Tampa Tribune designer/cartoonist Greg Williams finds inspiration in user-generated content. He's already mined Wikipedia and blogs for ideas, and his latest effort, "Twips," turns Twitter messages into single-panel comics. He discusses his projects in the following Q&A.
How long have you been at the Tampa Tribune?
I design the Tribune's weekly entertainment magazine, which also is where the print version of my "Twips" comic appears. I arrived at the Tribune in 1985 for an illustration/design position, and I've worked in those areas ever since -- except for two years at the Dayton Daily News in the mid-'90s.
With "Twips" and "WikiWorld," you've developed a niche turning user-generated content into comics. Where did you get the idea for these projects?
While working as a design team leader at the Tribune, I had been away from the drawing board for a number of years. When Wikipedia came onto the scene, I was intrigued by the wide variety of topics that could be found there -- and by the unexpectedly weird examples of phrasing and tone that cropped up in the user-generated text. I enjoyed the process of producing visual adaptations of obscure Wikipedia articles, as a way of getting a pen into my hand again. After more than a year of producing weekly "WikiWorld" comics (on my own time), I decided to try a similarly collaborative approach with my weekly "Blogjam" comic for the Tribune. Most of those comics were based on text contributions from readers, bloggers, and established writers and performers. My Twitter-based "Twips" comic is a single-panel variation on the same concept.
Were your first "Twips" based on tweets from friends or colleagues?
My first "Twips" comic was based on a tweet by writer Elizabeth Little. I enjoyed Elizabeth's sense of humor in her most recent book, and she had allowed me to adapt a segment of that book for a "Blogjam" comic. When I saw that she was bringing the same humorous tone to her Twitter posts, I started looking for other Twitterers whose tweets were begging to be illustrated. (And, yes, some of my initial "Twips" were collaborations with colleagues - and with my brother Eric.)
Can you describe your "Twips" process? How do you find new topics?
It's such a new project, I haven't established a reliable "process," other than getting in touch with people whose tweets seem especially ripe for cartoon-style adaptations.
What's the reception been like from your "Twips" sources?
So far, I've been getting a good response. It isn't always easy to get in touch with Twitterers who aren't acquaintances, however -- and a few of my inquiries have gone unanswered. But maybe that's just the nature of Twitter, which isn't exactly built around the premise of two-way communication.
Are your "Twips" only published through the Web site?
They appear in print in The Tampa Tribune's weekly entertainment guide, Friday Extra. The company's entertainment site, TBOextra.com, also provides a link to the Web archive.
Do you plan on selling "Twips," either individually or in a compendium?
I honestly haven't given this too much thought; I'm just glad that the comics have a home in the Tribune, at this point. I'll be interested to see whether I can reach a separate audience on the Web.
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