His style reflects his self-professed fondness of "deadpan comedy, flat dialogue, things happening offstage and impressive characters".

[2] Others note that his work "combines pathos with the farcical"[3] and exhibits "a casual reduction of visual keys into a more rudimentary drawing style".

He has also authored a number of smaller-scale books such as Guardians of the Kingdom, Robots, Monsters etc., Hunter and Painter and his cartoon Move to the City, which ran weekly in London's Time Out in 2001–2002.

"[2] His books are now published by Drawn & Quarterly and he regularly produces cartoons and illustrations for The New Yorker (including cover art),[7][8] The New York Times, The Guardian and New Scientist.

[3] In a 2011 interview, Gauld listed his "Cartooning heroes": William Heath Robinson, Gary Larson, Roz Chast, Richard McGuire, Ben Katchor, Daniel Clowes, Chris Ware and Jochen Gerner.