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Thank you, Greg! I definitely want to stick with the same style for the character sheets (I want to do one for each of the major characters), but I'm still working out what style I want to render the actual comic in. There are like three different NPR styles that I've been able to achieve that I really like, so deciding which one to render the comic in is difficult.
Thank you, FirstBastion! It's something I'm trying to do in my spare time, just for fun, so it's pretty slow going. Hopefully, I'll be able to flesh it out more and start moving forward on rendering out the panels and getting things put together. I've gotten the first part of the comic storyboarded out. I just need to decide on what NPR style I want to render the pages in and start working on them.
I need some advice from you on deciding about a font that I want to use for the next part in my comic
There are several aspects that need to be considered
1. it should be different from everbody elses font as to represent a diferent language or way to speak
2. It should be readable well enough to still enjoy it after several pages of reading it (later more people will be speaking that way
3. it is supposed to give a slight feel for arabic/persian /"oriental"
so here is an image with the font everyone else speaks and three version I am considering atm. please give me your vote according to the numbers I put in ( or tell me that they are all rubbish or bad to read :D)
Thanks a lot everybody!
If it is for one character with an accent or speaking another language, number 3 could work.
You might also want to check out https:// ; blambot. com
there are some fonts there too
thanks a lot @FirstBastion
I've been scrolling up and down a variaty of font collections, blambot being one of them. decided to boil it down on these three just to see how people react. Like when it gets nice exotic the readability usually goes down.
Readability is definitely a factor. Yet choosing the most exotic means you did it on purpose. Highlighting the unique character who may be a little "misunderstood". Comicbook lettering is usually all CAPS but finding an exotic font that is readable in CAPS is probably not possible. This is challenging choice if you decide to do it. It is likely breaking a rule or two.
https://blambot.com/pages/comic-book-grammar-tradition
Yes I was hunting for a caps font but there you are right, that's really hard. The problem i have is that in this next part he will be the only one speaking in this font, later on there will be a complete part with people all talking like that
I'll be the one outlier and say Don't use a different font for any characters.
I've never read a font and heard a voice - unless it's a computer or monster.
And even then, it's used sparingly..
If the character looks a certain way, that's enough.
From there, it should be in WHAT they say, not what they say looks like.
As in, the OTHER characters can't see those fonts.
My 2 cents.
Since you're going to be having quite a bit of dialogue with the text, I'd definitely recommend something a bit less exotic and something a bit easier to read. :) In a lot of comics, the use of brackets < > usually denotes the use of a foreign language. You could also go with a different font color:
That's very cute with the actual language in the balloon.
Interesting, that you say you don't hear a voice when you read the font, because I do and that's why I even have that idea.
And I admit that usually the advice for using fonts in comics is to stick with one font or as little as possible. I do have the different font for the mashine voices or sounds as well.
That is a neat idea and I've seen it with little country flags in the speech balloons as well. I don't really ahve names to the languages my characters are using since it's a bit a mix of different ones mashed into one but maybe I pick up the different colour or give the speech balloon a slightly different tint or outline.
not finished thinking about this yet, but thanks everybody so far.
i think it's a combination of things. When I strain to make out the letters/words, it's probably what pulls me out.
Like, I see a lot of comics set in King Arthur times trying too hard with that Olde English font and it's tough to read.
My first attempt at "machine talk" was very heavy-handed and comic letterers were VERY VERY against doing anything like that.
And it's true, some readers were like "It's hard to read when the robot speaks" but they all agreed it looked cool.
So I switched it up.
I think the subtle one works best.
I vote 2.
To directly answer your question, I like #1 best (but it's not really that good because the crossbar on the lowercase T almost vanishes). So, for usability, I'd say go with #2. I feel it conveys something foreign and more elegant than your standard typeface (and I'm not a fan of your standard type because it's too light and thin: as I reduced the pic above, it got harder to read).
No that I've put that out of the way, I'll say that I am of two minds on the "using a different font to indicate different speech patterns."
Here's a few observations on the practice in comics and film:
Here's a thought:
You could also change the color of the special font to brown or blue (not red or orange). Something to make it look a bit fancy.
Anyway, GOOD LUCK.
Thanks a lot for the detailed feedback @mmitchell_houston
Yes, my original font type was already a mess to decide on. I didn't like the traditional comic style fonts, wanted something sleek modern without looking like a mashine is speaking, and fitting the image style and setting. I agree it's too thinlined, and after all probably a majorty of readers wouldn't even bother to notice if I had used one of the typical hand written looking font's.
But at least that one was one with small caps option. Now that I got that one, the domedwellers will keep using it until the comic gets a major overhaul (eg when I finally decide to make it in print format or I relaunch on a different plattform).
How I proceed, I still have to decide but the input was very good to have, thanks for that.
I like the idea of a flag in the bubbles to denote language. The way francais is placed within Diva's sample works too. Griffin makes a good point about getting pulled out of the narrative with a change in font.
You're welcome. Looking forward to seeing what you do next.
From a readability point of view, I prefer option 2. But I'm also inclined to agree with Griffin Avid and counsel you not to do it. I think it will look very odd to have him talking in mixed case and your protagonist in all caps. It'll be like she's shouting at him all the time.
