'Aster', pseudonym for Jean-Philippe Legrand, born 07/07/76, domiciled in Belgium. After a study background in maths and science, I obtained a Masters in Journalism and Communication from the University of Liège. I have been working as a cartoonist, caricaturist and illustrator for the corporate and institutional press since 1999, and I offer:

- Live cartooning (using live caricatures) for various kinds of conferences, seminars, workshops, ceremonies and meetings, as well as the use of drawing as a means of reflection, discussion and summary during group work at business meetings. See www.cartoonevent.com.

- Editorial drawings, humorous cartoons, caricatures, mascots, logos and other illustrations for the corporate and institutional press. See www.dessindepresse.com.

- Graphic creation, laying out your documents with my illustrations. See www.bluetouch.be/aster.

The idea is to make plenary sessions more dynamic by projecting live cartoons produced on the spot by a cartoonist working in the control room, on stage or in the auditorium, inspired by the themes, context, speakers' ideas, audience reactions and general atmosphere. The cartoons are shown via a fixed camera connected to a projector. This will create an element of surprise, make the atmosphere more relaxed and capture the audience's attention by making them laugh, think or applaud, emphasise certain topics, facilitate the structuring of the event and leave everyone with good memories. It will not encroach upon the timing: around forty interventions, lasting just a few seconds, over the whole day. Finally, the cartoons created will be made available to the organisers and will constitute a bank of illustrations which can be used for reports, Web pages, internal press articles, etc.

You have been tasked with organising a meeting (conference, debate, training session, etc.) involving on-stage speakers and an audience. This could be a formal event or a promotional meeting. In one scenario, you may be looking to create a casual atmosphere, with the cartoons acting as 'the icing on the cake': they will serve as a visual aid for expressing and remembering ideas, or perhaps re-focusing your participants' attention... In another scenario, you might know that the topics to be dealt with are abstract, complex, delicate or even 'too serious'. There might be a risk of the audience getting bored or discouraged from participating. You might have a very busy agenda and foresee a long meeting with heated debate. You might worry that the atmosphere will be too tense (increased stress for the speakers, a restless audience), or too relaxed (speeches that lack relevance, low level of responsiveness, general disinterest). You are looking for an effective and original way of enhancing the meeting via a medium that 'makes a mark' and can be used to illustrate subsequent communication on the event (reports, website, articles, etc.). Live cartoons offer you a multi-faceted solution.

You will need to communicate with other participants (colleagues, audience members, etc.) during a 'serious' event. Your goal is to convey a message in the clearest possible way, irrespective of whether your audience is familiar with your subject. You will have to maintain their attention, especially if dealing with an abstract or complex subject, and you are aware that you are just one in a long line of speakers. You would also like your audience to enjoy your presentation and you want to create an atmosphere conducive to debate and reflection, making you feel more relaxed and ensuring that you get your message across. Illustrations, whether drawn 'live' during your speech or included in your presentation beforehand (slides, PowerPoints, handouts...), are a great communicational enhancer.

You have been tasked with facilitating a debate, leading a training session or presenting a televised broadcast. You are looking for an unusual and effective tool that will capture the participants' attention, establish an atmosphere conducive to participation, highlight certain aspects of the theme dealt with or facilitate the sequencing and introduction of topics. Nevertheless, you wish to proceed with care and keep control of the structure and content being put across. Moreover, you do not want your reputation to be tainted by choosing to work with the wrong people. This is totally understandable... Provided that effective briefing is given prior to the event, live cartoons will be a source of great satisfaction and, I hope, pride at having taken this initiative. In addition to the communicational advantages of cartoons, which have become my specialist area since 1999, my knowledge of the best times at which to intervene and my upbeat tone will guarantee a smooth operation. Many of my clients will attest to this...

Contact me by e-mail at or, quite simply, by phone on +32 80 64 32 08 (mobile: +32 475 33 71 24). We can get to know each other, and I will explain my prices and way of working. I will then put together an official quote.

There are no prices given online, but I will be happy to send you an e-mail setting out my rates in detail. These are given by the half-day, full day and evening, and adapted to take into account any travel required. To ensure that you are able to access this service at the best possible price, I advise you to visit the page .

In your e-mail or on the phone, please provide me with:

- The exact venue and date, plus an idea of the start and end times (1/2 day? full day? several days?)
- Very briefly: the type of event, audience profile or number of participants
- The type of service desired, i.e.: live drawing, on-the-spot caricatures, other types of drawings (invitations? mascot? etc.). Will there be a workshop session?
- The official contact and billing details (official name and address) and, most importantly, for companies, your EU VAT number! In France, EU VAT numbers consist of FR + 11 digits (2 digit key + the company's SIREN 9-digit number). They must come up as valid on the EU VIES website (https://www.ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies)
- The payment terms. I provide for a 15-day payment period. After this timeframe, a surcharge is applied.

My quote can be used as an order form, since it includes all the necessary details: if you wish to book the service, all you need to do is sign it and send it back to me.

Haw to get the best price (in French)

Please read the following information to facilitate our working together: The artistic performance of 'live drawing', also called 'visual scribing' and 'live cartooninggraphic facilitation', is based on improvisation on the day itself, but also on an understanding of the event and a certain level of preparation. To optimise my output, I invite you to send me the following information (if you have not already done so, and provided it is readily available) :

- The event name (+ slogan, aim, description...)
- The event venue, address and possibly access plan
- The start and end times (as precise as possible), plus the agenda/programme
- The names and addresses of the contact people on the day and during my preparation
- The names and positions of the most important speakers
- A good-quality company logo (and event logo)
- The PowerPoint presentations or other supporting documentation
- Any potentially useful jargon

I undertake to familiarise myself with the company and will ask for the contact details of a technician or the stage manager on the day to fine-tune any technical aspects with them and/or the facilitator.
I usually organise a telephone briefing a few days before the performance..

