Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Chapter Twelve Editorials, Opinion Pieces, Columns, Blogs and Cartoons 379 Labels The test of a good editorial illustration or editorial cartoon is how easily it communicates to the viewer or reader. Labels may be needed to make your illustration or cartoon clear to your audience. If in doubt, get responses from others on your staff and from several diverse readers to see if your meaning is clear. Labels may be necessary on several parts of your cartoon. If you show your mascot cowering behind the post of a school building’s porch, wiping his forehead, weak with relief, while a runaway school bus careens away, you may need to label the bus to explain the disaster that your school has just avoided. “State School Budget” or “Drastic Budget Cuts” or “School Closures” makes clear the danger the mascot—and your community—has just escaped. Caricatures Political leaders, entertainers and other public fi gures are often drawn as caricatures (Figure 12.11). A distinctive feature—such as large ears, a prominent jaw or an extreme hairdo—is exaggerated. Public fi gures are fair game for an editorial cartoonist to criticize. The audience usually understands that when the governor’s caricature is shown throwing a grandma under a bus, especially if the grandma is labeled “Senior Citizens Programs,” the reference is to funding cuts. The cartoonist is not accusing the governor of murder (Figure 12.12 on the next page). Figure 12.10 Debuting in an editorial cartoon by Thomas Nast in the late 1800s, the elephant and donkey have represented the political parties in the United States ever since. Figure 12.11 A caricature exaggerates features for a comical or satirical effect.