About this newsletter: I’m an illustrator. My specialty is humor. I write about marketing and visual communication. I published my first children’s book this summer. It’s called Fred The Coconut. Think funny, think visual, think coconuts!! 🥥

Fatal Assumption

If you’re a marketer, chances are you really care about brands.

And you assume other people do, too.

Behavioral scientist Richard Shotton says that’s an example of the false consensus effect: we think our behaviors and views are more common than they really are.

Most people don’t care about brands.

Consider the Havas Group’s Meaningful Brands report based on 1,800 brands and 350,000 respondents in 31 countries.

Results: consumers said they wouldn’t care if 77% of everyday brands disappeared.

58% of respondents thought brands were providing poor and irrelevant content.

61% want brands to provide content that is interesting, entertaining, or offers useful experiences that stand apart from the brand’s usual services.

Brand Purpose

Joe Parrish, Chief Creative Officer at The Variable, an advertising agency, wrote a post called People Don’t Love Your Brand, They Don’t Even Like It.

Ouch.

He said people have too much going on in their lives to care about brands.

“We are over-Instagrammed and Facebooked and student loaned and DVR’d and iPhoned and baby pictured. Mass media no longer affects us.”

Then he mentioned brand purpose, and said it gives brands an edge.

What if brand purpose were something simple and accessible?

For example:

Mr. Parrish mentions Bud Light and their famous Dilly, Dilly campaign:

(Bud Light) finally understands why they exist– to give friends something to drink while they’re having good times…

the goal of their advertising (is) to give friends something to talk about… to create pop culture that can be talked about over the beer they make.

Don’t overthink it. It’s not about taste or ingredients or calories. It’s about enhancing friendship. And how have they done it? “Dilly, dilly…”

A Sense of Belonging

Enhancing friendship, bringing people together. Now there’s a worthy purpose even small brands can aspire to.

Jeff Slater makes a similar point about people and brands:

Brands are purely emblematic: vehicles or tools towards something bigger. Consumers love the experience they have through a brand, but it isn’t the brand itself that matters.

More often than not, it is about being part of a community.

Top Priority: Get Noticed

So forget about people loving your brand. Give them a reason to congregate.

Develop a unique brand voice. Remember the Havas report: people like content that’s interesting and entertaining. Give them something to enjoy and talk about.

The last word goes to Mr. Shotton: Be different. Prioritize getting noticed. It’s all for naught if people just scroll past your content.

About Mark Armstrong: Mark’s an illustrator specializing in humor, branding, and content marketing. He writes about marketing and visual communication. Questions? Send him an email.

Not a subscriber to Think Visual?? We gotta fix that!! Just click the banner below! 👇

Looking for a good children’s book?? Look no further!!— click below!! 🥥👍

About this newsletter: I’m an illustrator. My specialty is humor. I write about marketing and visual communication. I published my first children’s book this summer. It’s called Fred The Coconut. Think funny, think visual, think coconuts!! 🥥

Corporate Man

I didn’t start freelancing full-time as a cartoonist-illustrator until June, 1989. Back in 1980, I was a work measurement analyst at Peerless Insurance Company in Keene, NH. I was there through 1989, and ultimately became a programmer-analyst.

Gag Cartoonist

I started submitting cartoons to magazines back in the 70’s. I sold my first cartoon to The Rotarian in 1979, then sold a couple to small regional magazines. In the fall of 1980, I hit the big time: I sold two to TV Guide (which was a flourishing print magazine back then), and another to Woman’s World (which is still with us as a print magazine).

Peerless had a company magazine, and they did a little story about me — that’s where the above photo comes from. I was quoted as saying that despite my recent success, I had millions of rejection slips at home, and that someday I might paper a room with them.

All together now: “Poor baby…”

Me & Farrah Fawcett

I think TV Guide paid $125 per cartoon back then. So, was I going to be rich? I mentioned the money was already spent since I needed some dental work. Which inspired the final two lines of the original Peerless article:

Watch out, Farrah Fawcett. With Mark’s recent success, you’re going to have competition in those toothpaste ads.

I Was Framed

One of the TV Guide cartoons referenced ABC News. Roone Arledge was head of ABC News at the time. After the cartoon was published I got a call from the TV Guide cartoon editor. She said Arledge had requested the original for his office — was it OK for her to pass it along? I said sure.

Why didn’t I think to ask for another $125?? Ah, well — I was just a callow youth…

Caveman Stuff

I couldn’t find a copy of that particular cartoon, but I did find a couple of Christmas-themed cartoons I sold to TV Guide later that same year (below).

They’re painful for me to look at — stiff and spiky, and the anatomy’s terrible. Nobody has any shoulders!! They’re much too dark, and those splotchy blacks are an embarrassment. All done by hand of course, back in the days before Photoshop.

I find myself wondering how many people “got” that first cartoon, where Santa comes bounding out of the chimney. The idea was that he catches a little bit of the same movie as he goes from house to house, and he’s anxious to know what he’s missed in between.

Talk about dated — everybody would be watching completely different programs nowadays.

I Got Better

I was still submitting gag cartoons to magazines as late as 2001. Here’s a Christmas cartoon from 1999. Moral of the story: If you keep drawing, you do get better. Your characters even acquire shoulders!!

About Mark Armstrong: Mark’s an illustrator specializing in humor, branding, and content marketing. He writes about marketing and visual communication. Questions? Send him an email.

Not a subscriber to Think Visual?? We gotta fix that!! Just click the banner below! 👇

Looking for a good children’s book?? Look no further!!— click below!! 🥥👍

About this newsletter: I’m an illustrator. My specialty is humor. I write about marketing and visual communication. Think funny, think visual!

Getting Their Attention

I love the illustrations in The Wall Street Journal, especially their Weekend edition.

I’d like to do some work for The Journal, so I audition.

How? By illustrating some of their articles that did not feature illustrations. Like an article called Fashion’s Reigning Extremist, written by Christina Binkley.

Body Meets Dress

The subject: fashion designer Rei Kawakubo. A major retrospective of Ms. Kawakubo’s work was exhibited at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. You can read an interview with her here.

Some excerpts from the Wall Street Journal article:

Since bringing her label Comme des Garçons (“Like Boys”) to Paris in 1981, (she) has worked relentlessly to introduce the public to the possibility of arraying the human body in new shapes. To do so, she often goes to extremes.

In her 1997 collection, entitled “Body Meets Dress — Dress Meets Body,” she placed feather-filled appendages where no woman would want to be bulbous: on the neck or shoulders or asymmetrically on the hips. Soon, fashion-industry wags were calling the collection, “Lumps and Bumps.”

Which inspired the header illustration above.

Channeling Marilyn?

Ms. Kawakubo was born in 1942, and would have been 13 in 1955. That was the year director Billy Wilder‘s The Seven Year Itch was released.

The film contains the famous scene of Marilyn Monroe’s dress flying up when she stands over a subway grate. I found myself wondering if it might have been an influence.

