The TRUE FACTS Poster
Every so often I get to do a little project with my friend Ze Frank, and it’s always fun! In this case, we decided to create a poster with quotes from his wildly popular “True Facts About Animals” video series. “True Facts” are both a parody of overly self-important nature documentaries and carefully researched pieces that do deliver actual true facts.
Over the years, Ze has created over 60 episodes—each exhaustively researched and meticulously produced—so selecting a set of favorite quotes was no mean feat. We asked Ze’s fans for their favorites, which led to hundreds of excellent submissions, and the initial poster design.
Ze had given me the option of culling the quotes to a manageable amount, but they were all so great and funny that a “more is more” approach seemed indicated. I paired the words with a mad collage of Victorian stock illustrations to create the look of an encyclopedia edited by an insane person. My personal favorite is the unholy rump-to-tentacle union of giraffe and octopus. (I’m also fond of the almost entirely somewhat mostly hidden chameleon.)
Ze then added his personal favorites—and did a massive editing pass to make sure each quote was accurate to the actual episode. A lot of submissions had drifted a bit from the original in the way that “Luke, I am your father” has drifted from the actual “No, I am your father” as it appears in the movie.
The poster is now on sale at Ze True Store, along wth a long sought reissue of the original “Invocation For Beginners” poster.
