Word balloon Aesthetics

Word balloons are so common -- so freely accepted as a part of a cartoonist's visual syntax -- that many of us haven't given the subject a whole lot of thought. Looking back at my own work, I know I didn't for the first several years. Choosing last Friday's Archive Dive made me remember a post I've been wanting to do for a long time: Word Ballon Aesthetic.

It's time to look at word balloons again for the first time.

This post discusses several methods of incorporating word balloons into panels and creating graceful, natural-looking word balloons that communicate clearly. Log in for the entire post.

Convention Dish: ConnectiCon

ConnectiCon

• July 9-11, 201
• Connecticut Convention Center and Hartford Marriott Downtown.
• Hartford, CT
• Approx. 7,000

The Dish

If you've attended ConnectiCon in the past, please post details of your personal experience below.

Log in for the entire post.

Salvage those New Years Resolutions

Ask anyone who regularly attends a gym.

For the first six weeks of every year, it's impossible to find an empty treadmill, stair-climber or elliptical workout machine.

And then, on the seventh week, everything's back to normal.

New Year's Resolutions tend to flicker and die within six weeks of the ball dropping in Times Square.

So, how about you?

Remember those New Year Resolutions you made? Are you one of the people leaving an empty treadmill at the Webcomics Gym? If you haven't made any real progress, there's a reason.

That's because resolutions are like wishes. They feel awfully good when you make them, but they don't actually accomplish anything.

This post discusses how to make practical strategies for success. Log in for the entire post.

Friday Archive Dive: Word Balloons - Three Common Mistakes

Today's Friday Archive Dive is from June 2, 2009. It discussed three common mistakes people make with their word balloons.

Want to make a small change in how you do your comics that will elevate your game overnight? Improve your word balloons. It's the single, most common flaw in most beginners' work that immediately identifies them as novices in the eyes of their readers. And, amazingly, they are problems that are ridiculously easy to solve. Address these problems, and your work will take on an air of professionalism that is bound to be noticed by your readers.

This post discusses three mistakes commonly made in word balloons and offers alternate solutions and improvements. Log in for the entire post.

Don't Flattr Yourself

Piggy-backing on today's post about Weighing Opportunity, let's talk about the new social micropayments site, Flattr.

Here's the set-up: Readers are expected to put money into a Flattr account (I can only assume Flattr takes a cut, but this is in beta, so there's no further information).

Then, when readers see something they like on the Web (say, a webcomic) they can click on the webcomic's Flattr button (provided the webcartoonist in question is a participant).

At the end of the month, the amount that the reader put into his Flattr account is divided among all the content providers who earned that reader's clicks.

Let's go to the sales pitch, shall we?

This post dissects the sales pitch of Flattr and discuss it piece by piece. It's concept will be discussed and an overall review of its usefulness will be concluded. Log in for the entire post.