Hush and Awe

Ms. Kawakubo’s designs clearly make an impression.

Her shows in Paris lately have seemed to cross the line from fashion to performance art, with giant dysmorphic shapes that evoke pregnancy for some observers; others claim to detect subliminal messages about womanhood.

But who knows? The designer routinely declines to discuss her work. Her reticence only increases her mystique. Attending a Comme show in Paris is akin to entering a cathedral in Italy; there is hush and awe.

Lumps & Bumps

Andrew Bolton is the head curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What is Mr. Bolton’s favorite among Kawakubo collections? The lumpy, bumpy 1997 “Body Meets Dress.” He says, “It’s one of the best collections I’ve ever seen.”

I learned a lot about fashion by illustrating this article. I can only hope that Ms. Kawakubo will design a men’s collection someday. 😅

About Mark Armstrong: Mark’s an illustrator specializing in humor, branding, and content marketing. He writes about marketing and visual communication. He also writes humor, short fiction, and the occasional reflection.

Questions? Send him an email.

Not a subscriber to Think Visual?? We gotta fix that!! Come join The Wonderful World of Illustration— you may even pick up some fashion tips!! Just click the banner below for more details!! 👇

️

About this newsletter: I’m an illustrator. My specialty is humor. I write about marketing and visual communication. Think funny, think visual!

Down At The Donut Shop

I was down at the donut shop this morning doing nutritional research. I decided to conduct a survey.

I asked people: What’s the biggest misconception about marketing videos?

A guy eating a Double Glazed dabbed his lips thoughtfully. “Videos don’t have to have real people in ’em,” he said. “You can stick in whatever ya want.”

A woman eating a Raspberry Creme said, ‘“You don’t need fancy video cameras. Just patch something together in one of those Photoshop-software thingies.”

A family of ten were chowing down on two boxes of assorted. The youngest, who looked like she was playing hooky from nursery school, said, “You can do your own voice-over, or just stick in free music from YouTube.” She helped herself to a Maple Frosted.

The kid behind the counter recognized me and gave me the biggest Apple Fritter he could find. He said, “Shoot some pix and clips with your phone, and use that. Use the bloopers, too, they’re always the best part.”

“Hang on,” I said. I grabbed a napkin and started writing stuff down.

A woman with an eyepatch and a parrot on her shoulder said, “Folks could even hire you to draw something for them. I’ve seen your work— it’s great!” “It’s great, it’s great!!” squawked the parrot.

I bought them a Chocolate Long John and a Bavarian Creme Cracker, respectively.

I love unsolicited testimonials.

When I got home I transcribed the napkin. Here’s the list.

Tips For Making Your Own Marketing Videos

1. You don’t need actors or fancy cameras. Just string together a series of still images and text.

2. Use your own photos, and/or create images in Canva, Photoshop, or other image-editing programs.

3. No need to hire someone to narrate your video. You’ve got a microphone. Do your own voice-over.

4. You don’t even need narration. You can “speak” to viewers using text-block images, and/or by adding text to images.

5. The YouTube Audio Library has hundreds of tracks you can use for free (some may require attribution).

6. There’s a good chance your computer came with video creation-editing software. My iMac came with iMovie.

7. You can splice together photos, illustrations, text blocks, and video clips, including those shot with your phone.

8. There are lots of copyright-free archival images out there you can use for free.

9. You need to think thru the brand message you’re trying to convey. That means writing out a script for your video. You could hire someone to help you with that.

10. The kid at the donut shop was right about bloopers: humor makes you likable, and helps people remember your brand.

11. Marketing videos constructed with still images give you lots of “recyclables.” You can reuse all the individual frames/images for blog and social posts.

12. A DIY marketing video based around still images can have a long shelf life. You can update it by just swapping in a new image or two. No need to reshoot scenes with actors or talking heads.

13. Do some googling. There are more make-a-video options than you may think. For example, I just googled “convert PDF to video.” There are platforms where you can convert a PDF slideshow to an MP4 video.

Speaking of videos, I’ve developed my own version of stop-motion animation.

I create the storylines, write the scripts, find the music. My animated videos look different, which helps them stand out.

Here’s a St. Patrick’s Day video I created for Coca-Cola.

Sure’n I hopes ya enjoys it!

Note: When I watch one of my Coca-Cola videos, I think very fondly of Jay Moye, who commissioned them, and Doug Busk, who was the company’s Global Group Director at the time. Both men have since moved on, but they were incredibly supportive of my work. I’ll always be grateful for their kindness and support.

About Mark Armstrong: Mark’s an illustrator specializing in humor, branding, and content marketing. He writes about marketing and visual communication. He also writes humor, short fiction, and the occasional reflection.

Questions? Send him an email.

Not a subscriber to Think Visual?? Begorrah!!— sure’n it breaks me heart to hear it!! But aye, we can fix that!! Just click the banner below for all the wee details!! 👇☘️

About this newsletter: I’m an illustrator. My specialty is humor. I write about marketing and visual communication. Think funny, think visual!

Intellectual Shields

In an article about marketing success, keynote speaker Kathy Klotz-Guest writes that “as content marketing explodes, so too, does the volume of noise. You have about 7 seconds to grab attention.”

Then she said something that really caught my attention:

Laughter lowers the intellectual shield your busy prospects have up all day just to survive the messaging onslaught. Humor opens up a space for connecting because it disrupts the expected pattern.

3 Reasons Humor Works

Neil Patel says humor in marketing works for three reasons: it forces people to lower their defenses, it helps you connect with your audience, and humorous content often leads to sharing.

We’re skeptical about ads. We’re constantly bombarded with them, so we raise our shields. Humor catches us off guard. We find ourselves laughing and a bit more open to someone’s marketing message.

Humor Makes An Emotional Connection

Tim Washer points out that a lot of comedy comes from pain. When we use humor to address a prospect’s problem, we’re showing that we understand his point of view. Tim also maintains that if you can make someone laugh, then you’ve made the most intimate connection you can make.

A Way To Stand Out

Kim Speier notes that humor is a way to sell your brand without outwardly selling something. And humor can be especially helpful to companies in highly-competitive or saturated industries.

“What better way to stand out from those that sell a product or service of similar quality and price than by letting your company’s personality shine?”

An Advantage For Small Brands & Budgets

Charmin bathroom tissue, State Farm and Allstate insurance, Old Spice deodorant, and Clorox bleach all use humorous ads to get attention.

You might be tempted to say sure, humor’s fine for big brands with big budgets, but not for small brands with modest budgets. Digital marketing expert Ann Handley disagrees:

Small businesses might be challenged with limited budgets and resources, but they nonetheless have an advantage when it comes to creating humorous marketing. Big companies generally have more bureaucracy and longer approval processes, making it difficult for them to be nimble or edgy in their marketing.

