Brynn Marie Evans » comics

Facebook vs. everyone

brynn — Thu, 27 May 2010 06:55:45 +0000

It seems like Facebook is in the news constantly these days. People are concerned about privacy, security, and general trust of Facebook. So to address those issues, today Facebook announced new privacy controls.

I can see both sides of the issue, so I decided to draw a comic: Facebook vs. Everyone.
In it, basically General Zuckerberg is saying: “patience, my children”, and the mob is doing what mobs do — complain, gossip, and play Farmville!

is where my comics live!

A month of comics

brynn — Thu, 27 May 2010 06:30:54 +0000

This post is long overdue, but it has been a busy few months! In April 2010 I took on a pledge with my coworker, Cyd Harrell, to draw 10 comics if she would write 10 poems! This was pretty much impossible given our workload, but we both managed to get 4 out. Not terrible, and it was a super fun exercise:

#1: Yosemite is merely a visual journal for a weekend I spent in Yosemite with my boyfriend, sister, and brother-in-law. Some funny thing seemed to happen to everyone (though some might argue except me).

#2: Toy Exchange was drawn at IA Summit 2010 as a submission to the Mad*Pow challenge to design sustainable toys. The video blurb about my submission is also up!

#3: Name Tag is a comic rendition of a hilarious rant by Carolyn Snyder at IA Summit 2010 about the terrible usability of our name badges.

#4: Carpe Diem was (almost) a single frame comic. I really just did this one for fun!

is where my comics live!

Morning commute [Comic]

brynn — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:34 +0000

This is a short comic based on my experience a few weeks back when I got stuck in bad traffic on my way to a meeting with a friend at Google. I decided to drive 280 South from San Francisco and then cut across the peninsula to reach Google (much closer to 101). I figured I’d just draw my story for the fun of it!

All my comics can be found on my scribd account.

Morning Commute

How Usability Studies are Like a French Meal [Comic]

brynn — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:24:18 +0000

It occurred to me the other day that usability studies were like a fine, french meal when I decided to insert a mini-task within a longer user study. This mini-task reminded me of the “amuse-bouche” in french meals, like the bite of sorbet or other spoonful of citrus goodiness to cleanse the palate. After that, the rest of the story just fell into place

All my comics can be found on my scribd account.

How Usability Studies are Like a French Meal

Parallel Lives: A comic about academic publishing [Comic]

brynn — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:30:09 +0000

In light of the CHI 2010 paper reviews that were due last week, I created a comic strip about the academic research, review, and publishing process. I previously noted that this was one of my tips for “dealing with the rebuttal process!”

This comic has elements of truth and exaggeration, but is meant to bring awareness to the contrast between the experiences of an academic who operates in an established culture of academic rigor and anonymous peer-review and an entrepreneur whose culture embraces experimentation. Many would consider the entrepreneur to have a more successful outcome, while the response from academics may be that this is just what it takes to do research.

I have lived a bit in both of these worlds, and neither one really makes sense. You can decide for yourself!

(Be forewarned that there are some “insider” jokes in here. If you don’t “get” something, feel free to ask me about it!)

All my comics can be found on my scribd account.

Parallel Lives

Papel, The Paper Cup [Comic]

brynn — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:23:27 +0000

The betacup team is working to make known the size and scope of the problem with non-recyclable paper cups. They’re consumed in large quantities, especially for to-go lattes and the sort. And they’re subsequently disposed of in large quantities. In fact, over 58 billion paper cups are thrown away every year.

The protagonist in my comic strip is one of these disposed-of paper cups. Papel, the paper cup, is brought up in a warehouse, gets transitioned to a coffee shop, bought by a consumer, drunk from, and then trashed. This is his story, and I hope it makes you think twice the next time you buy your coffee to-go.

All my comics can be found on my scribd account.

Papel the Paper Cup