Toby Morris (born 1980) is a New Zealand cartoonist, comics artist, illustrator and writer, best known for non-fiction online comics that often highlight social issues. His work has reached worldwide audiences. ''On A Plate'' is an online comic Morris created to explain privilege by contrasting the lives from infancy to adulthood of two imaginary people: one wealthy, the other poor. It was shared globally and has been translated into several other languages.

Animated graphics Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refer ...

created in collaboration with

Siouxsie Wiles Siouxsie Wiles (born Susanna Wiles) is a British microbiologist and science communicator. Her specialist areas are infectious diseases and bioluminescence. She is based in New Zealand. She is the head of University of Auckland's Bioluminescent ...

for

The Spinoff ''The Spinoff'' is a New Zealand online magazine and news website that was founded in 2014. It is known for current affairs coverage, political and social analysis, and cultural commentary. It earns money through commercial sponsorship and su ...

's coverage of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

were similarly widely shared and translated. In 2022 Morris won the Prime Minister's Science Communication Prize.

Life

Morris has attributed his love of comics to his family having moved frequently for his father's army career. He started making his own comics at the age of seven, during an extended break from school caused by a broken leg. After unsuccessfully applying to study design at

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

, Morris did a BA in English literature and political science at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

. During that time his comics were published in the magazine of Victoria University's students' association, '' Salient'', and he worked for ''Salient'' in 2002. During his early twenties, Morris played bass for

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

band Batrider and moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

with them. He later got hearing aids and was relieved to learn that his hearing loss was hereditary and not due to loud music. After leaving the band he relocated to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

with his wife, freelance photographer Sonya Nagels. They had their first child in Amsterdam and later returned to New Zealand. Morris lives in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

with Nagels and their two sons.

Work

Morris's comic ''On A Plate'' was part of his series of non-fiction comics ''The Pencilsword'', published by

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and c ...

(RNZ) on its website The Wireless. Since moving on from RNZ, Morris has been creating non-fiction comics for online magazine

, including a series titled ''The Side Eye''. The Spinoff has also published a web series ''Two Sketches'' in which Morris interviews another illustrator while they each complete a drawing. Interviewees for ''Two Sketches'' included

Sharon Murdoch Sharon Murdoch is a cartoonist born in 1960 in Invercargill, New Zealand. She is the first woman to regularly produce political cartoons for New Zealand mainstream media, and draws the cartoon cat Munro who accompanies the daily crossword in Fai ...

and

Metiria Turei Metiria Leanne Agnes Stanton Turei (born 1970) is a New Zealand academic and a former New Zealand politician. She was a Member of Parliament from 2002 to 2017 and the female co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand from 2009 to 2017 ...

. He has published several books, including two collections of his cartoons depicting daily life: ''Alledaags: A Year in Amsterdam'' and ''Don't Puke On Your Dad: A Year In The Life of A New Father''; and two children's books: ''Capsicum, Capsi Go'' and ''The Day The Costumes Stuck''. The latter was nominated for the Russell Clark Award for Illustration in the 2017 NZ Book Awards.

Morris was the illustrator of a special edition of the '' School Journal'' focused on

Te Tiriti O Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the M ...

, which was supplied to schools in 2018. A book version of the ''School Journal'' work was subsequently made available for purchase by the general public, and sold well. The latter was nominated for the

Elsie Locke Elsie Violet Locke (née Farrelly; 17 August 1912 – 8 April 2001) was a New Zealand communist writer, historian, and leading activist in the feminism and peace movements. Also available to subscribers at Oxford Reference Online'. Probably bes ...

Award for Non-Fiction in the 2020

New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are a series of literary awards presented annually to recognise excellence in children and young adult's literature in New Zealand. The awards began in 1982 as the New Zealand Governm ...

, and also for the Scholastic New Zealand Award for Best Children’s Book in the Publishers Association of New Zealand Book Design Awards 2020. ''Flatten the Curve'', a slightly animated comic that Morris created in 2020 with

for

to describe how simple citizen actions could vastly reduce the death toll, went viral during the

Coronavirus disease 2019 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

viral pandemic and was seen worldwide (including in Wikipedia). Called "the defining chart of the Coronavirus", it was based on earlier graphics by the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

, Rosamund Pearce of

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

, and

Thomas Jefferson University Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the univer ...

professor Drew Harris. The

World Health Organisation The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

(WHO) hired The Spinoff to deliver content in support of the global effort to combat the pandemic, after WHO's communications director encountered some of the work Morris and Wiles had produced. Morris was

creative director A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...

for the WHO contract, and went on to become the creative director of The Spinoff. Siouxsie Wiles has credited Morris for his part in the work that contributed to her being named New Zealander of the Year for 2021.

Awards

In May 2022 Morris was selected as the winner of the 2021 Prime Minister's Science Communication Prize.

Newspaper Publishers' Association awards

The New Zealand News Publishers' Association awards are given out annually under varying brand names and Morris has been a recipient since 2016.

Canon Media Awards

* 2016 – Opinion writer – general (with Toby Manhire), for RNZ Online * 2017 – Best artwork/graphics, for RNZ and The Wireless

Voyager Media Awards

* 2018 – Best artwork/graphics (including interactive/motion graphics), for The Spinoff and The Wireless * 2019 – Best artwork/graphics (including interactive/motion graphics), for The Spinoff * 2020 – Cartoonist of the Year, for The Spinoff (also runner up for Best artwork/graphics) *2021 – Cartoonist of the Year and Best Artist/Graphic Design, both for The Spinoff

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Toby 1980 births Living people New Zealand cartoonists