Comic Collage Project. By Keanna Maki.

Creating this comic was definitely a unique experience I will always remember. I was able to learn so many new things which was the greatest takeaway from completing this project. My motivations for creating this piece was to simply take personal objects and put them in this random collage with no particular sequence to it. I took an idea of randomness and applied it to my objects. I was trying my best to capture an aesthetic look to my comic and I think I fulfilled that through the materials I used.

My comic fits into Scott McCloud’s definition of comics because it does capture the whole “juxtaposed pictorial” as well as “producing an aesthetic response on the viewer”. Particularly, within the colors and positions of the materials I used. Knowing about other readings such as John Lovett’s Design Overview, I was more aware of the importance of making the texture to certain materials as clear as possible. I also used information to allow creative thinking with what I should and shouldn’t include or what looks best overall.

The more materials, objects, textures, and images used, the more a collage becomes a collage. Even the definition of collage states “a piece of art made by sticking various different materials such as photographs and pieces of paper or fabric on to a backing” (Google Definition). I focused on adding as much objects of all kinds to include in my work. For this comic specifically, I didn’t choose the linguistic route. If I thought outside the box more, I would’ve included something linguistic, but for this project I decided to stick with what I have.

This is not my first-time using Photoshop, but the last time I used it to its full extent was back in high school when I was taking a yearbook/journalism course that pushed me to master the basic skills. Of course, after four years without using Photoshop, I can say everything I am working with now is a refresher and I feel like I am learning how to use it all over again. New things I have been learning include the shortcuts to certain options. This is significant because it makes editing easier and quicker too.

The tools and techniques from the tutorials that were most useful in the creation of my collage were the ones that went into the actual editing of the documents. I feel that there is an infinite amount of tools Photoshop offers so knowing main ones like how to delete borders or backgrounds is the most significant, especially for this project too. Something that was confusing was memorizing all the tools Photoshop offers. Sometimes I would think a certain selection would give me a certain result, but it didn’t, so I would struggle a lot finding the exact tool I was looking for.

Composing in a digital environment makes creativity soar. Especially, when you are able to have access to resources such as Adobe programs. The digital environment is endless in the ideas someone can create. Although, it may come with challenges at first, like figuring out how to use digital tools, it has many benefits and can take projects to the next level.