I’m often hit by a strange realization; I almost always like the least popular product of a sucessful company. Yes, I’m the one that drinks Cherry Coke, liked the McRib and bought a Smart car! At best I love something before everyone else or long after they’ve left it.

Mr Hugh MacLeod (or Mr gapingvoid) is a case in point…

Hugh’s blog says, rightly, that he’s a …

“…cartoonist and professional blogger, known for his ideas about how “Web 2.0″ affects advertising and marketing.”

Now all this is true except that I don’t like the cartoons too much and his blog is about marketing. I read the blog and smile at the cartoons as Hugh publishes them; but they don’t tend to connect. I’m not in marketing and I’ve not spent too long in any New York bars!

However, Hugh has a more minor product that I adore. Pure art! Things like this…

gapingvoid: “cartoons drawn on the back of business cards”: the cloud’s best-kept secret

There is something about these works that I love. I have a collection on my hard-drive; it’s difficult to describe but they touch something deep inside me.

The earlier this year Hugh announced that he was going to be doing more of these larger works. And started showing pictures of Fred 42.

I had to act quickly. How I did is for Part II.