[Back in 2004, I tried merging The Cluetrain with the ad industry, perhaps a couple of years before the world was really ready. Heh.] One of gapingvoid’s favorite collectors, Havas International CEO David Jones wrote a nice article in Advertising Week recently about how we need to kill the idea of “consumer”, replacing it with […]
I know I’m a bit late to the party, but a few people have asked me what I think about the recent headline-grabbing Omnicom-Publicis merger, which if it goes ahead, will create the largest advertising conglomerate in the history of the world. Not much, to be honest. It’s just a continuation of the decades-old trend […]
Havas CEO David Jones tweeted the following news story earlier tonight: “Meaningful brands outperform stock market by 120%”. 120%. And why is that, you ask? Perhaps it’s related to something Seth Godin and I were riffing on, WAY back in 2008: SETH: You can’t drink any more bottled water than you already do. Or buy […]
Back in the early blogging days of 2004, I wrote a little online rant called “The Hughtrain Manifesto”, influenced by all the stuff I was reading at the time: Tom Peters, Seth Godin, Mark Earls, The Cluetrain Manifesto etc. The question I was asking then was, “What comes after advertising?” If this new Internet thingy […]
[Note to young, creative types, just leaving college: I wrote this post just for you.], It’s a very sad and poignant story that’s already been all over the Internet… A British advertising veteran, Linds Redding, a guy not much older than me, gets terminally ill. Shortly before the poor man dies, he writes a long, […]
I’ll be in New York next week, speaking at Supergenius, the Word-Of-Mouth conference organized by Andy Sernovitz and his team. I designed two prints for the event, based on Andy’s two favorite WOM lines. My take on Word-Of-Mouth? Two thoughts: 1. Would anybody tell a friend? If it’s a social object, yes. 2. Advertising is […]
This is one of two prints I designed for Andy Sernovitz’s Supergenius conference in New York, July 20th, 2010. I’ll be speaking there, along with a lot of other authors. The headline is one of Andy’s two most famous Word-Of-Mouth mantras. As he says, Advertising is the cost of being boring. If people won’t talk […]
Advertising hacks losing their jobs is a subject very dear to my heart (I was one of them, more than once). Advertising hacks re-inventing their crash-and-burn careers and turning it into something more interesting, is also a subject dear to my heart (I’ve done that, too). Which is why my latest “Cube Grenade” goes to […]
So everyone and their mother in the business has forever been asking the question, “So what is the future of the ad agency?” Clay Shirky wrote a damn good article about the future of newspapers. Substitute “Newspapers” with “Ad Agencies” and advertising grunts everywhere will have plenty food for thought… “When reality is labeled unthinkable, […]
Short Version: We make "Motivational Art For Smart People".
Long Version: I’m Hugh MacLeod. I’m a cartoonist. I'm also a published author and have a daily cartoon newsletter that makes tens of thousands of people happy, five days a week.
gapingvoid was founded by me (Chief Creative) and Jason Korman (CEO) to effect change in business, using my distinct style of drawing.
i.e. "If you're trying to change your business' culture, you should be talking to us."
We believe that our work can express ideas, vision, beliefs, stories, culture, mission and purpose faster, better and more deeply than any other method of business communication.
We offer bespoke services (including gapingvoid CultureMail, fine art prints and these awesome acrylic art blocks) which you can read more about on the gapingvoid homepage.
Clients include Rackspace, Intel, Cisco, Roche Pharmaceuticals, Babson College, Techcrunch, Dewar’s Whisky etc.
People ask, as an artist, why are you so obsessed with the office? And I answer, because that is where the action is, that is where we make things happen, that's where we spend at least a third of our lives.
Sure, there are other places where the human drama unfolds: homes, bars, restaurants, schools, shops, the street etc. But considering how central business is to our lives, I find it odd that more people don’t understand how important art can be to the work environment. So gapingvoid is determined to help them understand that better.
If you just want to say ‘Hello’, feel free to email me, anytime.
If you want to talk business, then it’s probably best to please contact Jason, here. We look forward to working with you. Thanks!
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Hugh MacLeod is a genius. Genius.
Seth GodinHis work acknowledges the absurdity of workaday life, while also encouraging employees to respond with passion, creativity, and non-conformity... MacLeod’s work is undeniably an improvement over the office schlock of yore. At its best, it’s more honest, and more cognizant of the entrepreneurial psyche, while still retaining some idealism.
The New RepublicLast year my State of the College address was 76 slides loaded with data. This year it was 14 cartoons that were substantially more memorable.
Len Schlesinger"There are only two daily newsletters that I look forward to opening and reading every time they show up to my inbox: Seth Godin's and gapingvoid."
Tony HsiehIn moments of indecision I glance at the wall [to Hugh's work] for guidance.
Brian Clark