Nonprofits don’t have to settle for boring, either. Check out this video by the Calgary Humane Society.

The Rule of Thumb for Humor

Humor does carry some risk. Comedy is subjective, and you can’t please everyone. You need to understand your target audience and how they’re likely to respond. Here’s a good rule of thumb. It’s from The Humor Code by Peter McGraw & Joel Warner.

It’s not whether or not you’re funny, it’s what kind of funny you are. Be honest and authentic.

In other words, be yourself. Stick to humor you’re comfortable with, and respect your audience.

Final Thoughts

Are there other advantages to using humor? Yes: humor gets shared, and it projects confidence.

Al Lautenslager puts it this way: “Humor is social by nature; people share funny stories all the time. It’s no secret or surprise that the most viral online videos are those that do the best job of making you laugh. A humorous brand is a confident brand, and a confident brand is in demand– and gets noticed.”

And I like this by Kevin Daum: “Combined with knowledge, humor enhances expertise, demonstrating confidence and strength.”

One last thought: in The Humor Code, McGraw & Warner cite a line from the anthropologist Edward Hall:

“If you can learn the humor of a people and really control it, you know that you are also in control of nearly everything else.”

About Mark Armstrong: Mark’s an illustrator specializing in humor, branding, and content marketing. He writes about marketing and visual communication. He also writes humor, short fiction, and the occasional reflection.

Questions? Send him an email.

Not a subscriber to Think Visual?? That’s terrible!!— have I got a pitch for you!! Just drop your shields and click the banner below!! 👇

About this newsletter: I’m an illustrator. My specialty is humor. I write about marketing and visual communication. Think funny, think visual!

I have a wise-guy friend who sent me an article about Abraham Lincoln and the “famous Armstrong murder trial” in the spring of 1858.

I thought it was a joke, but no, it was a real case.

The accused was a man named William “Duff” Armstrong. Not one of my relatives, I hasten to add, at least as far as I know.

Lincoln was a lawyer before becoming president. He was practicing law in Springfield, Illinois, at the time of the murder. The Duff Armstrong trial is his most famous case. I’d never heard of it.

Lincoln was considered one of the top lawyers in the state, but he’d made his reputation in civil cases. In over 20 years of practice, he’d handled more than 4,000 civil cases, but only a few hundred criminal cases. About a dozen of the criminal cases involved murder. He’d lost half of those cases.

Lincoln had a personal stake in the Armstrong trial. He’d been a friend of Duff’s parents, Jack and Hannah Armstrong, when he’d lived in New Salem, Illinois, from 1831–37. Supposedly, Lincoln had rocked Baby Duff to sleep when he visited the Armstrongs.

Duff Armstrong and second man named Norris were accused of killing a third man in a drunken brawl on the night of August 29, 1857. Duff’s father, Jack, had died earlier that year. Lincoln wrote to his widow Hannah and offered to defend Duff at no charge.

Armstrong and Norris were accused of killing James Metzker with several blows to the head, using a weighted club. It appeared Metzker had been struck at least twice.

Norris had already been tried separately and convicted of manslaughter for hitting Metzker in the back of the head. Duff would be tried for allegedly striking him a second time, on the front of the head.

Armstrong’s trial was held on May 8, 1858. The principal witness was a man named Charles Allen who testified he’d seen Armstrong strike Metzker at around 11:00 PM on the fatal night. He testified he’d seen the blow struck at a distance of 150 feet by the light of a full moon shining overhead.

Lincoln produced an almanac which showed that on the night of August 29, 1857, the moon had set a few minutes after midnight. The implication: Allen was wrong about the moon being overhead, and there would not have been enough light for him to see things clearly at 11:00 PM.

The jury agreed and returned a verdict of not guilty.

Sounds like a Perry Mason moment, doesn’t it? A courtroom surprise that wins the case.

The almanac entry doesn’t change the fact that there was a moon that night, and that it had not set by 11:00 PM. So there must have been some light for prosecution witness Charles Allen to see by.

There’s no way to know if it was enough light for him to really see what happened. But Lincoln’s “almanac surprise” discredited his testimony, which is something a good defense lawyer tries to do.

I live 4 miles from Dublin, NH, which is home to Yankee Publishing. Yankee publishes The Old Farmer’s Almanac which dates back to 1792 when George Washington was serving his first term as President.

Was that the almanac Lincoln used in the Armstrong trial?

Judson Hale, Honorary Editor of The Old Farmer’s Almanac, thinks so.

“It’s difficult to prove conclusively, but everything I’ve read about the case — and certainly my examination of the 1857 edition — indicates that it was.”

Lincoln was an innovator. He was able to use the almanac because the judge allowed it to be introduced into evidence as an authoritative fact. In criminal cases, the court must instruct the jury that it may or may not accept said fact as conclusive.

It’s a practice known as judicial notice. It’s common today, but not in Lincoln’s time, when trials relied almost entirely on eyewitness testimony. Jurors in the Duff Armstrong trial were willing to accept the almanac’s “testimony” as fact.

Interesting footnote:

Lincoln was elected President of the United States in 1860, two years after the trial.

Duff Armstrong fought in the Union Army during the Civil War (1861–65). When he became ill in 1863, his mother wrote to Lincoln, asking for his help. Lincoln arranged for Duff’s early discharge from the army.

Lincoln was there for Duff Armstrong— not once, but twice.

About Mark Armstrong: Mark’s an illustrator specializing in humor, branding, and content marketing. He writes about marketing and visual communication. He also writes humor, short fiction, and the occasional reflection.

Questions? Send him an email.

Not a subscriber to Think Visual?? But that is a tragedy!!— we gotta get you signed up immediately!! Just click the banner below and be convinced!! 👇

About this newsletter: I’m an illustrator. My specialty is humor. I write about marketing and visual communication. Think funny, think visual!

A few years ago, I did an animated short for Coca-Cola. They posted it to their YouTube Channel for Valentine’s Day. Here it is.

The entire look of the animation is due to some client feedback I got that consisted of a single sentence. A single thought. Here’s the story.

I’d been doing illustrations for Coke’s news site. I had a good relationship with editor Jay Moye.

I’d never done an animation for him. The idea just popped into my head one day. I decided to pitch an idea. Valentine’s Day was just a few weeks away, so I had a ready subject.

I knew an unsupported verbal pitch wouldn’t work. I needed a storyline and a rough storyboard I could show Jay. I plotted out the story and sketched out the frames. Here are a couple of the sketches.

Jay loved the idea and gave me the OK.

I had a tight deadline. As mentioned, Valentine’s Day was fast approaching. If I’d been in Jay’s place, I would have been a little anxious about that. I decided to send him daily status reports.

Keeping clients informed isn’t just a nice thing to do. It’s a must-do. It’s a professional obligation.

To surprise a client with work that doesn’t match their expectations is to invite disaster. Not only have you wasted time and effort, you’ve hurt your reputation.

