My name is Jerm and I am a South African cartoonist.
Since 2005, my work has been featured around South Africa (and other countries), from comic strips to political cartoons to magazine covers to miscellaneous illustrations, with clients ranging from large to small, print to digital, sober to drunk.
Comic strips and single-panel cartoons
My first syndicated comic strip, Urban Trash, was shelved in 2008 (just shy of 1000 strips) after I struggled to make it financially beneficial. I then launched The Biggish Five (in English and Afrikaans), which features Africa’s Big Five game as anthropomorphic toddlers, and is currently one of the more widely published local comic strips in South Africa.
I draw a small single-panel cartoon for the Sunday Times. (In fact, I draw three, weekly, for the Sunday Times.)
Noob is a pseudo-geek cartoon that appears exclusively in Khanyisa Real Systems‘ monthly newsletter.
Political cartoons
I currently draw politically for The New Age. Despite the excessively negative media hype surrounding the newspaper and its “political connections”, I accepted the position in late 2010, after being guaranteed a lucrative mining tender and a BMW.
Before that, I began my political career by drawing for The Times (alongside Zapiro) for almost three years.
Other illustration work
I also do miscellaneous illustrations for magazines, websites, marketing campaigns, educational comics, magazine covers, women’s breasts, and so on. Clients include FHM, Standard Bank, Animal Zone, The Media magazine, EasyDIY magazine, and others.
Personal things
My real name is Jeremy Nell, but “Jerm” is quicker to write and has been my nickname for years.
I was born in 1979 and didn’t do much after that. My wife and I live in the northern suburbs of Cape Town.
I work from my home studio, using a Wacom drawing tablet and Ubuntu. All of my work is created digitally, using free software (because it doesn’t cost anything).
During late 2005, I left my boring corporate job to draw cartoons, drink cheap coffee, and listen to the Sex Pistols and the Beastie Boys all day long.
I won my first (and second) award during 2011.
I have no published books. Yet.
