UNDERSTANDING COMICS
Scott McCloud
I have recently finished reading this, and although it's not a graphic design book I have still picked up on a nimber of things that I found useful
Definition of Comics
p.9 "JUXTAPOSED PICTORAL AND OTHER IMAGES IN DELIBERATE SEQUENCE"
This gives comics a very wide scope. Some things McCloud suggests could be classed as comics are instruction diagrams, hyroglyphics, paintings or photos intended to be viewed in sequence, stained glass windows in churches and cave paintings.
Character design
In chapter 2 McCloud talks about iconography and cartooning.
If we look at a realistic image of a face, we see it as the face of someone else. If on the other hand we look at a simple cartoon drawing of a face, we see ourselves in it. He explains that although you cannot see your own face, you are vaugley aware of what it's doing i.e. you know wheather you are smiling, frowning, squinting etc. Your mental image of your face will be a very simple one, much like a very simple drawing of two dots and a line representing a face. This is the reason people can relate so much to cartoon characters.
He also notes that in comics and cartoons, the characters tend to be iconic but the backgrounds are more realistic - representing "otherness" from the reader. Drawing a person or object realisticly can make it seem more distant to the reader, whereas cartooning it makes it more familiar and accessible.
Text and Image
Chaper 7 discusses how text and/or images can be used to tell a story. If one is very detailed then it gives the other more room to be abstract or deal with a completely different subject.
Layouts and Compositions
In chapters 3 and 4 McCloud discusses how the size, shape, position and content of comic panels can dictate how much time the reader spends looking at each one, which they read next, where they look first and so on. The same principles could easily be applied to other areas of design.
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Monday, 18 June 2007
18/06/07
Definition of Art
Reinventing Comics
By Scott McCloud
I have not finished reading this book yet, but starting on page 45 McCloud begins discussing the idea of what is and isn't "art". His theory (which he is reitterating from Understanding Comics*) is that art is more of an action than a tangible thing, and that it's something we do not for any particular reason or motive, but just because we want to. He argues that most of the motives behind our actions can be traced back to our two strongest instincts - to survive and rerproduce. But if an action - say for example painting a picture - isn't done to satisfy one of these instincts, and is just done for the sake of it (for the sake of "the work"), then perhaps it is art.
He does however point out that it's rare for a person's motivation to be that pure, and that when creating art there can be, and often is, another motive behind it e.g. financial gain, to impress others etc.
*pages 164-169
Reinventing Comics
By Scott McCloud
I have not finished reading this book yet, but starting on page 45 McCloud begins discussing the idea of what is and isn't "art". His theory (which he is reitterating from Understanding Comics*) is that art is more of an action than a tangible thing, and that it's something we do not for any particular reason or motive, but just because we want to. He argues that most of the motives behind our actions can be traced back to our two strongest instincts - to survive and rerproduce. But if an action - say for example painting a picture - isn't done to satisfy one of these instincts, and is just done for the sake of it (for the sake of "the work"), then perhaps it is art.
He does however point out that it's rare for a person's motivation to be that pure, and that when creating art there can be, and often is, another motive behind it e.g. financial gain, to impress others etc.
*pages 164-169
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