You also keep clients informed because you need their feedback. Sometimes feedback makes all the difference. That’s exactly what happened here.

I hadn’t given any thought to colors when I did my B&W sketches. My initial choices were conventional: green cacti, golden sand, gray and purple mountains.

I sent Jay snapshots showing the proposed color scheme for two of the backdrops. Here’s what they looked like.

Jay sent back a single sentence reply, as follows:

“Mark — I think these look nice but whenever possible, let’s really play up the Coke red (especially given the Valentine’s focus).”

I read it and had a revelation: We were doing a video about a Coke bottle that comes to life and embarks on a journey. The idea was fantastic, surreal– why shouldn’t the landscape look the same way??

I saw the whole thing in an instant, and immediately revised the desert color scheme.

And as soon as I saw that flat Coke-Red sky, I could see the familiar Coke can white stripe appearing across it.

I sent Jay the revised snapshots and he came back with: I like!

There are two important lessons here:

1. Be proactive. If you’ve got an idea that’ll make a brand look good, make the pitch. Be sure to include examples and visuals to help sell the idea. Even if they say no, you’ve demonstrated your expertise and initiative, and shown you’re someone who provides value.

2. Keep clients informed with regular status reports. Good news, bad news, it doesn’t matter. Your goal is no surprises. Keeping clients informed will mark you as a true professional. Always solicit client feedback. It can pay enormous dividends, as the above example shows.

About Mark Armstrong: Mark’s an illustrator specializing in humor, branding, and content marketing. He writes about marketing and visual communication. He also writes humor, short fiction, and the occasional reflection.

Questions? Send him an email.

Not a subscriber to Think Visual?? Outrageous!!— we gotta get you signed up immediately!! Just click the banner below and be persuaded! 👇

About this newsletter: I’m an illustrator. My specialty is humor. I write about marketing and visual communication. Think funny, think visual!

I started out as a gag cartoonist. I always did a batch of toons for Christmas. The following cartoons date back to the 1980’s when my style was still “evolving.”

A word of caution before you view the cartoons:

If you have a round little belly, it’ll shake like jelly.

If you’ve got six-pack abs, they’ll scuttle like crabs.

If you’re in-between, you’ll rupture your spleen.

Results for individual abdomens may vary.

About Mark Armstrong: Mark’s an illustrator specializing in humor, branding, and content marketing. He writes about marketing and visual communication. He also writes humor, short fiction, and the occasional reflection.

Not a subscriber yet?? Hey, we can change that!! Just click the banner below.

Thanks for checking in, I appreciate your ho-ho-ho’s!! 👍🎅

About this newsletter: I’m an illustrator. My specialty is humor. I write about marketing and visual communication. Think funny, think visual!

I like funny Christmas cards, and I’ve designed quite a few. I thought I’d feature some of my favorites in this post.

You’ll notice each card has 2 or 3 possible inside greetings. Why is that?

I have a little shop on the Fine Art America platform where you can buy cards. The FAA site is designed in such a way that if you buy a particular card design (a single card, or packs of 10 or 25), you’re asked to specify what you want printed inside.

It’s nice if you’ve got a particular recipient in mind and you’d like to include a personal greeting, but it means extra work. I think most people like cards where the inside greeting (the punchline) is already written out.

So what I do is include several suggested inside greetings (punchlines) in the card’s Description field so buyers can pick one if they’re so inclined.

Here are 12 of my favorite Christmas card designs, along with some of my suggested punchlines. Let me know which ones you liked best. And if you’d like to visit the shop and buy some cards, hey, that would be good, too!

I’ve included a few comments for cards that have an interesting backstory.

P.S. Click on the cards for a larger view.

This next one was originally a B&W captionless cartoon. I liked it so much I decided to add color and turn it into a card.

For many years I did a Christmas cover for the Inland Register, the diocesan newspaper for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, Washington. The editor, Eric Meisfjord, and I became fast friends.

I’d always send Eric at least 5 rough sketches to choose from, and sometimes I’d send a 6th sketch, a “ringer” that was too wacky to use, just to make him laugh. This “We Three Spacemen” design was one of them.

Another “out there” idea (below) to make Eric laugh.

The “Scary Santa” illustration below was commissioned by a magazine for a personal essay. The author was writing about how unreliable his memories had become.

One childhood memory involved someone “playing Santa” on Christmas Eve when he was 5 years old. The person wore a terrifying Halloween mask and he and his sister ran screaming from the room.

I retained the rights to the illustration and decided to use it for a Christmas card.

“Saint Francis and The Birds” (below) was originally a Christmas cover for the Inland Register. A little fanciful, perhaps, but still respectful, especially since St. Francis is the patron saint of animals and the environment.

King Kong steals the Baby Jesus from a creche, then climbs to the top of a giant Christmas tree, where he’s attacked by the Magi flying biplanes!! Sounds familiar — wasn’t that scene in a famous movie??

This one also started life as a rough sketch designed to make Eric Meisfjord laugh. I got such a kick out of it, I decided to clean it up, add color, and turn it into a card.

Another successful Inland Register Christmas cover, and one of my favorites.

Not sure where this idea came from (below). It was not based on personal experience!!

OK!!— which cards/punchlines did you like best?? I’d really appreciate your feedback.

And if you’d like to buy a card or three, here’s the link to my online store.

About Mark Armstrong: Mark’s an illustrator specializing in humor, branding, and content marketing. He writes about marketing and visual communication. He also writes humor, short fiction, and the occasional reflection.

Not a subscriber yet?? Hey, we can change that!! Just click the banner below.

Thanks for reading, see you over at my online store!! 👍😊

About this newsletter: I’m an illustrator. My specialty is humor. I write about marketing and visual communication. Think funny, think visual!

Most domestic cats prefer to avoid water. Psychologist Daniel Kahneman used that fact to conjure this wonderful line:

“Thinking is to humans as swimming is to cats; they can do it but they’d prefer not to.”

Professor Kahneman won the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. The above line appears in his best-selling book, Thinking, Fast and Slow.

Kahneman says our minds have two systems of thought: the first is fast, automatic, instinctive– we can’t really control it. The second requires logic and analysis: it’s slow, deliberate, and takes sustained effort; i.e., it’s painful.

What this means for marketers: most decisions are made by gut instinct. Richard Shotton puts it this way:

Even when we think we’re making reasoned conscious decisions often the conscious mind is merely post-rationalizing decisions that have already been made.

Shotton goes on to describe a psychology experiment at a food market selling gourmet jams:

They set up a stall at a posh food market selling a range of gourmet jams. They alternated between offering 6 and 24 varieties of jam. While the large display attracted more interest than the small one, people were 10 times as likely to buy from the stall with the smaller variety of choice.

The psychologists concluded that consumers failed to buy at the more varied stall as the choice became too effortful… (worrying, perhaps) that one of those unchosen goods would have been a better use of their money.

