Instructional Comic

Comics 1

McDermott

Instructional Comic

Read through the handout from Uri Schulevitz’s Writing with Pictures. The notion of the “completed action” is very important for conveying coherent narrative information.

Research some instructional picture sequences. Find at least three examples, even if they are only two or three panels long. Examples might include airplane safety cards, instruction manuals, cook books and assembly diagrams. Include a copy of each of your examples in your sketchbook. Write briefly about your observations of these instructional comics. Do some strike you as more successful than others? If so, what qualities separate the good from the bad? In which ways are they similar? Which ones use words as well as images, and which rely on images alone? What can you learn from these examples to use in your own instructional comic? What could you use in more conventionally narrative comics? Bring the examples to class on 8/25

Now, teach us how to do something. You may use as many panels as you need to, but do not use words.  These actions may be simple or complex, but it should be easily understood and followed by someone who has never encountered this action before. The completed sequence is due in class on 8/25 and will be critiqued on 8/27.