There’s an art in distilling the important aspects of a person, character, or idea down to its key components. This might seem easy with some characters having a distinct weapon or costume, but there’s a great deal of skill involved when making that iconic representation work while purposely holding back detail. This skill has pretty much been perfected by German design company Deep Blue Creative House, who have been publishing fun pop-culture inspired illustrations on their Instagram account.

Not to brag about how awesome us human beings are, but our ability to connect the simplified drawings to what they represent is a fantastic ability. Having prior knowledge of the source material, our brains are able to connect the drawings to the more detailed versions in our minds. Author and artist Scott McCloud described in Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art  how the focus on specific details can be strengthened when superfluous detail is shed. (It’s called Semiotics and it’s nuts.)

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, 1993

That might be what makes the illustrations on Creative House’s Instagram account so great. By putting the characters on a blank canvas of a simplified figure we’re able to focus on the details that make them iconic in the first place. That and they’re all absolutely stinkin’ adorable! How can you not love these!?

We can’t help but fawn over any sort of art project that gives us things as varied as an off-angle depiction René Magritte’s The Son of Man, Peter Venkman’s receding hairline, Tony Stark’s drinking problem and, what we’re now calling “Darth Pug”.

There’s also quite possibly the most confusing, yet completely amazing, illustration of a puppet of a bishop being controlled by Gordon “ALF” Shumway. We must have missed that episode.

Take a look at the gallery below and let’s discuss favorites in the comments!

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HT: Behance
Images: Behance, Scott McCloud