A similar “tyranny of choice” has occurred in pop music. Rather than wade through hundreds of little-known independent artists, consumers retreat to the familiar and easy-to-find: namely, established superstars.

All of which jibes very nicely with Rory Sutherland’s contention that most brand choices are the result of convenience, and that in order to justify our choice, we then decide we like that brand.

Quite a lot of evidence from both behavioral sciences and from neuroscience suggests that we act first and form our opinions in light of our actions.

Paul Cash, CMO of Rooster Punk, a B2B storytelling agency, sums up Mr. Kahneman’s findings this way: We don’t like to think too hard, and our purchase decisions are emotional, not rational. His advice:

Keep it simple. Make sure the content you create is simple, truthful and engaging. Make social, social. Too many facts and figures will turn buyers away.

I’d add the following:

1. Make getting noticed your top priority– otherwise no one will stop to think about what you have to offer.

2. Less is more. I see too many infographics crammed with too much information.

3. Since purchasing decisions are instinctive (emotional), create content that stirs emotions.

4. Tell stories– because they’re all about drawing people in, emotionally.

5. Use visuals– because they’re easier to process than text.

6. Use humor– because it disarms. You can’t connect with people who have their shields up.

In The Adventure Of The Norwood Builder, Sherlock Holmes mentions the supreme gift of the artist: knowing when to stop.

That’s something every marketer needs to know, too.

About Mark Armstrong: Mark’s an illustrator specializing in humor, branding, and content marketing. He writes about marketing and visual communication. He also writes humor, short fiction, and the occasional reflection.

Not a subscriber yet?? We can change that!! Just click the banner below.

I have a separate newsletter for my short fiction, if that’s your cuppa chowder. 🥘😋💦

Thanks for reading! 🙏😊

A couple of months ago, I launched a new Substack newsletter exclusively for my fiction. I decided to call it As The Word Churns since I like to do the funny stuff. (I also enjoy poking fun at myself.) I needed a logo for it.

My first idea (above left) was a bubbling cauldron sitting on a pencil fire. Lots of noxious bubbles, and a second pencil to stir the pot. Naturally you’re saying to yourself: What a terrible color scheme!!— whatever possessed you??

I had previously designed a “sleeping baby” logo for a newsletter about my in-progress children’s book. I guess I was on auto-pilot. I decided to use the same colors for the new logo.

Did I quickly realize brown and orange didn’t work for a bubbling cauldron? No. But I was smart enough to see the cauldron had way too much detail. I reduced the number of bubbles, then I got rid of the “stir pencil.”

Then my eyes (and maybe my nose) were opened: a bubbling cauldron should have sickly colors, right? How about purple and green? I decided to use the familiar No. 2 pencil colors for my “fire.”

At this point, I finally asked myself a question I should have asked at the beginning: Where’s this logo going to appear, and how big will it display? (OK, that’s two questions.)

The answers: Substack logos appear on your newsletter homepage— and they’re very small, as you can see in this screenshot:

So it was time to simplify the logo even more. I also chose a darker purple for the cauldron, and a single color for the pencil.

I decided the purple was too dark.

Then I decided the cauldron had too much unrelieved purple. So I stuck in some white teeth for contrast. I also simplified the bubbles.

I uploaded the new version to my Substack newsletter homepage to see how it looked. Because the display size is so small, I couldn’t really see the tongue. So I made it bigger.

I did another display check and decided there was still too much purple. It made it hard to see the cauldron face’s features. So I made the teeth and the whites of the eyes bigger. I also enlarged the bubbles for better visibility. Ta-dah!!

It was time to cry, “Enough!!” Hope you enjoyed this look at the process, and thanks for joining me on this stroll down Logo Lane.

What??— you’re not a subscriber yet?? We must deal with this tragedy at once!!— just click the banner below!! 👇

As mentioned, I also have a newsletter about self-publishing a children’s book. 👇

Thanks for reading!! 🙏😊

About this newsletter: I’m an illustrator. My specialty is humor. I write about marketing and visual communication. Think funny, think visual!

Today: a look back at some old foolishness.

Nowadays I use an image-editing program called Pixelmator, but way back when, I started out with the big guy: Photoshop.

Took me a while to learn it, and at some point I got into photo-illustration, which is just incorporating bits and pieces of photos into your illustrations. The challenge: using image-editing tools to “cut out” pieces of photos, paste them into your illustration, and stitch them together in a seamless way.

About the same time, I came across a series of Harry Potter tribute illustrations and decided to do one myself that would include photo elements.

You can see the result above. I’m a huge jelly bean fan, and I remember how excited I was when I found a combination of Photoshop layer modes that would make the colors of the beans really pop out. Yum!— I could eat a bag right now! 😋💦

And of course you can’t go wrong with having a bunch of owls poop on Voldemort. 🦉

Not a subscriber? Let’s correct that situation right now!! Just click the banner below.

I have another Substack newsletter for my short fiction. You can check it out by clicking the bubbling pot banner below.

Thanks for reading, see you next time! 👍

About this newsletter: I’m an illustrator. My specialty is humor. I write about marketing and visual communication. Think funny, think visual!

People have fewer shared experiences today, but they still want to connect. They use social media platforms to find others who share their interests. They become part of a tribe.

Suppose a certain tribe is part of your target audience. Maybe it is your target audience. Your marketing challenge: learn their language (tribes have their own jargon), and engage them by posting tribe-oriented content.

But don’t try too hard to fit in. You’ll risk looking phony and patronizing.

Sometimes a brand will actually become part of a tribe. Take Arby’s. Yup, the roast beef sandwich people. They started putting pop culture references in their social media posts, including references to video games. They got a huge response from gamers, who became loyal Arby’s fans.

Embracing a tribe’s culture can pay big dividends. But take the time to know them first. Learn their language. Don’t try too hard to fit in.

I like this line from writer Jeff Goins:

If you want to reach other humans, act like one.

It’s trickier than you might think. Mr. Goins points out that “a lot of people turn into robots when they get on the internet… they become complete jerks or turn into formal ambassadors of snobbery.”

So be yourself. Talk like a real person even if it means breaking a few grammar rules. Be a little vulnerable. Don’t be someone you’re not.

Emma Ellis of Amber Mountain Marketing points out that trying to please people is counterproductive:

If you pretend to be someone that you’re not, you’re going to attract a tribe that has nothing in common with the real you.

How do you get a tribe to accept you?

You hang back a bit, learn their language, and find out what they talk about. You get a line on their problems and the questions they need answered.

You create content that addresses those problems. You become relevant to them. They’ll begin to feel comfortable with you because you’ve earned their trust. You’ve earned permission to speak to their lives.

Quick summary:

To connect with a tribe: Be yourself. Be human. Learn their language — and don’t try too hard to fit in.

About Mark Armstrong: Mark’s an illustrator specializing in humor, branding, and content marketing. He writes about marketing and visual communication. He also writes humor, short fiction, and the occasional reflection.

