Scott Adams is a well-known American comic book writer and author. Throughout his life, he has gone from a bank manager to a cartoonist. His most famous work is the series of satirical comic books "Dilbert".
about the author
Adams received an economic education, has a master's degree in administration, and also studied at the College of Arts.
Since childhood, he was fond of comics. He worked at a bank in San Francisco, where he was the victim of a robbery several times, and at the finance department in Pacific Bell. While working in the office, he began to draw Dilbert comics. Since 1989, under his authorship, 9,000 satirical strips from this series have already been released. In the 90s, he completely switched to the work of the artist, doing “Dilbert” full time. Initially, he wrote comics in English, but by 2000 they had been translated into 19 languages and released in 57 countries. They were printed in newspapers and in separate books. The phenomenal success made the author famous throughout the world. Adams had other projects, but the best comics and the most famous from the Dilbert series. In the late 2000s and early 10s, he published several books about success and self-development, such as Luck Theory, Shards of God, Watch Out for the Chief, and Good Book. In addition, Adams actively writes on the blog and engages in journalistic activities. On his account there are many articles and posts on a variety of topics: from business and politics to a vegetarian diet.
US Presidential Election 2016
Initially, Scott Adams supported Hillary Clinton, but very quickly changed his position. Donald Trump was an extremely unpopular candidate in creative circles. Therefore, when the famous comic book artist announced his sympathy for him, it caused surprise and indignation. He publicly expressed his thoughts about the elections and candidates on his blog and social networks. At some point, the artist began to receive letters with threats and insults. Scott Adams emphasized that a Republican candidate could do more for America than Clinton. Moreover, Trump sympathized with him as a businessman, he praised his approach to the election campaign and predicted his victory long before the announcement of the election results.
About Dilbert
The idea of a comic book series about the average white-collar came to Scott Adams when he himself was an office worker. He sarcastic manner showed the structure of modern office work, ridiculed its absurdity and inconsistency.
Dilbert himself is a collective image. The character works as an engineer in the IT field, but the situations that happen to him are close to many who have tried office work at least once, albeit in other areas.
Adams chose a very good style for his work. Simple colors and shapes are easily perceived and laid off in the head of the viewer, the conditional study of the faces makes it easy for the reader to associate themselves or their friends with the characters in the comic book. The background and surroundings are also not very detailed, but the atmosphere of the office is well conveyed and felt thanks to details like a tie, a coffee mug or a vending machine with water.
About crushing success and its causes
According to the author himself, the success of “Dilbert” is due to the fact that he came out at the right time, plus an element of chance and luck. In the promotion and development of office work comics, the author was assisted by a business administration education, which taught him the importance of public feedback. So Scott Adams, focusing on reviews, picked up an important topic for society. Helped, of course, and observations made at the workplace. Soon, strips about Dilbert, ironic and truthful, became the most popular comics about office life. The success was also influenced by the fact that comics were originally released in English - the international language, so the potential audience reach was huge.
About office work
Back in his student years, Adams planned to work in the economic sphere and in management. However, having worked from 9 to 5, he found the egregious absurdity of the office structure and hierarchy. The increase in incompetent employees, lengthy tasks and the appearance of activity disappointed the artist and gave rise to the idea of comics about life in such a job. Soon, "Dilbert" became famous and popular and began to bring income to the creator, but Adams was in no hurry to leave the hated work. Having studied economics and management in theory and practice, he decided to postpone his dismissal, as financial stability allowed him to work on comics without fear of hunger and poverty, while drawing inspiration for new releases. At the same time, the author was not afraid that he would be kicked out of work, as he had an alternative source of income, which over time became more profitable and more reliable.
In general, Adams believed that 70% of office work makes no sense, managers do nothing, and the bosses diligently pretend that they know something, which makes fun of his best comics.
Life after office
Leaving the post, Scott Adams promised himself to stay away from work from 9 to 5. Finally, the author was able to afford to work at his own pace and create a convenient daily routine. Now his lifestyle has nothing to do with what is described in Dilbert. The artist gets up early in the morning - about 5 o’clock. In the first half of the day, he actively writes to the blog and social networks and draws 2 comics. After lunch - physical education, running, cardio exercises or tennis. The rest of the day is devoted to other projects that are not related to comics and public activities. Many of his achievements in the past were not successful, but Adams does not give up. Learning from mistakes and working hard, he conquers new horizons, generating new ideas and putting them into practice.