Is Charlie Brown Good Design?

Taking notes from the creator of Peanuts

Jun 13, 2024

Hi I’m Aaron. I’m a designer obsessed with books, art, and technology. Still Life is where I share things that inspire me, things I’m curious about, or things I’m learning.

I Don’t Like TV

Usually I don’t like watching TV unless I’m watching to learn something. For most of my childhood, I grew up without a TV, which, now that I think about it, created the perfect environment for my imagination to run wild and probably where my love for drawing started. By the way if you want to skip to the meat (or beet if you’re vegetarian) of this article scroll down to the takeaways.

Investigating Comics

Lately, I’ve been reading about comics, and thanks to cartoonist Scott McCloud, I’ve learned quite a bit. So when I wanted a good documentary about a classic comic strip, I turned to “Who Are You, Charlie Brown?” a documentary about Peanuts and its creator, Charles Schulz. This was my introduction to the genius of Charles Schulz. I’m sorry to say, I knew very little about Schulz or Charlie Brown.

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Figuring Out Stuff

For some years now, I’ve been actively sharing my drawing obsession through articles like this one, illustrations and cartoons, but between us, something has always felt missing. And honestly, it’s been bothering me like a pesky rock in my shoe. So when I listened to the Charles Schulz story, I was hooked and taking notes! He’d found something he was able to do until his death.

What is Peanuts?

I realize I sort of rushed through my introduction of Charlie Brown because it’s so embedded in popular culture. But here is the quick rundown. Peanuts was a comic strip started by Charles M. Schulz in 1950. Interesting note: After high school, he applied to work for Walt Disney and was rejected. Later in life, he would join Walt by having his Hollywood star placed next to his. (That must have felt good.)

Takeaways

1. Trust your process. Some of the most notable character traits in Peanuts happened because Schulz tried something on a Monday, it worked, and he tried it again on Tuesday. He allowed things to grow organically.

2. Good cartoon drawing is good design. “Is it fun to look at?” This is how Schulz identifies good cartoon drawings.

3. Be honest to yourself about your capabilities. Schulz described his talents as a “strange combination.” He drew very well, wrote well, and created well, but he would never have wanted to become an illustrator because he wanted total control.

4. Keep going. When asked about rejections, Schulz admits that it hurts because when someone rejects you, they reject all of you. But then he says something that struck me because of his certainty, which is a pattern that I’ve seen in so many successful creative individuals. “I was never discouraged. I always knew I was getting closer and closer and I was getting better.”

5. Know what you want.“I always knew what I wanted to do, and I did it.”

6. Do activities that get your mind going. Schulz discovered that by engaging in physical activity or even going to the symphony, he could tap into new ideas.

7. Critics are fuel. Later in life, a writer wrote a nasty column saying Schulz’s work wasn’t funny anymore, and all it did was make Schulz work even harder.

8. Fear being boring. Avoid being boring at all costs.

Is Peanuts Art?

I appreciate Schulz’s honesty and integrity. He never claimed to be an artist or claimed Peanuts as Art. He defined Art as work that speaks to succeeding generations. Do you agree with that? I do. There is humor and a deep human truth woven into the Peanuts comic strips. By the way, Schulz hated the name Peanuts and found it degrading. He was lied to by the syndicate that published his work because they claimed you couldn’t copyright a name like Charlie Brown.

‘Till Death Do Us Part

The most admirable thing about Charles M. Schulz, was that from 1950 to 2000, he alone created 17,897 strips. He was unashamed of drawing inspiration from his own life. He found humor in the bad things that had happened to him. Even when a stroke left him with a shaky hand, he kept going and he kept drawing. I was so inspired by his story that I felt like I had my clue! It was time to start my own comic strip.

Drawing Humanity

I’m calling it “Sidewalk” because its the first word that came to mind and I couldn’t think of anything else. I know we’re living in an exciting time where images, words, and more can be mechanically generated. A lot of us, as artists and designers, are trying and even struggling to figure out our place in an ever changing landscape, but I believe that Peanuts has something to teach us about craft. Because what is true, made with love and care, and uniquely ours will continue to resonate into the future. As long as what we do is rooted in human truth and good design. I believe comic strips, like good design, allow us to share something special with each other—our collective humanity.⚜️