/Interview/ The brains behind: The Politically Incorrect Alphabet
07/12/2006 | Filed under Discover > Interview
Freelance designer and new media author Mark Jones recently welcomed visitor number 250,000 to The Politically Incorrect Alphabet (www.better-together.co.uk). Here, he explains what it’s all about
.net: What inspired you to create The Politically Incorrect Alphabet?
MJ: My wife teaches in an infants’ school, where I sometimes volunteer to help decorate classrooms before a new term. One day, I was comparing word choices on different alphabet charts and noticed that ‘I for Indian’ was no longer included. This gave me the notion to create a children’s alphabet using terms once accepted without question but now banned because of political correctness. The next day, in my local, I’d sketched a couple dozen possibilities in my notebook, but there were gaps, which is when I thought to go online with the idea and start a forum for suggestions.
.net: How long does it take you to complete an illustration?
MJ: On average, an illustration might take an hour to complete. I draw them in Freehand, which I prefer over Illustrator, and try to build where possible from simple shapes: ellipses and rectangles. I work to a grid, use angles in multiples of 15 degrees and confine myself to a very limited palette of five warm colours (plus white and four greys). This is all very anal but it gives them a consistency of style.
.net: Are they really all politically incorrect?
MJ: No, they’re not, even if you stretch the definition. Most are but some were visitors’ suggestions, which I have doubts about but they made for a pretty picture anyway. And a few I just wanted to draw in the style – like ‘Dalek’ for instance (though a Dalek is symbolic of a totalitarian regime). I’ve archived forum threads for completed illustrations (all linked from the homepage) where a justification can usually be found.
.net: How have people reacted?
MJ: I’ve had just the one complaint from someone who thought that including ‘F for faggot’ (a meatball) wasn’t nice, and possibly indicated that I was “uncomfortable with my bisexuality” (sic). And a few people have noted that they’re not all politically incorrect, but then it’s my alphabet, not a public service. Everybody else has been very positive, either that or unimpressed but couldn’t be bothered to tell me.
.net: Are you planning to reinstate the forum so that people can submit their own suggestions?
MJ: I would like to reinstate the forum, it was good to get feedback and it gave me the opportunity to be a pompous git in return. I was kicked off my shared server because the traffic was too great, and other hosted sites were experiencing problems as a result. This was after I’d had 30,000 visitors on one mad day. Of course, most visitors go no further than the homepage, but there were always people browsing the forum, and we had about 300 threads on the go.
.net: How do you decide which suggestion to illustrate?
MJ: I have a flexible to-do list of witty suggestions and cute images, and in the forum days, I would favour new users over regular visitors, simply to encourage them. A strict definition of the politically incorrect would be attitudes, assumptions, language or behaviours that deny groups of people dignity and equality, often based around racial or sexual prejudices. Some of the PC crowd also oppose anything that restricts a person’s expression of individuality, or conversely anything that grates against the common sensibility. The exclusiveness of organised religions is un-PC, but prejudice against a belief is also un-PC. I also include language which is no longer appropriate in the classroom because of change of use. ‘Muff’, for instance, and items connected with drugs and violence. As for research, I might look up subjects so that I can appear knowledgeable but don’t seek confirmation of political correctness because this is not a test. If I can, I draw an image without reference, because I imagine it’s more likely to be an archetype that way.
.net: Is there anything you wouldn’t illustrate?
MJ: Inevitably, it was suggested that I include ‘Mohammed’ or ‘The Prophet’ at the time of the cartoons hoohah, but they know where I live. And there are other cards which would be gratuitously offensive without redeeming wit. I wouldn’t include a black person under ‘N’. My guilty secret is that I myself am a PC Guardianista – it’s just the devil that gets into me sometimes.
.net: What kind of effect has the ‘alphabet’ had on your career?
MJ: I started the alphabet for fun rather than for profit, which is fortunate. But I’ve had a few small commissions, and even one paid one!
.net: What else are you responsible for on the web?
MJ: Most of the new media work I do currently is for big pharma, restricted to internal use or medical professionals, and never reaches the general public. What does get out is often the stuff so diluted by committee that while I’m happy to be paid, I’m not in a rush to claim credit. I have an out of date portfolio at www.enile.co.uk.
.net: What are your plans for the future?
MJ: These past few months, I’ve been busy freelancing from home, so my plan is to reserve a bit more time for myself and my wife. When work slackens off, I squeeze in another illustration for the alphabet. There are plenty of suggestions waiting to be added.
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