awkward together

Turning uncomfortable situations into humorous stories is what Elaine Short, of Logan Square, has been doing for all twenty-four years of her life. 

The Pittsburgh born, L.A. grown and now permanent Chicagoan has used her awkward sense of humor and witty writing to grow her career.

“I started drawing comics three years ago when I was bored out of my mind with no job and living in my uncle's house,” said Short, who says she just took to the art after seeing her uncle’s sketches.

Once Short discovered that she could draw, it didn’t take long before she dubbed her character’s name, “Funny Girl.”

Short, who lacked confidence as a teenager, now embraces her moniker because it forces her to defy it.

“After a certain point in college, I realized no one cared who I was or what I did,” said Short. “So, why not just do what I want? Why not say what I want? My friends think I'm funny. Maybe others will, too.”

With that in mind, Short decided she was going to write a book – no easy feat considering the high cost of printing.

Thankfully, she has experience with fundraising.

Short previously worked for the wildly popular game, Cards Against Humanity, which was initially funded via Kickstarter. 

“We started doing an introductory workshop with some folks from Kickstarter,” said Short, who now works full-time as an associate editor for a custom publisher in the Loop. “It was interesting, very fun and I learned a good bit about how to use Kickstarter myself.”

During Short’s last month of working for Cards Against Humanity, her boss instructed her to focus on drawing her cartoon and that he would help her create a Kickstarter to get her book off the ground.

With the help of her boss and some contributions from her friends, Max Temkin, co-creator of Cards Against Humanity and Luke Crane, games specialist at Kickstarter, her book started to become a reality.

Shortly after, the title of Short’s book was created.

“Max has a great knack for short titles, and Let’s be Awkward Together seemed to just pop from his mouth immediately,” said Short. “And it stuck.”

Temkin and Crane also suggested that Short ask for contributor’s awkward stories and that it would empower readers to donate money.

They were right. 

“There's nothing like seeing yourself crudely drawn into a 4-panel black and white comic,” said Short, who says she could not resist the alluring idea of having a written book you can hold in your hand, which was her motivation for publishing her book.

After gaining 202 backers and raising $5,551 within 30 days on Kickstarter, Short’s book, Let’s be Awkward Together earned enough money to be printed.

You can pick up a copy of Let’s be Awkward Together from Uncharted Books in Logan Square and experience the true humor of “Funny Girl” for yourself.

slightly insulting

Chicagoans who haven’t heard of Slightly Insulting Chicago Posters might just be living under a rock.

And, if you were living under a rock, the people behind the project would probably find a way to make fun of that too.

"It tastefully says the f-word. Plus, everyone can
relate to tourists that don't walk right. The circle that
the tracks make, it's instantly recognizable to
Chicagoans as the Loop." -Jeni Brendemuehl 

RC Jones, Lauren Schroer and Jeni Brendemuehl have been designing Slightly Insulting Chicago Posters since 2012. The posters take shots at Chicago neighborhoods in a tongue-in-cheek way. 

“We uploaded our posters to Tumblr over the weekend and within one week, it just exploded,” said Jones, 31 who made a joke about the Logan Square neighborhood to his co-worker, Jeni, that inspired the very first poster. “We had no idea it would take off like it did. Our blog quickly became viral." 

But what started as a popular blog for Chicagoans soon became a popular business, as the group behind the posters began selling the posters online. Turns out, the business was a little too popular. 

The Slightly Insulting Chicago Posters’ Etsy shop, where the trio sold the homemade posters, officially shut down partly due to the group’s screen-printing “shop” closing, packing up and leaving. 

“My living room was the shop, it was ridiculous. I would just fill my living room with these posters, so the whole floor would just be filled with them,” joked Schroer, 24, who would screen-print each poster by hand. She recently moved out of her Chicago apartment to pursue a masters degree in drawing in Italy. 

“Lauren was great; she could screen print one poster every 37.5 seconds,” said Jones, a resident of Lincoln Square. “We knew it was getting a little crazy once she started timing how fast she could do it.” 

"The best way to jab at a hipster is saying something they
love is mainstream. Skinny jeans and PBR seemed like
the most exaggerated example. Please note that
the rat tale isn't filled in, broke hipster-style." - RC Jones

With their busy schedules, the group isn’t complaining about closing the small business chapter of Slightly Insulting Chicago Posters and just going back to the basics--designing. 

“The fun part is keeping the blog going and seeing people talk about it. We never meant for this to be a big shop or anything,” said Schroer, who is teaching painting classes in her home state of Kansas before moving to Italy. “It’s great that people like our stuff and that it’s hanging on their wall, it’s a compliment. But, we’re all pretty excited to just get back to the design part, the fun part.” 

The group will continue creating new posters and uploading them to the Slightly Insulting Chicago Posters blog, where the venture began. 

“We just decided to make the blog to keep all the posters in one place, and then WGN tweeted about us one day, and we were like ‘Crap, now we actually have to do this.’ We weren’t really sure what we were getting ourselves into,” said Brendemuehl, 24 of East Village. 

The goal is to create one for each neighborhood. 

"It's the original that started it all. A funny
 joke. A beautiful poster." -Jeni Brendemuehl 

“A lot of people send their suggestions online and give us tips on how we could make fun of their neighborhoods,” said Schroer, who previously lived in Lincoln Park. “Our posters are funny because they’re perception based. They’re all about reputation and perception, which is why we try to talk to people.” 

Each poster’s saying and design are carefully thought-out and must get a good laugh before the group posts it onto the blog. 

“There have been a couple we’ve thought of and been like ‘no, that’s too mean to say that, like that is too offensive,’ ” Schroer said. “It’s just the humor in the truth of the poster or at least the truth that is everybody’s perception is what makes the posters funny.” 

The process begins with the group collectively researching a neighborhood, followed by Jones writing the slogan, which is then passed on to Schroer and Brendemuehl for designing of the graphics. 

“This was a wonderful creative release. All three of us love Chicago and so many people love the neighborhood they live in,” said Jones, a professional copy writer. “So, it was really cool to get to design these and share them with people.” 

Giving Chicagoans a good laugh while creating a strong friendship has been the highlight of Schroer’s life in the Windy City. 

“I was really new to Chicago. I had only lived there for a year when these posters started getting really popular, so it was a great way to feel a part of a new place I was living,” Schroer said. “I no longer felt like a new kid, I felt like a part of Chicago and that was the best part for me.” 

"Every time I see this I laugh. We brainstormed different Beverly lines forEVER. RC had so many options. After probably the 50th Etsy shop message we got saying 'do Beverly, we're Irish!' RC rolled his eyes and said 'Congrats, Beverly, you're Irish. So is the rest of America.' Once I finished laughing I said, 'That. That's it.'" - Lauren Schroer