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Criteria for Judging in Cartooning

Cartooning came into being mostly during the 19th century, as an offshoot of drawing and, more specifically, caricature. Caricature first developed during the Renaissance, and was practiced by such artists as Leonardo Da Vinci. Finding its first real "home" in the newspapers and magazines of the 19th century, cartooning grew and became increasingly stylized in the 20th century; however, much has changed, although it has always remained a source of fanciful amusement and political satire.

  1. Content

    • What is the cartoon about? The first criteria to judge is Content.

      Score of 40: A really well made story, full of interest and following a compelling plot line while being animated by funny and fully-realized characters

      30: A story that has interest to it, and excels most of the time in the telling of the story. Characters are quite believable and may even be memorable.

      20: The story has a plot and has a trajectory to it, but does not keep interest throughout the cartoon, and fails in making one laugh much of the time. Characters are fairly flat and one cannot identify with them.

      10: The plot is weak and the story unable to get anywhere convincingly. Characters are one dimensional and unfunny.

    Technical Elements

    • The technical elements -- the actual level of drawing and coloring -- are considered.

      Score of 40: Cartoon is of superior quality. Coloring, line (aspect of drawing), shading and overall composition are excellent and put themselves to the service of the cartoon superbly.

      30: Again, those elements -- coloring, line, shading and composition -- are quite adequate and the cartoonist shows him/herself to be a talented artist at a fairly high level of expertise, but with room for improvement.

      20: Mediocre execution. Technical elements show effort, but lack of hard work and talent.

      10: Terrible. Technical Elements are sloppy. Much improvement needed.

    Presentation

    • How does a cartoon comes across? What is done to keep the reader's attention?

      Score of 40: The cartoon is framed beautifully (like how individual photographs are framed by a photographer) and the framing keeps the story real, balanced and highly readable. The most important fact - is it funny? In this case - very much so.

      30: Again the presentation of the work, including all the various elements, must come together, and in the case, this happens inconsistently throughout the cartoon. Fairly compelling.

      20: There is effort, but the execution is flawed. The framing is weak or obfuscating the story.

      10: Very poor. Shows little sign of effort to present the material to an audience. Dismal work.

    Overall Experience

    • How are all the sums of the presented judging criteria added up? How well do they do that

      Score of 40: All the elements of the cartoon - everything mentioned so far, but now also including that indefinable quality that beguiles and enchants the viewer. Here in spades. Very provocative.

      30: There is some "magic" here, undoubtedly, but it is touched upon sporadically and does not maintain this level thoroughly in the cartoon.

      20: Perhaps some allusions to enchantment, but besides these "touches," there is nothing much to fill one's time.

      10: One wonders why the cartoonist has chosen this field as a vocation.

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