Facebook and the surveillance society

by

Facebook never forgets - the surveillance society

Facebook never forgets

This cartoon was drawn in 2012, and is now particularly relevant because of the current (2018) controversy concerning Facebook and (amongst other things) Cambridge Analytica, data harvesting and so-called ‘surveillance capitalism’.
The cartoon is about Facebook monitoring and recording its posts as part of the surveillance society

Cartoon showing the Facebook logo as the head of an elephant watching and recording the activities of its users.
The elephant is used because of the expression ‘an elephant never forgets’ – and because the f in the Facebook logo looks a bit like an elephant’s head

The cartoon is meant to link Facebook with Big Brother in George Orwell’s book 1984.
It is about surveillance of the internet by organisations and government, internet users’ surrendering of privacy, net privacy, a potentially distopian future.

Ref a254
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Facebook is watching you – data harvesting

by

facebook is watching you - big brother

Facebook is watching you/Big Brother is watching you

This cartoon about Facebook monitoring its posts was drawn in 2012, and is now particularly relevant because of the current controversy concerning Facebook and (amongst other things) Cambridge Analytica, data harvesting and what is termed ‘surveillance capitalism’.

Cartoon showing the Facebook logo as a head with eyes watching and recording the activities of its users

A cartoon comparing Facebook with George Orwell’s Big Brother in 1984.

Ref a253
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

New Year 2018 cartoon

by

New Year 2018 cartoon - the Old Year and the New Year

Happy New Year 2018 cartoon.

The cartoon shows the old year 2017 (Father Time) pushing the baby New Year 2018 in a baby buggy. Father Time is tripping over the base of a Happy New Year sign, sending the new year rushing forwards out of control.

Ref a763
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

The green man – cartoon

by

Cartoon - the green man (as a tree)

The green man.

The concept of the green man stretches back to antiquity, and is usually depicted as a head covered in leaves and foliage.
In this cartoon version, the green man is depicted as a tree, where the only evidence of a human link is the man’s legs protruding below the tree’s foliage and forming the tree trunk.

Ref a761
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Cell phone dependency (or mobile phone dependency) cartoon

by

Cartoon - cell phone dependency

Dependency on mobile phones – cartoon.

People are beginning to rely to an excessive extent on their mobile phone (cell phone) and on digital electronic technology.
This cartoon illustrates this by depicting tourists who are using the sat-nav function of their mobile phones to navigate to a hotel. The gps has stopped working and they don’t know how to find the hotel, even though it’s plainly in full view.

Ref a758
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Ignore the facts – the “post truth” society

by

Cartoon about ignoring the truth in favour of prejudice

Post truth cartoon.
Truth and facts being ignored in favour of emotional or prejudiced viewpoints.

The concept of ignoring the facts when reaching a decision about something, and letting the heart rather than the head rule, seems to be a phenomenon that’s on the rise. It has recently been labelled ‘post truth’.
In the cartoon I’ve linked it to the phenomenon of conspiracy theories, which are frequently used as a way of justifying irrational or unproven ideas.
The rise of post truth tendencies is said to be linked to people’s increasing use of social media via phones and electronic media and the tendency for internet algorithms to send people only information that they already agree with – however the tendency has always been there in the way that people purchase newspapers that agree with their political and other views.
It may also be linked to the current mistrust of experts.

Ref a756
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Super moons are not as super as the media make out

by

Cartoon about the media coverage of supermoons

Cartoon about the media’s distortion of the visual impact of a super moon

Super moons were unheard of in the media until the last few years. Now every time the moon gets close to the earth in its orbit the press is full of it, with misleading photographs to make the moon look huge and spectacular (taken with telephoto lenses so that the moon looks large compared to objects such as people or buildings in the distance).

Ref a755
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

The Grim Reaper with a baby Grim Reaper

by

grim reaper and baby grim reaper in pushchair

The grim reaper with a baby grim reaper in a pushchair

The personification of death in the form of the grim reaper pushing a pushchair or baby buggy in which sits an infant grim reaper.
Part of the concept behind the cartoon is to show a link between birth and death.
It’s also meant to be humorous because it humanises the grim reaper.

Ref a751
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

The grim reaper upgrades from a scythe to a combine harvester

by

grim reaper buys a combine harvester

The grim reaper buys a combine harvester

The personification of death in the form of the grim reaper upgrades from his scythe to a combine harvester. The harvester is here a symbol of much greater ‘harvesting’ power than the scythe – in other words a means of achieving a much greater death toll, similar to a weapon of mass destruction.

Ref a750
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

A tribute to William Heath Robinson

by

Tribute to William Heath Robinson cartoon

Heath Robinson style cartoon - detail

Detail

This cartoon was drawn as a tribute to William Heath Robinson on the occasion of the opening of the new Heath Robinson Museum in Pinner (where Heath Robinson lived).