You can view his portfolio and connect with him on LinkedIn.

Questions? Send him an email.

Not a subscriber? Let’s correct that situation right now!! Just click the banner below.

I know what you’re thinking: This post was so good I should restack it!! That’s a wonderful thought, and I encourage you to follow thru on it immediately!! 👍😅

About this newsletter: I’m an illustrator. My specialty is humor. I write about marketing and visual communication. Think funny, think visual!

You’ve never heard of Casey Stengel?? Ah– you must be a young person: someone under the age of 50!

Casey was one of major league baseball’s true eccentrics. He died back in 1975, but he still inspires, and his legend lives on. I was reminded of this when I read a wonderful review of Marty Appel’s biography: Casey Stengel: Baseball’s Greatest Character. The review was titled: The Lunatic Wore Pinstripes.

I’ve heard many Stengel anecdotes over the years, including the one about him doffing his cap at the plate one day and having a bird fly out (a sparrow, not a chicken). The review began with a story that was new to me. It made me roar with laughter.

His first professional game was with the Kankakee Kays, a minor league team in the Northern Association. Their ballpark was across the street from the 119-acre Kankakee State Hospital, formerly known as the Illinois Eastern Hospital for the Insane. The residents would watch the games from their windows, and the spectators could watch the residents watch. Sensibilities being a bit different 107 years ago, the team on the field was soon known in the newspapers and through word of mouth as the Lunatics.

Stengel, 19 years old, a quirky kid from the start, was the Lunatic center-fielder and the cleanup hitter in the Lunatic lineup. The fit seemed perfect.

“Stengel is one fellow who won’t be here next year,” a teammate, Joe Gilligan, predicted after the team won its first game, 7–6, with a nine-hit sixth inning. Someone asked: He’ll be in the big leagues?

“No, he’s going into that building over there,” Gilligan responded, pointing at the hospital.

“It’s only a matter of time,” more than one teammate added.

I was inspired to draw the following caricature. Why the mortarboard? In later years, Casey picked up the nickname “The Ol’ Perfessor,” due to his vast store of baseball “wisdom,” colorfully expressed.

He had a great face, as you can see in these photos (below). Left: chatting with Dodger manager Walter Alston before a 1960 exhibition game. Right, top to bottom: outside the old Yankee Stadium; with a lineup card during his glory days as manager of the Yankees (1949–60); with his wife Edna at the end of his career as manager of the New York Mets (1962–65).

So what can brands learn from Casey Stengel? The lessons are there, you just have to read between the lines.

1. “When you are younger you get blamed for crimes you never committed. And when you’re older you begin to get credit for virtues you never possessed. It evens itself out.”

Lesson: Every young brand has detractors, some criticism is undeserved. Persevere. Stay positive. Serve. Over-deliver. You’ll create a halo effect.

2. “His big ears, his craggy face, his creaking movements, combined with his roundabout, double-talk explanations of anything and everything, made him a public-relations wonder. He liked to talk. People liked to listen, even if they sometimes couldn’t understand.”

Lesson: We like people who make us laugh. We like people who make us feel good. When we like people, we forgive minor flaws and give them the benefit of the doubt.

3. Casey once said that Babe Ruth could have used “a rolled-up copy of the Police Gazette” to hit home runs.

Lesson: Training is good. Experience is good. Webinars are good. TED talks are good. But nothing beats talent. Hire good people, put ’em in the lineup.

4. “I’ll never make the mistake of being 70 again.”– Casey, after being fired by the Yankees for being too old after they lost the 1960 World Series to the Pittsburgh Pirates in seven games.

Lesson: There will come a time when you need to reinvent yourself. Accept this with good humor. Then reinvent yourself and get back in the game.

5. “Perhaps (as Mets manager) he fell asleep on the bench sometimes, maybe a lot of times, but he awakened for the press conferences that somehow made the team lovable despite a 40–120 won-lost record in its first season (1962).”

Lesson: Sometimes you lose. Maybe a lot. Go to the press conference anyway: i.e., stay upbeat and engage your fans. Being lovable builds loyalty. The Mets won the 1969 World Series.

6. “The secret of managing is to keep the five guys that hate you away from the guys who are undecided.”

Lesson: No brand bats 1.000. Respond to complaints. Have a social media crisis management plan. Everyone’s watching, including those undecided about your brand.

7. “The trouble is not that players have sex the night before a game, it’s that they stay out all night looking for it.”

Lesson: Employees “stay out” when they’re not fully invested in a brand. They buy in when the corporate culture gives them a chance to lead, to fail, to make a difference.

8. “Most people at my age are dead.”

Lesson: Be glad you’re alive. You’ve got a product or service you believe in. Win or lose, you’re in the game, with a chance to drive in the winning run. It’s a great feeling.

Play ball!!

Not a subscriber?? We can fix that!! Come learn about visual communication— you may even pick up some management tips!! Just click the banner below for more details!! 👇

About this newsletter: I’m an illustrator. My specialty is humor. I write about marketing and visual communication. Think funny, think visual!

Author Note: the above header illustration is from a magazine cover I designed a few years ago. It contains caricatures of Audrey Hepburn, Rowan Atkinson, Diana Rigg, and Alfred Hitchcock, among others.

A short post today about an embarrassing situation.

It all started when I read Kristi Keller’s Unstack Substack post about how many of us ignore the chance to make a good impression with our About Page and the welcome emails we send to new subscribers.

If you don’t make it a point to customize those items, Substack will provide your readers and subscribers with very boring canned versions of same. And the message will be clear: you’re not really invested, you can’t be bothered to put in the time.

And that was me. My newsletters had generic About Pages that looked like this:

Now who’d want to subscribe to THAT?? There’s nothing there!! Embarrassing.

So I spent time this week personalizing all my About Pages and the welcome emails I send to new subscribers. My About Page for this newsletter now looks like this:

So this is a FWIW post: If you haven’t thought much about your About Page or the emails you send to welcome new subscribers and the impression they might be making, you might want to go in and personalize them. You’re welcome!! 👍😊

Not a subscriber yet? We can change that!! Just click the banner below.

I also have a newsletter that features short fiction, if that’s your cuppa chowder. 🐟🍲

If you enjoyed this post, I’d appreciate a restack! Thank you!! 🙏🥹👍

About this newsletter: I’m an illustrator. My specialty is humor. I write about marketing and visual communication. Think funny, think visual!

I saw The Life of Chuck this past weekend. The movie’s based on a Stephen King short story. For me, it was like an extended Twilight Zone episode with a couple of dance numbers and the old what’s-in-the-locked-room schtick. I liked it, and I shall say no more.

It brought back a memory. I once illustrated a personal essay written by a woman who credited Stephen King and his books with helping her survive a very difficult and abusive childhood.

The author recounts her harrowing life as a teen, living in an apartment above a hearse garage at a funeral home. Her stepfather, a mortician, is controlling and abusive. The girl reads to escape. She discovers Stephen King and reads Carrie in a single day. The stepfather is enraged when he catches her reading a King novel.

