For a simple mini-project, I wanted to be able to answer the simple question “So, what do you do?” using a short comic strip which I could then emblazon onto t-shirts or other garments.
The strip I came up with follows a long history of rebuses – images to take the place of words or syllables to contain a hidden meaning. For example see this hanging “The Shepheard Buss” from the V&A’s collections. Made in around 1600 in England. The symbols and words around the border contain a motto.
And this book plate from the 19th Century. The rebus is a simple rendition of the author’s name “Ashbee”.
I also wanted to the story to make sense on a purely visual level.
Woman’s eye widens in surprise and delight as she sees…
.. in a drawer she has just opened…
…a pile of comics!
So this is the comic strip I devised:
In case you haven’t got it yet, it reads “I DRAW COMICS.”