This cartoon shows a Heath Robinson style contraption and is captioned “A contraption for capturing unusually shaped clouds”.

Ref a749
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

A common view of modern art – the Emperor’s New Clothes

by

emperor's new clothes modern art cartoon

Jokes about art gallery goers admiring blank canvases are a staple for cartoonists who want to satirise modern art.
Here’s one of my contributions (although I like this sort of art).

Interestingly, the abstract expressionist painter Ad Reinhardt, who painted canvases that were uniformly black, also worked as a cartoonist who satirised modern art.

Ref a748
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

How social media confirms your prejudiced – creating a ‘phoney’ world view

by

phone filter bubble algorithm

How social media in phones filter information – giving the user a ‘phoney’ (or phony) world view

How social media etc via phones and other digital devices reinforce prejudices by filtering information so that the user only sees information that conforms to the user’s existing biases.

The ‘filter bubble’ of social media and other digital technology is similar to the ‘culture bubble’ of real-world travel and peer group opinions and attitudes.
Ref a745
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

How did you vote in the Brexit referendum, Daddy?

by

Brexit cartoon - How did you vote daddy?

A cartoon showing a man who is regretting voting for Britain to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum.

The image is partly a comment on the extreme criticism of ‘leave’ voters by those who voted to stay in the EU.

Based on the WW1 recruitment poster “Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great War?”
Ref a746
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Brexit referendum cartoon – Britain votes to leave the EU

by

Brexit cartoon Union flag in person's face

Brexit cartoon – the winds of change.

The cartoon shows a British person with a British flag (union jack) blown into his face so that he can’t see where he’s going.

The image may show a person who can’t see the future ahead now that Britain has voted to leave the EU, with the flag representing Britain.
Alternatively, it may show a person who was blinded by patriotism before the referendum and thus voted to leave the EU on those grounds. This doesn’t imply that everyone who voted to leave the EU in the referendum are blinkered nationalists, just that blinkered nationalists probably voted for Brexit and thus managed to get many other Leave voters tarred with the same brush.
Ref a742b
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

The following version, without the word Brexit in the caption, can be ordered instead, on request.
Brexit cartoon Union flag in person's face

Air pollution cartoon

by

Air pollution cartoon

An environmental cartoon about air pollution

Showing a man using breathing apparatus to breathe fresh air in a polluted atmosphere. The oxygen cylinder contains a plant that is generating oxygen

Part of the idea behind the cartoon is to convey the concept that plants are the lungs of the world, liberating oxygen from carbon dioxide via photosynthesis.
A cartoon about clear air, atmospheric pollution and toxic chemicals, smoke and smog
Ref env071b
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

The phone filter bubble effect – creating a ‘phoney’ world view

by

filter bubble computer algorithm

How algorithms in phones filter information, thus giving the user a ‘phoney’ (or phony) world view

How the use of phones and other digital devices reinforce prejudices by filtering information so that the user tends to see only information that conforms to the user’s biases.

The ‘filter bubble’ of social media and other digital technology is similar to the ‘culture bubble’ in which travellers and tourists surround themselves with their own culture when abroad.
Ref a744
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Driving into a worrying future

by

driving to the future - the collapse of civilisation

A car driving off the end of a road – symbolising the human race hurtling towards an uncertain future of its own making.

The car driver is following the sat-nav (GPS) unquestioningly as the car drives off the edge of the precipice (which metaphorically signifies the collapse of civilisation).

The road in this cartoon symbolises the human race’s road into the future, while the car is a metaphor for the human race itself, accompanied by its technological ‘life support system’.
The message is meant to be that if we’re not careful it will all end very badly.
This isn’t an anti-technology or anti-progress cartoon by the way – it’s just a view of how things might go if we aren’t careful.
Ref a739
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Burdened down by money worries

by

man burdened down by financial problems

A man carrying a giant coin – burdened down by financial problems.
Also a metaphor for the burden of living within a society in which the acquisition of financial wealth is seen as a primary goal above all others.

The giant coin (here a British pound coin) is a symbol of finance in general, and of people’s dependence on the financial system.

A cartoon about money, finance, capital, capitalism, pursuit of wealth, the economy.
Ref a738
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Blindly following progress (a metaphor)

by

blindly driving to the future - and over a cliff

A car driving off the end of a road and over a cliff – with the car driver still unquestioningly following the sat-nav.

The scene is a metaphor for what may happen if the human race unquestioningly and uncritically follows technological progress. Not that I think that technological progress is bad – we just need to watch where it’s going.

Ref a741
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

A car driving into the future – and plunging off the end of the road

by

driving to the future - the collapse of civilisation

A car driving into the future – and plunging off the end of the road

The car driver is following the sat-nav (GPS) unquestioningly as the car drives off the edge of the precipice (which metaphorically signifies the collapse of civilisation).

