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Within Scott McCloud’s book “Understanding Comics” you can see many similarities between what he is trying to express to his reader about design choices and what John Lovett is explaining in his design overview. Within Scott McCloud’s book you can see him portraying his design choices very effectively, but what stuck out to me most as a reader was pages 132 and 133. Within these pages the elements that really popped out were his use of lines, texture, and harmony.

Page 132 of Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics”

The use of line seems like one of the most “simple” elements to create as an artist, but it really sets the tone for the whole art piece. If it doesn’t flow just the right way it might throw the artwork off and make it harder for the viewer to comprehend. For example, on page 132 the second box down on the left , you can see how specific he meant to make the lines to look warped to the reader– a kinetic line. He used to the line to make it seem like the picture was moving or warping into something else, or in his textbook he describes it as a “psychological effect”.

The use of texture, to me, is what hooks me into a design or piece of art the most. The different values and lines interests me so much. Within page 133 of Scott McCloud’s book in the bottom 4 boxes of the page, Scott McCloud does a really great job at showing different kinds of textures and how they can effect the reader. While it may not be physical  texture since the work is in the book, the reader can imagine what each picture would “feel” like in the sense of drawing. For example, on the bottom right box of page 133, the reader can sense that the squiggly spiral drawing would feel a bit rough compared to if he had just drawn the spiral in a straight smooth line.

page 133 of Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics”

Harmony is also another element that is keen for the reader to feel while looking at a design. As an artist, you have to make sure your layout is even and doesn’t feel “uneven” or “weighted” more to one side than the other. Whether its by color (how John Lovett describes)  or the amount of objects on one side compared to the other. Within the 2 pages in Scott McCloud’s book (pages 132-133), you can definitely see the harmony he expresses within each individual boundary and between the two pages. For example, on page 132 he has a box with a lot of heavy black ink filling about 3/4 of the boundary, but on the other he has 2 boxes with pretty heavy black ink, seemingly evening out the “heaviness” of the black ink on each side. This creates a better flow for the viewer and makes it easier for their eyes to flow across the pages.

Pages 132 and 133 of Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics”

A frame from page 39 of Scott McCloud’s ‘Understanding Comics’

Spreads from McCloud’s Understanding Comics are effective in showing Lovett’s element of design in lines, shape, size, and as well as showing Lovett’s principle of design in Gradation. When looking at Lovett’s definition of lines and how they add elements to a drawing or painting, hatching lines can be used to show tone. McCloud’s uses this technique when drawing a man’s tuxedo in his fifth frame on page thirty-nine. By using tone where he did, it allows the viewer to get a better sense of what Kinde of tux the man has on.

A frame from page 134 of Scott McCloud’s ‘Understanding Comics’

Shapes in elements of design are central when creating a drawing or painting. It is what brings an object or idea to life on a page. Lovett describes abstract shapes as being used to trigger a response when used. Each speech bubble in McCloud’s frame (from page 134) is drawn a certain way for the viewer to read it depending on their response to it. For example, the speech bubble with ‘Oh, it’s you’ can be read as if the individual was severing because the shape of it suggests that it’s dripping with icicles.

A frame from page 38 of Scott McCloud’s ‘Understanding Comics’

Lovett places the sizes of objects as what it is compared to other objects. When looking at a painting or drawing, your eye tends to first look at the biggest object in the painting. In Understanding Comic’s our reading is narrated by the same guy (McCloud). Even though we are used to looking at our narrator in Understanding Comics, the size difference in the first frame on page thirty-eight draws our eye to the lined photo of a man. This is because the little size difference commands your eye to look at the dominating shape.

The design principle, Gradation, is what Lovett refers to as an element in a drawing that applies to the gradual change with movement and direction. Gradation is being used by McCloud in the seconded frame on page thirty-eight to show linear perspective. The lines in the penal give the illusion that the car is moving in a forward direction and ahead of them looks smaller because it is further away.

Scott McCloud’s page scanned 9/23/2019

Design plays a major role in the creation of comics and for other pieces of artwork. In the picture to the right, there are examples of Scott McCloud using the elements of Direction, Size, and Texture.

With the first element of Direction, the comic is illustrating where the comic is going in the sense of purpose and meaning. From John Lovett, he describes that direction has three options: horizontal, vertical, or oblique. In this case with the comic from McCloud, the sense of direction is horizontal with vertical movements of pushing the narrative that he is describing.

The next element is Size. This element is a basic but important one to understand when creating a comic. Here, McCloud uses different sized panels in order to give a sense of space and importance in each panel. McCloud  wants the reader to understand that in his smaller panels, he is describing something in detail and needs to be payed attention to from the reader. With the larger panels, McCloud is is giving the reader a sense of space and using the larger size to give more artistic space to convey his message there. Size of panels and the space between them all have their meaning and are created for a specific purpose.

