Newsarama interviews me on graphic design, my history and how it relates and applies to the world of comics, mine and others.
A snippet:
"A lot of this [mainstream superhero comic] style of design is classic, timeless stuff, and regardless of the fact that its not breaking any new ground, design-wise, still holds up. I think the more successful covers are the ones that are able to use the classic comic book layout but bring a level of maturity and sophistication to it that wouldn't have existed a couple decades ago. I have a copy of The Winter Men #1 on my desk, and this is a good example of what I mean. Title across the top, company logo box in the upper left, UPC on the bottom. But stack this up next to the standard Marvel or DCU stuff, and you just know instantly that something is different about this book. It also passes the 'squint test' - you squint at something and it hold up in terms of composition, color, and balance.
"And by mature and sophisticated, I don't mean for adults only, but rather than the cover design was approached in a serious manner, some time was spent thinking about how the image would work with the text, and it was designed as a whole, as opposed to a a pin-up piece of art with a garish logo slapped on top, assembly-line style. I also think, to quote a classic rule, that 'less is more'. I learned that early on in college and its become a rule I've adopted for myself in everything creative I do. When you look at a crowded shelf of single issue comics, and everything is crazy and busy with lots of contrasting colors and images, its the cleaner, simpler, clearer cover that will always stand out.""
Check out the full article.
Thanks
-bri
A snippet:
"A lot of this [mainstream superhero comic] style of design is classic, timeless stuff, and regardless of the fact that its not breaking any new ground, design-wise, still holds up. I think the more successful covers are the ones that are able to use the classic comic book layout but bring a level of maturity and sophistication to it that wouldn't have existed a couple decades ago. I have a copy of The Winter Men #1 on my desk, and this is a good example of what I mean. Title across the top, company logo box in the upper left, UPC on the bottom. But stack this up next to the standard Marvel or DCU stuff, and you just know instantly that something is different about this book. It also passes the 'squint test' - you squint at something and it hold up in terms of composition, color, and balance.
"And by mature and sophisticated, I don't mean for adults only, but rather than the cover design was approached in a serious manner, some time was spent thinking about how the image would work with the text, and it was designed as a whole, as opposed to a a pin-up piece of art with a garish logo slapped on top, assembly-line style. I also think, to quote a classic rule, that 'less is more'. I learned that early on in college and its become a rule I've adopted for myself in everything creative I do. When you look at a crowded shelf of single issue comics, and everything is crazy and busy with lots of contrasting colors and images, its the cleaner, simpler, clearer cover that will always stand out.""
Check out the full article.
Thanks
-bri
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
fatality:
Wow, that's awesome, especially since Manhunt and GTA are essentially the only games that I've ever been interested in. Congratulations on the comprehensive interview and apparent success.
teela:
score! nice one - i salute you sir! thanks for sharing and enlightening! need to re-read properly later, but get them to correct the link to your homepage! they haven't put a .com...