UAE | Media
Cartoons bring honour to Gulf News
Design team wins four merits of recognition in prestigious global competition.
- By Anupa Kurian, Readers Editor
- Published: 23:26 July 3, 2009
- Ramachandra Babu explains his illustration: Gulf News has always given me the freedom to do what I want. The winning image was a cover illustration for Weekend Review and I tried to capture the gentleman in Obama. The recognition proved that I achieved what I desired.
- Image Credit:
Dubai: Cartoons and caricatures connect everybody with their line of humour. The terrible almost becomes tolerable. The prestigious World Press Cartoon (WPC) competition honours the people responsible for this each year.
Gulf News' design team won four merits of recognition in the categories of Editorial Cartoons and Caricatures in the 2009 edition of WPC.
Strong winds are blowing across the firmament of the newspaper industry with ill-fated warnings of dwindling readership and multimedia dominance. In this atmosphere of uncertainty one of the earliest victims could be the classical elements of a newspaper such as cartoons.
An art form that is as much traditional as essential to the character of any newspaper, there is fear of it being relegated to the emergency room. But, as the statement on the WPC website said: "Cartoons, caricatures, gag drawings, they all have an irreplaceable soft spot in our lives. Because they are the natural bridge between the dramas of our daily lives and the smile that makes us feel as if there is a way out to anything. And so there is."
As the way people consume news and information changes, the industry will also have to adapt but a clever newspaper knows cutting back on quality content including cartoons, is not the answer. In fact, it is an opportunity to whittle off the excesses and retain the very best.
Gulf News has always encouraged artistic individuality. Testament to this is the recognition received by Dwynn Ronald Trazo, Guillermo F. Munro, Luis Vazquez and Ramachandra Babu of Gulf News this year.
Munro said: "This is a very important honour, especially as my work was in my original style ... to have that recognised at a global level is validation, indeed."
The former art director for The Chicago Sun-Time's Books and Opinion section, Munro has won 27 awards for graphics, design and illustration. But, the WPC win holds a special place as it has provided the incentive to "keep developing my style, keep learning and get better at it".
A sentiment echoed by Vazquez. He said: "It is worldwide recognition, newspapers from all over the world participate ... it is like a pat on the back."
A student of industrial design, Vazquez arrived in Gulf News after a three-year stint in Texas, US.
For industry veteran Ramachandra Babu, the honour from WPC is the opportunity to be "part of history". A fine art student, he has been in the UAE for 15 years.
The competition to select the world's best is held annually, with entries from global newspapers that include Le Monde, El Pais, Financial Times, The Independent and The Wall Street Journal. The initial participants for this year included 848 cartoons from 428 authors of 72 different nationalities.
As per WPC's website, the final selections were "401 drawings, [that] originated in 62 countries, published in 273 newspapers [and] delivered in dozens of different languages."
Following that, three winners are selected in the categories of editorial cartoons, caricature and gag cartoons with a top prize or the Grand Prix. The process took place in Lisbon and the Sintra Museum of Modern Art in Portugal.
The 401 art works are published in a special WPC 2009 book along with being showcased in a travelling exhibition.
Babu said: "Getting published by the WPC is an opportunity to show your work ... you are getting a global platform."
Trazo said: "The fact that I was able to make it there [the book] along with the world's top press illustrators shows my maturity as an artist and it is a reflection of the opportunities Gulf News has given me."
Trazo started his career as a senior graphic artist for an advertising agency and went on to web design.
Together they are all grateful to Gulf News for pushing them into sending their entries for the competition.
Babu said: "We sent our work for the very first time, so it was something great to get the recognition."
He added the newspaper is unique in its policy that allows each designer, illustrator and graphic artist to pursue his or her individual style.
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