The Kewpie creator

Rose O’Neill was an American illustrator and writer.

At the age of 19, O‘Neill moved to New York as an aspiring writer, but it was her artistic talent that gained her entry into the world of publishing.

As a self-taught illustrator, she started out selling drawings to newspapers, then to magazines such as Cosmopolitan and comics like Puck, where she later became the first female illustrator on their team.

It was the creation of her famous Kewpie characters that earned her national acclaim, and a fortune! These cupid-style characters featured in comics and magazines, adverts for brands, in merchandise and became a symbol for women’s suffrage.  

O’Neill was always a writer, she wrote poems, letters and novels. The Ozarkian Collection contains a selection of her images, illustrations and hand-written correspondence.

Read Hoi Polloi, a handwritten poem about everyday bird song. 

Writing

Among O’Neill’s client roster was US dessert brand Jell-O. Her drawings were used in their advertising to illustrate the story within the ad – What Mamma Said features two children visiting the grocery store to buy Jell-O, Sunday as a Day of Rest features Jell-O as a time-saving dessert hack while the men rest.

Think of a product brand that holds significant nostalgic value for you. Try creating a short story that encompasses that nostalgic feeling while clearly communicating the product benefits or brand values.

We’d love to see what you come up with, if you’d like to share.

Photo by Girl with red hat on Unsplash