The Oatmeal's Matthew Inman hit over one million Facebook likes over the weekend and celebrated by creating Internet photo caricatures posted by fans of his hilarious work.
Many people posted photos of their pets and babies, asking Inman to turn them into cute cartoons. Inman, however, warned his fans ahead of time that should they post a picture of a baby, he would turn that infant into a horrible monster; he was completely true to his word. One of the photos posted depicts a cute little baby on its stomach, reaching its arms out towards the camera. In his cartoon, Inman turned this baby into a scary, octopus-like creature with tentacles for arms and a growling, disfigured face.
Inman's fans are used to his sarcastic and tongue-in-cheek drawings, and so were expecting these caricatures to be a little less than complementary. While they're hilarious and will probably be kept as a keepsake for years to come, it's doubtful that these illustrations will appear in family Christmas cards any time soon.
Why This Trend Is Growing
- Social Media Caricatures
- The trend of transforming personal photos into caricatures for social media profiles presents an opportunity for digital artists to offer their services for personalized illustrations.
- Personalized Keepsake Art
- Creating personalized caricatures as keepsakes based on real photos can be a disruptive innovation in the art industry, offering a fun and unique way for people to commemorate special moments.
- Humorous Character Transformation
- The humorous transformation of individuals, such as babies, into comical characters presents opportunities for artists and designers to create humorous merchandise and products.
Industries Being Reshaped
- Digital Art
- The digital art industry can benefit from the demand for customized caricatures, offering artists a new avenue to showcase their talent and reach a wider audience.
- Gift and Keepsake
- The gift and keepsake industry can tap into the trend of personalized caricatures, providing customers with innovative and memorable gift options.
- Merchandise and Product Design
- The merchandise and product design industry can explore incorporating humorous character transformations into their offerings, providing unique and entertaining products that stand out in the market.
