PAGE DESIGN

 

The design of a page in a comic book isp part of the message. Imagine you read a 48-page book, and the page desing in all of them is the same. What would you feel? Possibly boredom. Now imagine the same book, but with a different design in each new page. The reaction as a reader would be totally different.

But this must not only be a decision depending on boredom: it is a language itself. Many vertical vignettes means rising or falling. Horizontal ones mean calm. And if they are disorderd, htey may transmit the idea of chaos. Let's analyse some examples, to understand it better.

EXAMPLE 1:

This page is a good example of horizontality. It intends to show two characters, with a relation of harmony between them. That is what the horizontal line suggests: calm. Besides being father and son, they represent a culture with a quiet lifestyle

 

EXAMPLE 2:

In a humorous way, the rounded vignettes are connected by a telephone wire, constrasted with the straight ones.

EXAMPLES 3 AND 4:

In both examples we have scrambled vignettes, but for different reasons in each case. In the first one, there is a clear drama, becasue a invading cultura is going to destroy another. But in the other case, the movement of the vignettes means the exageration of the situation: the father is going to set fire to his son because of a voice he can hear inside!!!

 

PRACTICE

  • Work with a friend. Design a page in an original way, making sense with it.
  • Make a treasure hunt at the school library. Look for 10 examples of different page designs in different books. Try to find explanations for each case.