This cartoon is about the inherent danger in the advance of technology (here symbolised by cars, transport systems sat-nav) and other aspects of human progress. The further we progress, the greater the consequences of anything going wrong, especially if we put too much faith in technology and, as here, follow it uncritically.
Ref a740
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

People immersed in their smart phones unaware of events in the real world

by

people engrossed in their smart phones unaware of events in the real world

A problem of immersive technology – smart phone users oblivious to events round them

This cartoon is about the way that the use of smart phones encourages people to withdraw from the real world and to become totally immersed in their phones.

In the cartoon the two young people in the foreground are completely unaware that the city behind them is being destroyed by an alien invasion by flying saucers or ufos (and that this is the reason that their phones have lost their signal). The only thing that they notice is that the signal to their phones has gone.
The cartoon is an illustration of the potential dangers of immersive technology.
It was first published in Prospect magazine, April 2016.
Ref a729
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Contemporary baby name cartoon

by

modern baby's names cartoon

A cartoon about modern baby names and old-fashioned baby names.

A cartoon about the trend for unusual and non-traditional names for babies.

The fashion for non-traditional names for babies may be a symptom of the current trend towards hyper individualism, which may mean that ‘ordinary’ names are viewed as being too conformist.
The trend may also be linked to the rise of celebrity culture where such names are more commonplace
Refa732
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Student grievance cartoon

by

student protest cartoon

A cartoon about hypercritical student attitudes.

A cartoon about the trend for students’ grievances and dissatisfactions to be translated into action, such as in the form no platforming or the demands for objectionable artefacts to be removed.

The action is often seen by some as self righteous, self indulgent, censorious and intolerant (ironically, as the students often think that they are acting for the greater benefit of others).
The cartoon shows the danger of the students adopting a feeling of over entitlement and thus taking their attitudes out into the wider world beyond their colleges.
The inspiration for this image was a news story about students disapproving of a sculpture by Henry Moore, and demanding that it wasn’t displayed on their university campus.

Refa734
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

We didn’t do anything illegal – corporate morality

by

We didn't do anything illegal

A cartoon about corporate morals and the moral corporate stance of stating that “We never did anything illegal” as a justification for using devious or evasive financial practices.

This cartoon is partly inspired by the news story about money laundering through Panama legal/financial firm Mossack Fonseca

A cartoon about corporate morality, the spirit of the law, money laundering leaks, tax evasion, tax avoidance, tax havens.
Refa736
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Vinyl records – a fashionable music format for the 21st century.

by

music formats - vinyl - hipsters

A hipster explaining to his father that modern young people listen to music on vinyl – as though it’s a new format that older people wouldn’t understand.

This cartoon is about the way that young people often feel superior to older people because older people aren’t necessarily up to date with technology.

The cartoon is about the psychology of youth – about the way that young people often fail to appreciate the fact that their modern world was created by people who went before them.
The fact that the music format being used is an old fashioned or retro format, while the young person in the cartoon still feels superior to the man who grew up with the technology, is part of the joke about youth setting itself up as superior to age.
The young person in the cartoon is a hipster – a youth sub-culture of the 2010s.
It’s a cartoon about the generation gap.

Ref a728
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

“But is it art?”

by

but is it art cartoon mona lisa

Cartoon: “But is it art?”

A cartoon showing visitors to an art gallery looking at a painting and asking But is it art?”, the cliche expression used when the definition of art is brought into question.

The joke is that the painting that is being questioned is the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.
What would these gallery goers consider to be ‘proper’ art. Maybe ultracontemporary art?

Ref a727
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Filed Under: ART

Truth drugs – a cartoon from Chemistry World magazine

by

chemistry cartoon - truth drug

A cartoon about the potential use of truth drugs by repressive political regimes.

In the cartoon the truth drugs are not designed to make people tell the truth, but to make them believe in lies.

An example from my cartoon strip published in Chemistry World, the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Here are more of my chemistry cartoons from Chemistry World magazine.

A cartoon about espionage, spying, subversion, secret police, state repression.

Ref a723
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters

Personality profiling for job applicants – cartoon from Chemistry World

by

chemistry cartoon - rorschach test

A cartoon about the use of personality profiling in job interviews.

The use of Rorscharch tests for assessing people’s personalities.

The interviewee is interpreting an X-ray crystallography image that resembles a spider
An example from my cartoon strip published in Chemistry World, the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Here are more of my chemistry cartoons from Chemistry World magazine.

A cartoon about espionage, spying, subversion, secret police, state repression.

Ref a722
How to obtain license to use cartoon
How to search for cartoons by subject
cartoon copyright matters