Saying that “show, don’t tell” is useless when it comes to web content is a pretty bold claim, or so I thought when I first read this panel’s description. I thought the panel leader, Austin Kleon, was disparaging the “show” part, but as it turns out it’s the “don’t tell” part that’s useless.

“You can’t slap up a stock photo on a website and automatically expect it to convey some type of meaning,” he told me via email. “Pictures can say a lot of things, but so much depends upon context, juxtaposition, etc.”

Take Garfield Minus Garfield, for example. These strips take on a whole new, slightly depressing meaning when you remove Garfield from them:

And then there’s The Nietzche Family Circus, which pairs the classic comic strip with quotes from the famous nihilist:

So really, the panel’s about effective usage of words and pictures together–and with panelists like Drew Dernavich (cartoonist at the New Yorker). Jessica Hagy (creator of www.thisisindexed.com), Ross Nover (web designer and cartoonist) and Maris Kreizman (blogger at Slaughterhouse 90201 and Emusic audiobooks editor), Mr. Kleon has quite a few experts on the subject lined up.

As someone who does a little bit of writing online here and there, I’m particularly interested in this panel. I tend to rely too heavily on words in some cases and on pictures in others, so getting to hear these professionals talk about how they effectively manage both will be neat.

Check it out on Tuesday, March 15th at 12:30pm.