m excited about movies!

In addition to the regular action blockbusters and goofy comedies, there’s a whole slew of sci-fi and superhero films I can’t wait to settle into with my popcorn and a box of Whoppers.

Still, as much as I’m looking forward to these films, I’m already tiring of some of the accompanying merchandising and co-branding.

Soda? OK. Toys? Sure. Lunch meat? Really?!

So one day while musing on the old “lights, camera…” phrase, the idea of modernizing that trope came out in this cartoon.

From Small Business Trends

Lights, Camera, Action!

As much as I’d like to think of myself as a young up and coming cartoonist, I’m coming to realize that I’m probably more established than upstart these days.

I turned 40 last year, got my first pair of bifocals and that kid at the grocery store calls me “Sir.”

Sigh… I’m getting old.

So I guess it only figures that I’d begin to write cartoons about aging.  Thankfully cartooning is one of those careers you can do for a good long time, but I’m not sure I’m ready to be called “Sir” just yet.

From Small Business Trends

Read Between The Lines

Regular readers of Small Business Trends know I love a good graph cartoon. There’s almost no end of fun things you can do with the shape of a graph, which is actually where the idea for this cartoon came from.

I was talking with my wife about putting together a book of graph themed cartoons (graph-ic novel?) and I commented that the downward trending graphs are by far the most fun. And then the idea for what would make a bad looking graph fun for the characters in a cartoon hit me and this cartoon was born.

It’s one of the more meta routes to a cartoon I’ve had, but I’m always just thankful that ideas keep coming, no matter where they come from.

From Small Business Trends

If We Had A Sled This Could Be Fun

As a kid growing up I watched a lot of television. Cartoons, sitcoms, even the late night talk shows (don’t tell my mom!)

One of my absolute favorite shows was Lost In Space. Looking at it now, sure, it’s cheesy and all, but that robot is still pretty cool:

“Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!”

It makes me smile just writing that.  So as much as I’d like to say that this cartoon is funny or insightful or relevant, mostly it was an excuse to draw one of my favorite robots.

“Danger! Danger!”

Awesome.

From Small Business Trends

He Makes A Good Point: Danger, Danger!

I’ve done a few of these “someday this will all be yours” cartoons. They’re not necessarily a cartoon staple like, say, the desert island, but they crop up now and again. And generally they’re not good news.

For example, for this cartoon I toyed with:

• “Someday this will all be yours, God help us.”
• “Someday this will all be yours, but not this or this or this. So there.”
• “Someday this will all be a vacant lot in some future dystopian nightmare.”

Eventually, I came up with this cartoon, which is somewhere in the middle. . . I think.

From Small Business Trends

Someday This Will Be All Yours

I admit, I simply do not understand the stock market. I mean, I understand what goes on there, but as to why and how and who does what, I’m totally confused.

One of the things that puzzles me most is when a company is apparently doing great, but its stock gets hammered because analysts thought it might do even better. That seems crazy to me. I mean, if one month I made $5000, and then the next month I made $7000, I’d frankly be a little miffed if the Mrs. were unhappy because I hadn’t made $8000.

Clearly I have a long way to go in my understanding of high finance, so maybe some sort of really basic instruction like this cartoon would help me.

From Small Business Trends

Back To Square One

I’m terrible at predicting. It seems like I don’t see stuff coming until it’s just about over with.

Take Crocs for example. When those were really getting to be a big deal years ago I noticed them, but in the sort of way that you notice any other everyday item. I notice my mailbox, but I don’t take notice of it, you know?

But when I finally really saw them and thought, “You know, that might make a good cartoon,” they’d already come in and out of fashion a few times. (Are they in now?)

So although this cartoon really speaks to me, I could never have predicted it.

From Small Business Trends

No One Saw It Coming: Business Prediction

I used to work for a company that manufactured screws. Big screws, little tiny screws, simple screws, complicated screws, all kinds of screws.

It was actually kind of fascinating and I very much appreciate the business education I got there. But the one thing I hated was the customer screw joke:

“Just don’t screw me on the price OK? Ha-ha!”

“I guess I screwed up my order again, huh? Ha-ha!”

“Someone there must have a screw loose! Ha-Ha!”

Yeah. It was terrible.

So this cartoon really took some personal soul-searching before I OK’d it.

From Small Business Trends

Everything Is All Screwed Up: Nice Job!

Goodness knows that just about everything has been done with the in/out bin, but I like to challenge myself to come up with something new now and again just to keep the ol’ noggin running smoothly.

Normally I begin by looking for pairs of words that work together: research and development, hot and cold, sweet and sour…

I don’t remember exactly how I came upon the “shaken, not stirred” Bond thing, and for a while the baskets were filled with martini glasses instead of paperwork, but it felt like something that hadn’t been done before and it made me laugh. Mission accomplished.

From Small Business Trends

Shaken Not Stirred