Brownstein: Orange cones have been a boon for Montreal comedian illustrator

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There’s gold in them thar orange cones, not less than for one Montrealer. 

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Small surprise that comedian illustrator Tania Mignacca has a comfortable spot for the ever present development cones that the majority Montrealers by no means tire of cursing.

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A decade again, Mignacca, then working as a graphic designer for a big retail chain, was searching for a whimsical outlet and fixated on the orange cone. And so got here to animated life a misunderstood and, dare we are saying, cuddly cartoon character referred to as Ponto, primarily an orange cone with two harmless eyes and a fetching pink nostril.

Ponto has not solely offered Mignacca an outlet however a change of profession — and one that’s turning into more and more extra profitable.

Mignacca is ready to finish her second quantity of Ponto comedian strips — like the primary, out there in French and English — and she or he places out a weekly Ponto net web page, additionally together with the drawings of her artist pals. After which there’s the Ponto merch: Greater than 100 gadgets, from postcards to keychains to decals to earrings to drawings to luggage to plushies, promoting from $3 to $40.

The entire above take full benefit of the not-so-comical site visitors chaos induced by the orange cones, but by some means handle to point out a bit of love for the seemingly genial Ponto. No minor feat in itself. Actually, the subtitle to the primary Ponto quantity is: “As a result of We All Love Montreal!” 

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The town in flip appears to be falling for Ponto, whose plushie likeness will probably be entrance and centre on the Comedian Arts Pageant on St-Denis St., Could 26 to twenty-eight; Montreal’s ComicCon, July 14 to 16 on the Palais des congrès; and Otakuthon, Montreal’s largest anime conference, Aug. 11 to 13, additionally on the Palais des congrès.

Ponto was even fêted final Saturday at Verdun’s Thésaurus Thérrarium’s Excessive Tea — though some might argue {that a} stronger libation would have been extra acceptable for serving at this event. 

Mignacca takes all of it in stride whereas working in her tiny studio in a Mile Finish workplace constructing on Casgrain Ave. — which coincidentally seems to be one of many few avenue blocks within the metropolis with none orange cones. 

“Not this week anyway,” Mignacca muses. “However there have been some final week.

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“I completely perceive the frustration Montrealers really feel concerning the orange cones, however they actually don’t trouble me the identical manner, as a result of I don’t drive. I’m a walker.” 

Mignacca took the title Ponto out of the blue … er … orange.

“It doesn’t imply something, actually. I simply preferred the sound of it. However what’s humorous is that now persons are calling orange cones, Pontos,” she says. “I began doing this on the time metropolis development scandals had been all around the information. I believed Ponto would have a brief life, however then with the explosion of orange cones across the metropolis, Ponto took on a brand new and lengthy life, and enterprise simply retains rising, as a result of I don’t assume town is ever going to be utterly fastened up.” 

With no signal of an imminent demise of street work, there’s not more likely to be any finish in sight for the orange cones, despite the penalties speculated to be imposed on these development crews who enable them to linger too lengthy on our streets and sidewalks. 

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Mignacca notes that when Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault introduced in April that her division would search to scale back not simply the variety of cones on metropolis streets but in addition their dimension, Ponto’s legion of followers had been upset.

“I did an April Fools’ joke on my net web page, displaying a skinnier Ponto. Folks actually believed it and had been sending me messages: ‘No, no. Ponto! We don’t need you to vary.’

“After all, I need town to do higher with development. However I all the time hear folks complaining concerning the site visitors cones, which appears to forestall many from seeing the extra lovely features of town. In any case, we do have larger issues within the metropolis than the cones. So I made a decision to show the cone into a novel metropolis image with a unique perspective most might need, like a cute Montreal mascot, impressed by related Japanese mascots. I see Ponto as a baby who sees town with surprise. That’s why I attempt to incorporate in my drawings with Ponto some metropolis landmarks, like that different nice orange creation, the Orange Julep.

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“Let’s look on the intense facet right here: the orange cone is one thing else that makes us so distinct.” 

True dat. 

It in all probability shouldn’t come as a shock that Ponto has a robust following on Fb and Twitter. Even Mayor Valérie Plante is outwardly a giant fan — as she acknowledged to Mignacca after they met — and follows Ponto on social media.

However regardless of a request from one cynic, Mignacca plans to chorus from titling yet one more comedian quantity Ponto Meets Planto. 

For extra details about Ponto and associated merchandise, go to pontomontreal.com. 

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