Excitement would understate how I felt when I read Frank Santoro’s articles on the first appearance of the Golden Ratio in Hergé’s TIntin comic pages. Santoro used grid overlays to explain comic composition with geometric shapes in a way that could be easily understood by a graphic designer, like myself. (more…)
Hi again everyone! This is the second part of my comic review checklist, which has three parts: everything that relates to the “flow” of the pages, everything that relates to the words on the pages, and then everything else. This is part two! (more…)
No one ever says to the surgeon, “You know, I think I’d really like to try performing a kidney transplant sometime.” Meanwhile, there is no professional or aspiring professional writer who has not heard, at least once, upon explaining his or her vocation, “You know, I think I’ve got a novel in me, somewhere.” It’s infuriating. (more…)
Continued from part 1, which covered resolution, color space, page size and position.
Number of pages:
While diversification of printing techniques means this is no longer always an issue, it remains an issue to be aware of when using offset printing. I am talking about the fact that the number of pages in a book needs to be a multiple of 16. This is due to the way offset printing, which makes use of large plates, works:
60 Pieces In 60 Minutes
Read the article, then grab the activity sheet!
When beginning any project there is always this moment of “oh man, what do I do first?” For the longest time I would start in the worst way possible by diving head-first into projects and working only on the parts that excited me the most. I consistently ignored the big picture in order to focus on the details. I learned a couple of things from trying to work this way for nearly a decade:
I’m about to drop some zen thinking on you, so listen up. Ready?
What separates the mindset of a seasoned artist from an amateur?
The amateur has fewer questions.
BaBOOM! (drops the mic)
…OK so… maybe that bears explaining a bit further. Everyone starts off with more or less the same vacuum of knowledge when it comes to art and the rules that govern the visual world. Beginners tend to focus on the immediate questions (how do I draw Batman jumping off a roof? What does his costume look like?) whereas experienced artists see the task before them with greater nuance (what’s the most effective composition? Is Batman foreshortened correctly? Is the lighting accurate?). The experienced artist realizes the depth of complexity even the most basic image can present in a way the beginner does not.
So you want to write a story?
It’s no exaggeration when I say that stories are the lifeblood of civilization. In a world full of uncertainty and insecurity, we turn to stories for understanding and guidance. Religions use creation myths to help society embrace its purpose and identity, while politicians exploit their personal narratives for political gain. In both instances these stories affect our understanding of history. In essence, stories facilitate learning, growth, and empathy. They transport us to worlds we’ll never see and allow us to speak to people who never existed. The greatest stories have toppled empires, and even the meekest have managed to touch hearts. Any story (even yours!) holds within it the power to affect a change in ways you’d never have thought possible. All you need to do is tell it.
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