Page layout faux pas
3yr
Jme
Page layout and design is new to me, looking to get some insight.
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3yr
Hey @Jme! All the questions your bring up relate to the same major topics: design and composition. The answers to your questions can vary and be long enough to make a course out of them, so instead of giving subjective answers, I’d better suggest study material that hopefully can help you get some greater insight.
There is a Proko course on Creating a Comic Page by comic artist @David Finch - I believe at least the first four lessons might be of special interest to you, so make sure to take a peek at it!
As a follow-up, here are two “must-read” books that also approach these subjects of design and composition in comics:
. Framed Ink (by Marco Mateu-Mestre)
. Making comics (by Scott McCloud)
A thing to have in mind though is that, when it comes to creating visual interest, contrast, rhythm, balance and intent, be it in a single drawing, a comic page, a complex cinematic scene or even in a character’s gesture or shape, design principles and composition techniques apply somewhat under the same logic regardless. So maybe besides considering how to use it in page layout, also try getting a “big picture” understanding of how it works in general. Here’s a couple of quick suggestions I can think of right now (but there’s certainly a lot more stuff out there if you do some digging on “design basics”, “composition” or something like that):
. “Principles of design” series at CtrlPaint - https://www.ctrlpaint.com/videos/principles-of-design-introduction
(This is a link to the introduction, but make sure to check the whole series in the link right below the intro video, they’re all free and easy to watch)
. “Pictorial composition” with Nathan Fowkes at Schoolism - https://www.schoolism.com/online-illustration-classes/pictorial-composition-nathan-fowkes
(This is a more in-depth course on the subject, and it’s not free, but it’s certainly worth it if you want to go further in your studies on this field).
Hope this helps!
Best of luck!
Asked for help
Page layout and design is new to me, got some questions around things like:
- where the horizon line falls in each panel on a single page
- the mix of shots used in panels for a single page
- when and when not to repeat information within multiple panels
Am very confident with writing but translating writing skills to the types of skills that are unique to comic stories is proving challenging.
Are there some common faux pas or things that good comic artists should typically try to avoid when it comes to page layout? More specifically, in my early storyboards I find myself worrying about things like:
- Is it OK to have ~2 panels on a page (especially consecutively) where the horizon line is the same height, or the height of the horizon line hasn't differed significantly between the two panels?
- What to avoid when using the same types of shots for ~2+ panels on a page? i.e. Establishing/long shot > med > med > med > closeup? My initial thought is that this is fine so long as the angle of each shot differs in a meaningful way, but in practice I'm skeptical that there are lots of pitfalls here that can make the end result boring or off.
- What to avoid when using panels to establish setting, i.e. after the initial establishing shot, tips and tricks for revealing more of the setting and environment in a way that's interesting and meaningful prior to introducing characters.
- Using the same perspective multiple panels in a row , i.e 2pt perspective several times in a row on the same page, and so on.
Possibly overthinking a lot of this, but any general advice or things to avoid in terms of page layout would be appreciated.
This may answer some of your questions or at least get you thinking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdWsNp5KWdE&t=3148s
I should say I share your struggle exactly so take my words with a mountain of salt.
Many of your points depend on the kind/type of story you want to tell. Slice of life and adventure have their own different language, noir comics and humor too, etc... Yet their is no exact recipe.
One thing useful for any : every panel need to have a goal, don't waste space and time for something that do not add to the story.
You can absolutely have multiple long establishing shot if needed, e.g. to show a very large area or changes in a large area. Make sure it build an expectation for the audience thought.
If you feel you are struggling to know "what to put here to get to the next interesting part", then maybe it need to be discarded, be brutal for your own sake.
Also instead of looking for what technic is good, maybe try to focus on something easier to grasp : idea/meaning and ambiance.
You can look for movies that are in the same "family" as your story and check how they storytell and rythm everything. That could relieve you a bit at the beginning and there is no shame in taking inspiration here.
One of the rude thing I learned is : start even if unsure, because you can't test what do not exist.
Do a few pages, very roughly to avoid spending time on details, then look at how they articulate together.
Redundancy will be easier to spot. Unwanted inbalance like too much text in one page or too many little panel opposed to the general pace will also be easy to see.
Finally, have alpha- readers. Don't tell anything about the script and ask them what happen. The delta will tell you where you need fix. Also beginner tend to over-charge with info and details, it's okay to let the reader with a bit of mistery and add details on the go.
I know it's probably not the answer you expect, sadly it's only with material that we could help you more in-depth...
Cheers :)
