thought bubbles

[cranberryink]

I'm working on a magazine ad and my boss wants to include a picture of a guy with a thought bubble over his head. I'm trying to figure out a way to make it look less cheesy/cartoony. Any suggestions? Has anyone ever seen a treatment for a thought bubble that actually looked good?

Comments

[ficali]

This. Basically imply that there's a speech bubble. Sometimes you don't have to do exactly the thing you had in mind but take the same idea and expand it.

[amanda_now]

That's the biggest thing I see with my boss - he thinks very literal but always likes the more subtle options I present.

[nanini]

Because your boss probably want something flashy, you could try something like turning the actual words into a thought bubble (white morphed letters instead of text on a white bubble) or maybe try something with real clouds... I know it sounds cheesy, but it can be interesting and not as cartoony as traditional ones.

[amanda_now]

What is the ad for? I've seen cute, fun retro style thought bubbles and actually love using them myself. If the ad is meant to be light/funny then it's easy to pull off. If he has something serious to say with this ad then I wouldn't imagine a thought bubble would work for that. Maybe present two different options?

[67words]

i like frickinmuck's idea best.
i've seen some simple ones that look nice, basically a few smaller unconnected circles leading to the the thought in a larger perfect circle. a colored thought bubble with no stroke is another option.