Toby Morris (cartoonist)

Toby Morris (born 1980) is a New Zealand cartoonist, comics artist, illustrator and writer, best known for non-fiction online comics that highlight social issues.

Toby Morris
Born1980
New Zealand
NationalityNew Zealander
Area(s)Cartoonist, Illustrator
Pseudonym(s)XTOTL
Notable works
On A Plate, The Day The Costumes Stuck
http://xtotlworldwide.com

His work has reached worldwide audiences. On A Plate is an online comic Morris created to explain privilege by contrasting the lives from infancy to adulthood of two imaginary people: one wealthy, the other poor. It was shared globally and has been translated into several other languages.[1][2] Animated graphics created in collaboration with Siouxsie Wiles for The Spinoff's coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic were similarly widely shared and translated[3].

Life

Morris has attributed his love of comics to his family having moved frequently for his father's army career. He started making his own comics at the age of seven, during an extended break from school caused by a broken leg.[4]

After unsuccessfully applying to study design at Massey University, Morris did a BA in English literature and political science at Victoria University of Wellington. During that time his comics were published in the magazine of Victoria University's students' association, Salient, and he worked for Salient in 2002.[4][5]

During his early twenties, Morris played bass for Wellington band Batrider and moved to Melbourne with them. After leaving the band he relocated to Amsterdam with his wife, freelance photographer Sonya Nagels. They had their first child in Amsterdam and later returned to New Zealand.[1][6]

Morris lives in Auckland with Nagels and their sons Max and Iggy.[1][2]

Work

Morris's comic On A Plate was part of his series of non-fiction comics The Pencilsword, published by Radio New Zealand (RNZ) on its website The Wireless.[1]

Since moving on from RNZ, Morris has been creating non-fiction comics for online magazine The Spinoff.[2] The series is titled The Side Eye. The Spinoff has also published a web series Two Sketches in which Morris interviews another illustrator while they each complete a drawing. Interviewees for Two Sketches include Sharon Murdoch and Metiria Turei.[7][8]

He has published several books, including two collections of his cartoons depicting daily life: Alledaags: A Year in Amsterdam and Don't Puke On Your Dad: A Year In The Life of A New Father; and two children's books: Capsicum, Capsi Go and The Day The Costumes Stuck. The latter was nominated for the Russell Clark Award for Illustration in the 2017 NZ Book Awards.[4]

Flatten the Curve: How simple public health measures save lives from Coronavirus disease 2019

Morris was the illustrator of a special edition of the School Journal focused on Te Tiriti O Waitangi, which was supplied to schools in 2018.[9] A book version of the School Journal work was subsequently made available for purchase by the general public, and sold well.[10][11]

Flatten the Curve, a slightly animated comic that Morris created in 2020 with Siouxsie Wiles for The Spinoff to describe how simple citizen actions could vastly reduce the death toll, went viral during the Coronavirus disease 2019 viral pandemic and was seen worldwide (including in Wikipedia). Called "the defining chart of the Coronavirus", it was based on earlier graphics by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rosamund Pearce of The Economist, and Thomas Jefferson University professor Drew Harris.[12][13][3] The World Health Organisation (WHO) hired The Spinoff to deliver content in support of the global effort to combat the pandemic, after WHO's communications director encountered some of the work Morris and Wiles had produced. Morris was creative director for the WHO contract[14].

gollark: I'm glad SOMEONE worked it out.
gollark: I fixed* the @⁡everyone bug.
gollark: It uses "multinomial distribution" technology to avoid apioproblematicity.
gollark: The implications are obvious.
gollark: ++choose 1000000 andrew lyric palaiologos jabu heavpoot helloboi gollark

References
  1. French, Ricky (22 May 2017) [Originally published in the September 2016 issue of North & South magazine]. "Reading between the lines: Cartoonist Toby Morris". Bauer Media Group. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  2. Bruce, Greg (15 December 2018). "Kiwi cartoonists on what mattered in 2018". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  3. Mark Wilson (March 13, 2020). "The story behind 'flatten the curve,' the defining chart of the coronavirus". Fast Company.
  4. Monk, Felicity; Page, Emma (9 July 2017). "Spell binders: How Juliette MacIver, Toby Morris, Mary-anne Scott and Lisala Halapua write their acclaimed children's books". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  5. Wastney, Melissa (21 March 2013). "All things being equal (or not) that is the question". NewsWire.co.nz. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  6. Simpson, Emily (31 August 2016). "Cartoonist Toby Morris on being a dad and coming home". Stuff. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  7. "Toby Morris: Drawing talk and the power of the pen". RNZ (Radio interview). Interviewed by Noelle McCarthy. 2019-04-21. Retrieved 2019-05-12.CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. "Watch: Metiria Turei opens up on a life in politics, art and activism in Two Sketches". The Spinoff. 2019-08-06. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
  9. "School Journal teams up with Toby Morris to create graphic novel about the Treaty of Waitangi". Stuff. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  10. Little, Paul, ed. (October 2019). "The books that are making us laugh, cry and reflect". North & South (New Zealand magazine). Retrieved 2019-12-20.
  11. Desmarais, Felix (2019-09-25). "Māori book sales in te wiki o te reo Māori suggest Kiwis increasingly eager to learn te reo". Stuff. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
  12. Toby Manhire (March 14, 2020). "Covid-19: All arrivals to NZ must self-isolate for 14 days. Here's what you need to know". The Spinoff. (NZ Prime Minister) Jacinda Ardern with a print-out of the Spinoff 'Flatten the Curve' visual by Siouxsie Wiles and Toby Morris. (Photo by Dave Rowland/Getty Images)
  13. Denise Chow; Jason Abbruzzese (March 11, 2020). "What is 'flatten the curve'? The chart that shows how critical it is for everyone to fight coronavirus spread". NBC News.
  14. Edmunds, Susan (2020-06-20). "How a Kiwi media company became the World Health Organisation's latest Covid-19 weapon". Stuff. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
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