I will arrive early, connect my camera and set myself up in the control room, or in a discreet corner of the room, in audio or visual contact with the event director. I will talk to the organisers, speakers and presenter to ensure that we are all on the same wavelength and to deal with anything unexpected. It is a good idea to have somebody from the organisation sit beside me to quickly answer my questions, explain any acronyms and validate the appropriateness of the drawings. I will then be ready to go!

We will have agreed in advance the pace of my interventions: either during the speeches themselves, after the presentations (conclusion effect) or during changes of speaker (transition effect). It is important to have a good means of technical transition between the speakers' PowerPoint sources and my camera (via a switch), as well as a comfort monitor so they can see that there is a drawing being shown to the audience. It is also a good idea to introduce the cartoonist, so that people understand where the illustrations are coming from, and feel at ease to react.

The organisers of events such as conferences, forums, etc. usually conduct post-event follow-up work. It is indeed useful to take stock, send a report to the participants, ensure that the event is covered by the internal press, etc. The cartoons produced 'live' at the event can contribute to providing a good summary. They are also a good source of iconographic data. There will be no additional charge for the use of drawings produced and billed for in publications linked to the event, provided that this does not exceed a specific pre-defined framework.
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The intervention on the day of the event, plus all the preparation and travel time.

For the cartoonist

- A workspace measuring around 1 sq m, either in the control room or, preferably, discreetly situated in the room itself (at the side, back, on stage or in the wings - to be agreed), in a place from where I can see the speakers.
- An electric connection with 2 sockets
- A visual or intercom connection with the event director (unless the cartoonist is to manage the integration of the drawings himself)
- A quick, simple means of communication between the PC sources (transmitting the slides) and the animation stand (my drawings): switch, commutator, video projector remote control)

Note: When working in a closed control room, an audio feed of the main room (captured by an ambient mic) will give the cartoonist a sense of the audience's reaction... Getting a feel for the general atmosphere is important, since the cartoonist will feed off positive feedback such as laughter and applause.

For the speakers
- A comfort monitor allowing them to see that a drawing is being projected (e.g. the same back screen as is used for their PowerPoint presentations).

In 2 clics, forward my equipment requirements to th technicien or stage manager : Visualizer VZ8-plus

I can provide the following, upon request :

- A 2 input / 2 output VGA switch (ref: Extron SW2 VGA DA2 Auto Switch)
- A 2m x 1.60m projection screen (*)
- An Acer 5000 lumens projector (*)
- VGA, video or s-Video cables (5m, 10m, 15m)



(*) (*) Services in Belgium and border areas only

What rights will you have as regards the live drawings?

You will have ample rights to use the drawings within a defined context, i.e. related to the event. It may be possible to extend these rights, partially or totally, where appropriate.

With regard to drawings produced 'live', it is appropriate to distinguish between limited and extensive (Note: this distinction is personal and does not relate to any legal provisions).

Restricted rights (included in the package) refer to the rights of reproduction for internal use closely related to the event. They are assigned, i.e., included in the basic service fee. This is convenient because it gives you free rein to use the cartoons in your reports, web pages, company magazine articles, etc. as long as this use is closely and exclusively linked to the event itself.

Extended rights (optional) refer to rights of reproduction for use outside of the strict event framework, e.g. in a more general article, a poster, something published several months after the meeting, an advertising campaign or a slide show, etc. Unless otherwise stated, these rights are not included in the initial offer and are subject to the author's explicit consent. Full and definitive assignment of all reproduction rights may be envisaged in advance or after the event.

Who owns the live drawings?

When we talk about the ownership of drawings, we must distinguish between physical property and intellectual property (Note: these are legal concepts).

Physical property (optional) Ownership of the original drawing, made up of paper and colour, i.e. the physical, tangible object. I usually keep my live drawings unless my client chooses to buy them all (for a fixed amount, agreed in advance or after the event) or a selection (to give as souvenirs, for example). A word of warning: giving or selling an original does not equate to a total or partial assignment of the rights to its reproduction, since these come under intellectual property.

Intellectual property This is a more complex concept which itself includes an economic component (consisting of reproduction and representation rights, grouped together under the term 'right of use') and a moral component (including the right of disclosure, the right of authorship, the right of withdrawal and, finally, the right to the integrity of the work). Economic rights (optional) These are transferable and have a limited duration. In our case (independently from the selling or giving of the originals, i.e., the physical work), I retain the right to use the drawings produced live, unless we explicitly agree to a partial or total assignment of the author's rights, as set out on the invoice. This is the subject of the agreement for the acquisition of restricted rights and the option for 'assignment of extended rights'. Moral rights (reserved) These are restricted, inalienable and imprescriptible. In practice, this means that, whoever has the original, and whatever the extent to which reproduction rights have been assigned, I remain the author of my work and can disseminate it (except if they contain confidential information) and withdraw its use. As a consequence, any alteration, distortion, misappropriation, plagiarism, publication without the signature or outside of the scope provided for, etc., is forbidden.

 

 

Who is responsible for the consequences of the distribution of an artwork?