The next day, the stepdad dragged me… down to the library to “have a talk with those people.” The stepdad aggressively accused the librarians of malfeasance for checking out “this trash” to “just a kid.”

There’s no escape from the stepdad, except possibly when the phone rings.

The phone in our apartment was connected to the funeral home, so if there was a call in the night to pick up a dead body, the stepdad could answer it.

We were unable to call anyone without the stepdad being aware of it. If he noticed a light on the phone, he’d always pick up and listen.

Each time the phone rang, we secretly pleaded skyward that someone had died, and the stepdad would have to go out. Someone’s death was always our freedom.

For punishment, the stepdad beats the girl with his belt. He cross-examines her every day.

He’d come bounding up the stairs to our apartment and burst through our front door all bug-eyed and frantic. The first words out of his mouth were, “Girls, did you talk to any boys today?”

“No,” my sister and I would answer in unison, no matter the real truth. We knew to stick to the script.

Sometimes the interrogation continued, sometimes not. But it always ended with, “Do you love me?”

“Yes,” we’d say, in unison… (but) inside, the stubborn little girl observer-self waved a stiff middle finger at him.

The girl returns to the library to retrieve the Stephen King book her stepdad had confiscated.

One of the two librarians from the day before, the young woman, was there. I put it on the counter and asked, “Do you have to tell anyone if I check out this book?”

She looked at me with a cross between pity and kindness and said, “Nope. That’s private information.”

I went home and immediately went to my room and put my contraband in my underwear drawer—the last remaining place in my whole, shrunken world where no one else went.

And for the rest of the time I lived in that place, that’s where my Stephen King books remained. All of them.

Gloria Harrison, the author of the essay, sent me this kind note after it was published:

Dear Mark,

You recently created illustrations for Hearse and Home – my essay about funeral homes, interpersonal violence, and Stephen King. The drawings you created for that piece are so spot on and yet not too morose. They’re perfect. Thank you so, so much for adding pictures to my words. You’re very talented.

All the best
Gloria

Not a subscriber yet? We can change that!! Just click the wordmark below:

I also have a newsletter about a children’s book I’m self-publishing. Just click the image below to subscribe:

And if you enjoyed this post, I’d appreciate a restack! 🙏🥹👍

About this newsletter: I’m an illustrator. My specialty is humor. I write about marketing and visual communication. Think funny, think visual!

True story:

I got an email pitch from a marketing director recently. He said that if I signed up for their program, they could make me a big star and a best-selling author with my own Wikipedia page.

To whet my appetite for fame, glory, and riches (yes, please), he included “a few custom article title suggestions based on your story and impact.”

The titles were a bit longer than average. As I read through them, along with each corresponding synopsis, my brain boggled, and my body began to shake— with laughter. By the time I finished, my handsome face was wet with tears.

“I must share these with my loyal fans!!” I cried. So here they are, verbatim. I haven’t changed a word.

1. How Mark Armstrong Has Revolutionized Visual Communication Through Humor and Originality, Creating Unique Marketing Campaigns for Brands Like Coca-Cola and Chick-fil-A While Advocating for Human Creativity in the Age of AI

This article delves into Mark Armstrong’s transformative impact on visual communication, highlighting his innovative use of humor and originality to craft compelling marketing campaigns for industry giants like Coca-Cola and Chick-fil-A.

It explores his passionate advocacy for preserving human creativity amid the rise of AI, positioning him as a trailblazer who blends artistry with strategic branding in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

2. An Exclusive Interview with Mark Armstrong on His Journey from Gag Cartoonist to Esteemed Freelance Illustrator, Navigating Industry Changes and Embracing Humor as a Key to Engaging Audiences

In this exclusive interview, Mark Armstrong shares candid insights about his evolution from a gag cartoonist to a sought-after freelance illustrator.

The conversation reveals how he has skillfully adapted to industry shifts, leveraging humor as a vital tool to connect with and captivate diverse audiences while maintaining authenticity and creative integrity.

3. Mark Armstrong's Approach to Overcoming the Challenges of AI Image Generators by Doubling Down on Human-Generated Art and Imagination, and His Latest Endeavors in Children's Books and Marketing Writing

Focusing on the challenges posed by AI image generation, this piece highlights Mark Armstrong’s resolute commitment to human-generated art and imaginative storytelling.

It also spotlights his newly embarked projects in children’s literature and marketing writing, showcasing his versatility and relentless pursuit of originality in multiple creative domains.

4. In Conversation with Mark Armstrong: Exploring the Evolution of a Self-Taught Illustrator Who Combines Humor and Branding Expertise to Deliver Distinctive Visuals Tailored for Social Media and Content Marketing

This in-depth conversation uncovers the journey of Mark Armstrong, a self-taught illustrator whose unique blend of humor and branding knowledge crafts memorable, tailored visuals for social media and content marketing.

The article examines his innovative strategies for standing out in crowded digital spaces and engaging audiences with authenticity and wit.

5. Mark Armstrong's Top Strategies for Aspiring Illustrators to Develop Originality, Adaptability, and Idea-Driven Artistry While Building a Sustainable Freelance Career Against the Backdrop of Digital Transformation

Targeted at emerging illustrators, this article distills Mark Armstrong’s essential strategies for cultivating originality, adaptability, and idea-driven artistry.

It provides a roadmap for building a resilient freelance career amid ongoing digital transformation, emphasizing the importance of creative evolution and business acumen in today’s competitive marketplace.

Yow!! I think we all know the importance of using keywords in one’s titles and stories, but the above takes it to whole new and totally absurd level. I also detect a strong whiff of AI run amok. It gave me a good laugh, however, and I hope you can say the same.

Re the above header image:

My “head” is from a publicity photo for a play I was in a few years ago. I played a slimy record producer, complete with a Bill Haley spit-curl.

At one point I was doing a lot of photo-illustrations. I grafted my head onto a B&W photo of someone wearing a zoot suit, then added a sepia tint. The background image (the photographers) was originally a color photo. I desaturated it and added a blue tint.

The result: lots of glitz and phony glamor— it seemed perfect for this story!

Not a subscriber yet? We can change that!! Just click the wordmark below:

I also have a newsletter devoted to humorous short fiction. Silly, feel-good stuff that’ll put a smile on your mug. Click below to check it out, and/or subscribe.

And if you enjoyed this post, pretty-please gimme a restack! 🙏🥹👍

Jay W. Richards wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal. His premise: automation will eliminate some jobs, but many consumers want (and are willing to pay for) the human touch.

Here’s a telling line:

As ever more goods become cheap commodities, the economic value of the human touch goes up.