The last element is the element of Texture. This can be clearly seen in the largest panel on the page, being able to see depth, the use of the grass, and the texture of the house in the background. It give the reader an easier time to make sense of the illustration so that the illustration can give a sense of visual or physical texture as defined by John Lovett. In this case, Visual Texture is used to give the illusion of a physical texture. While this may not be the Mona Lisa painting, the comic still gives a sense of visual texture and it really makes the visual more believable and lifelike.

In Scott McCloud’s understanding comics we see that he uses different designs in every part of his book which makes it way interesting to read through. I also feel that Lovett and McCloud had the same idea and goal into how a comic should look like in terms of the design they used thus making it easier for the reader to understand what the comics are all about.

Understanding Comics By Scott McCloud pg 18-19

I came across 2 pages in the book that caught my eyes that are page 18 and 19 where we a different design being used in terms of the images used that seemed to me that some real pictures were used to show the activity that was taking place in the story. and also the use of visual mode where use of images are seen by the reader via use of color, the size of the images, the flaming and the size. McCloud clearly used all these to keep the viewers entertained in one way or another.

The text in these two pages are written in an artistic form where McCloud uses dark text to emphasize something in the story. it is interesting how he catches our attention by visualizing thing in a more creative manner. We can also see some pictorials taken from a book and the line up he uses make it easier to follow and this is something new to me since i didn’t know that a comic writer could do this to be able to give more details in as much way possible to the readers. It does make it more appealing .

After reading John Lovett’s “Design Overview,” I feel like I have a better understanding of the perspective Scott McCloud is coming from with his work in “Understanding Comics.” One page that specifically stood out to me was page 27, where McCloud discusses the use of icons. Throughout this page I was able to relate many of Lovett’s elements to that of McCloud’s work.

Page 27 from Scott McCloud’s book, “Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art.”

One of the most basic elements of design, Line, can be seen at use frequently on this page. Not only is it at use in the physical framing of the panels that McCloud uses to communicate through, but it’s also at use throughout all of the icons he draws. Whether these icons are symbols, language, or pictures, they all use lines. Besides the element of line, I also found the element of size to play a large roll in McClouds work. He does an excellent job of sizing his illustrations in a way that catches the readers eyes, and allows them to interpret the remainder of the information at their own pace. When I first read this page, my eyes were instantly drawn to the large “ICON” writing that McCloud has his character sitting on. Following that I quickly glanced over the floating picture icons that he drew, then proceeded to read the entire page from left to right. I now have a better understanding of the significance of the area occupied around one another, and how that affects the way a reader will comprehend the information on a page.

One of the most prominent principles of design that I noticed on this page was that of Gradation. Lovett describes gradation how “color from warm to cool and tone from dark to light produce aerial perspective, and add interest and movement to a shape.” McCloud uses gradation throughout this page in the tops of his panels, as a way to add shadows to his illustrations, and draw the readers attention. McCloud clearly uses these elements and principle throughout his work, and I have a better understand of Lovett’s work as a result of that.

From Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics,” 120.

Both McCloud and Lovett have a similar goal in comics and design, respectively. They both attempt to convey message through visual compositions. McCloud would describe this as trying to make “one sense speak for all five,” meaning allowing the viewer to hear an image, for example. I will examine a page of Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics through a design lens to see how elements of John Lovett’s “Design Overview” are reflected within the panels.

On this page, McCloud shows how each panel has an entirely different feel depending one what visual art is shown. The top left panel is particularly interesting to me because I think that it is a great example of harmony, and how that helps convey its purpose to the viewer. McCloud’s character says, “Can one sense speak for all five,” directly juxtaposed with a very realistic image of a human eye. He then shows examples of how seeing various images can produce responses from your other senses. This exhibits harmony because McCloud never says that he is talking about the one sense being vision, because he knows that the image of the eye paired with his commentary is enough for his audience to follow along. Another aspect shown in these panels is dominance of size, particularly in the one that says, “Quiet.” This panel is dominated by the size of the negative space giving it a still, or uneasy feeling. Value is another element of design that I found prevalent on this page. In the last panel, McCloud conveys the warmth of this image making the image very bright, with very little contrast. Similar to the images of the repair shop, the panel that says, “Warm” feels much more inviting and happier than the panel that says, “Sour.” These are only a few of the design elements and principles shown in McCloud’s book, but they each have on thing in common.

From John Lovett’s “Design Overview,” demonstrating value

In these comics, the words and images work together in a way that evokes all the senses through only using sight. Not only do each of these panels use sight to represent the other senses, but they are all used in order to evoke an emotional response. In the first panel, you feel like you are having a conversation with the character because he is not over-explaining himself. You feel the sense of uneasiness through the “Quiet” panel, just waiting for something to happen to it. You feel the happiness coming from the brightness of the “Warm” panel. Each of these panels are intentionally composed of various design elements and principles in order to make the viewer feel some type of way.