Two pages from “Sound and Fury” in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman.

These pages from Sandman by Neil Gaiman provide us examples for Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips’ concepts of objective and subjective scaling in Graphic Design: The New Basics. According to the authors, objective and subjective scaling refer to the sizing of characters or images in relation to each other and what this means. “Objective” scaling refers to scaling kept in the same proportions. In terms of the image above, this would be the (kind of) proportional scaling of the giant Sandman vs. the tiny John Dee. On the other hand, scaling is “subjective” when characters are enlarged or shrunken to add emphasis in framing.

Our example above happens to be both objective and subjective. The pages presented are scaled objectively because there are no other frames to compare them with. In terms of the rest of the comic, however, this scaling is subjective. At this point in the graphic novel, the Sandman has just regained his powers from John Dee, the tiny figure in his hand. Visually, your eye is drawn to the Sandman because of the physical hierarchy of the two characters. This depiction, however, is an exaggeration compared to the rest of the novel, where Sandman is the same size as humans.