Mr. Richards cites Starbucks baristas as an example:

You can make a decent cup of coffee at home for 20 cents… or get good coffee at the office Keurig for 50 cents. Or drink a bottomless cup with free half-and-half at your local diner for $1.50. Down the street, though, Starbucks baristas serve labor-intensive coffee experiences to a stream of customers for a lot more money.

He also cites the growing demand for organic and locally sourced products: craft beers, grass-fed beef, free-range chickens, farmers markets.

What does this trend mean for brands?

Some people– not everyone, but some– want more than a commodity. They want an experience, something truly unique.

Seth Godin observes that market disruption (automation, Amazon, crowdsourcing) is a huge threat to any merchant who merely creates a commodity. He also notes that cheap is the last refuge for the marketer who can’t figure out how to be better.

Jasmine Bina of The Concept Bureau would change “better” to “different.” She cautions against falling into the “better” trap. Saying you’re “better” does nothing to distinguish you from competitors. Everyone claims to be better. You get lost in the crowd. Being different is what matters.

You can’t create commodities and expect people to pay extra for them. Starbucks customers aren’t just buying coffee– they’re buying an experience, along with the attitude and the little things that come with it. They’re also buying a certain status, a certain set of perceived values. They’re making a statement about who they are.

Marketing professor Freddy Nager says that customers buy products and services for their own little stories — stories they hope will turn out well.

What’s the lesson for brands? Designer David Scott puts it this way:

In the end, it’s the brands who’ve figured out strategically how to make people feel good and give them some sort of differentiated value that end up on top. So it’s about the emotional coupled with the rational.

Quick recap:

1. If you only offer a commodity, it’s a race to the bottom– because there will always be someone willing to work more cheaply.

2. Many people want more than a commodity. They want an experience, and/or something personal that meets their needs– and they’re willing to pay for it.

3. Some people are making a values statement when they choose a brand. It becomes part of their identity.

4. Brands succeed when they make people feel good, and help them live out their own stories (how they see themselves, their hopes and dreams).

5. Brands don’t succeed by being louder, more intrusive, or “better.” They succeed by being different.

6. All the above applies equally to brand content. You can’t be different and promise unique value if your content looks like everyone else’s.

About Mark: I’m an illustrator specializing in humor, branding, and content marketing. I write about marketing and visual communication.

I have two other Substack newsletters. One is devoted to my short fiction, the other is about everything I’m learning as I prepare to self-publish a children’s book.

Not a subscriber to Think Visual? Here’s the button you need to solve that problem!

Subscribe now

And if you enjoyed this post, I’d appreciate a restack! 🙏😊

The split has produced a new guy: a Substack newsletter called As The Word Churns, which will be devoted exclusively to my humorous short fiction. I created the above wordmark for it.

Why the split?

The newsletter you’re reading, Mark Armstrong, has been a mixed bag: a mix of illustration, how-to’s, humor writing (short fiction), posts about marketing and visual communication, goofball stuff, and the occasional personal bits.

It violates the one rule you hear over and over again when it comes to blogs and newsletters: know your target audience, and give them the one thing they subscribed for.

People who enjoy funny stories don’t necessarily want to read about logos or marketing case studies. (There are exceptions— you know who you are!!).

I just published my first “Word Churns” post today: a satirical look at human evolution called Scream, Gibber, and Howl: How We Got from Big Bang to Big Tech. Click the link to read, and see if you might want to subscribe. Here’s the header illo for the post:

If you’d like to stay subscribed to this newsletter, hey, glad to have you. I’m planning a post on my Jumanji experience, if that’s any enticement.

Keene, NH, just celebrated the 30th anniversary of the filming of Jumanji, starring the late Robin Williams and a very young Kirsten Dunst. Most of the movie was filmed in Maine, but the key stampede sequence was filmed in Keene’s Central Square.

I was an extra in the film. I played a looter running for my life from invisible elephants. The animals were all computer-generated, and were dubbed in later. I wound up on the cutting room floor, but I had a great time, and I do have some funny stories about the experience.

Hope I’ve been clear on the split, and thanks for reading!!

FWIW: I also have a newsletter devoted to self-publishing. Specifically, all the things I’m learning and need to know so I can self-publish my first children’s book. If that’s something that interests you, you can check out one of my self-publishing posts here.

And if you enjoyed this post, I’d appreciate a restack!! 🥞😋💦

It was another lusty day at Lupine Industries.

Employees grinned at each other and said, “My, what big teeth you have, Grandma!” as they passed each other in the hall. Sam the Sham’s “Little Red Riding Hood” played softly in the elevators.

Lupine specialized in sheep pen security systems that could easily be deactivated by predators. They didn’t share that fact with the farmers they sold the systems to, however.

Lupine had also set up a shell company that supplied the Muttonchops Restaurants chain. Have you ever had their Lamb Stew? It’s excellent.

Bigelow B. Wolfe was head of product design for Lupine. He was currently working on a robotic guard llama that would herd sheep into vans driven by rustlers.

“Big Bad,” as he liked to be called, was in his office. He had a poster of Lon Chaney Jr. on his wall, along with a framed copy of The Incredible Hulk #181, in which Wolverine makes his first cover appearance.

The wall behind his desk was covered with fake diplomas. Sheepskins. An inside joke, and one Wolfe always enjoyed explaining to new employees.

He slid open a desk drawer and took out a copy of The Three Little Pigs. It was a special copy he’d ordered online. In it, the Wolf eats all three pigs, but he has to work hard to get the ham dinner that lives in the brick house. He was looking forward to reading it to Little Cindy Fang.

He glanced at the clock. Time for a break. He got up and slunk down to the coffee machine.

He wasn’t surprised to run into Larry Lickchops. The guy was always hanging out at the coffee machine. But he was surprised to see Larry wearing a sheep costume. Larry worked in public relations. Perhaps he’d finally gone round the bend.

“Nice suit, Larry,” he said. “Wool, isn’t it?”

“Ha, ha!” barked Larry. “You’re firing on all one cylinder today, Big!!”

“Why the baa-baa suit?”

“I’m working with the Board. They asked me to draft a new mission statement. You know — what we do, what we stand for, what sets us apart. Our purpose.” He smirked.

“And you need to dress like a sheep to do it?”

“Psychology, Big, psychology!!” said Larry. “Think about it. A mission statement is about goals and values. It tells customers and investors who we are here at Lupine Industries. The sheep suit helps me get in the mood.”

“Ah.” Bigelow was beginning to see the light. “You have to say that we’re committed to keeping sheep safe.”

“Exactly,” said Larry, licking his chops. “It’s all about building trust. And if you’re gonna do that, you gotta be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

Bigelow licked his chops as he walked back to his office. He had a sudden craving for lamb stew.

About Mark Armstrong: Mark’s an illustrator. He writes about marketing and visual communication. He also writes humor, short fiction, and the occasional reflection.

He’s also written a children’s picture book. He has a separate Substack newsletter in which he shares his adventures in self-publishing.

Questions? Thoughts? Need an illo? Drop me a line.

Contact Mark