Comic: Words and Image

(IMage source from Amazon.com)

(image source from http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/7aa/7aa971a.htm)

On November 2^nd, writer Brian Fies was a guest speaker in our design class. He is well known for his comics, Mom’s Cancer and Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow. And he breaks most of the stereotypical ideas people have for comics. For the most part, comic uses a same approach as the design process.

Fies wrote in one of his blog posts “comics are a particularly powerful medium of communication-- economy of expression, use of symbolism, metaphor, and manipulation of space and time.” McCloud also talked about these principles in his comic book, Understanding Comics. It is about how image and words interact; the use of juxtapose is a example from all comic. Multiple words and images are laid out on a single page, but our eyes visual organizes the sequential order. Design is also about the form and content of communication.

Creating a book cover for Mom’s Cancer seems like an easy process with a few simple sketches; however, Fies designed about a few hundred samples to get to his final book cover. The fonts and color of the title, the relation between words and image, and many other aspects of the cover needed to be improved constantly.  

The relationship between words and images are connected. In comics, imagery are usually dominating and words is a supporting tool. But without the supporting words, the image would not have as much effect on the viewer. Nevertheless, in some situation, words can represent change in space and time. Words can also be used as sounds, and images could be as background. Words and images is inseparable in the comic world.