If it is one character doing it sporadically, it can be tolerated by the reader, but if you are suggesting an entire chapter where everyone is using this "other country language " font then that's something you should reconsider doing. Just use the standard comicbook font, none of the above.
I'm hoping to get some help with something - I could use you guys' opinions on these art styles. I've been doing a lot of experimenting with my NPR shaders, trying to find an art style that I want to go with for my comic. I have narrowed it down to 7 that I like the most.
Could I get you guys' opinions on what art style you like the best? The first three are VERY similar, but I couldn't decide between them so I thought I'd post them all. After that, the other 4 have less subtle differences. I did three different renders in each style and put them together so that they can be viewed more easily. I labelled each set "A", "B", etc. If you could tell me which set you like the look of the most, it could help me narrow down the art style for the comic.
The comic is going to be kept fairly "light" - while it will have some more serious subjects every once in a while, I want the overall tone to be fairly light and try to keep it as a comic that doesn't take itself too seriously. So having a style that fits the tone would be best, I think. What art style do you like the most out of these seven? And also which one do you think would fit the "light-ish tone" of the comic the best (as those could be two separate answers).
If you guys could help me out by giving your opinions on these, that would be a big help! I posted this in the "Non-Photorealistic Render" thread also, since I think some people probably watch that thread that don't watch this one (and vice versa), and I can use all the feedback I can get.
Click the images to enlarge if you want, to see the art styles more clearly.
1) Which Art Style do you find the most visually appealing?
2) Which Art Style do you think would fit best for the tone of the comic? (If different than the first answer.)
For most parts I like B best, G is a close second
Maybe I'm losing it. I would have sworn I wrote a reply to this.
If I remember I liked F and D.
But it's a mix cause different things about each work really good to me.
For F, I like where she's sitting cross-legged and facing right. But the line is too thick around her head (by the chin) and eyes for the middle shot where she's cross-legged and facing us.
I like D, but it's a little washed out.
The others are vibrant, but some of the colors remind me of the older comic look everyone was using.
I think you should keep having fun and tinkering. After all, there's no rush.
The final thing will jump out at you - and blow you away.
And you'll be giddy looking at it.
Yeah, keep going till you fall in love with your choice.
What I've found is that people care much less about the technical intricacies of your "style" than you do, yourself. They'll notice it more only when you start to lack consistency, so to help yourself narrow it down I'd try rendering them all out in extremely diverse settings, lighting situations, and angles, and at the very least you can weed out the ones that aren't as dynamic as the others in what scenarios they allow you to render.
In no way am I saying that we don't care about your style, by the way (in case my wording was ambiguous), I've just found that I sometimes focus on technicalities that matter zero percent to the "consumers" (i.e. "us), and I should just go with what I'm most comfortable with. Barring anything else, it'll be one less hurdle to jump when your in the thick of it.
They all look amazing to me, but since I'm colorblind I won't muddy the waters up with my opinions. All I'll say is that each one could very well be what you choose and the style wouldn't dissuade me from reading. :)
I like the styles that change the palette, so I'd probably lean towards A. That being said, it's nice to have options for unique situations. For example, alternate styles may come in handy to indicate dream sequences or flashbacks, or different locations. I think they're all similar enough to still provide some coherence.
Also, different styles may work better for different parts of the same panel (like a ghost). Sometimes one style may just look better than another (you may like how the ground/grass looks in A and how the sky looks in E). This can also be used to create more separation between background and foreground elements if you wanted. The best thing is that 3D rendering makes it easy to produce masks to help composite them.
As for question #2, I think you could make any of them work for the tone you're shooting for. Your choices for the style of lettering/balloons will probably play a large role in this as well.
Looking forward to seeing more ;)
- Greg
I like the subtle contrast with B, the color seem a bit richer and vibrant.
F or G are also an appealing options, decidely more 3D but since the subject character has very modern animation look to her, it works.
Need to see how they look in panels on the page
I think G is the only one that works very well at all. I originally was going to add B & C to my preferences, but then I noticed that in both of those her lips are completely lost in the middle picture.
However, until you actually use one of these styles to create an entire page of sequential art, this is all just theoretical. What you showed us are non-connected pin-ups. Yeah, the all look pretty good, but until we see a whole page of your work, panel after panel, none of us can say whether it looks good, or if you are able to replicate the same style panel-to-panel, page-to-page.
I cannot tell you how much I learnned from my first two comics pages: my skills just started improving by leaps and bounds. For example, I learned how incredibly VITAL is is to save my light sets and document my settings for each and every panel so I can replicate the look and feel in the scene as I progress from panel to panel. I also learned that, since I work in b&w line art, I have to render at the size needed: I cannot shrink or enlarge my artwork once it's placed in the frame (because if I do that, the lines will get thicker or smaller between each panel, and that doesn't look good at all in my style).
So, my advice (nay, my STRONG advice) is just to pick a style and make a single page with at least four panels and include the character walking in the scene, in a close up, and make sure you vary your angles and the size of the figure (try a long shot or a medium shot with an eagle-eye perspective). You need some variety in what you show, and please add word balloons and text (otherwise what might happen is you create a cool style that doesn't look good with traditional word balloons – and try balloons with outlines and without, as you never know what will work with your style).
Best of luck to you! I'm looking forward to seeing what you do.
Sorry I missed this one before. It looks pretty good, but the colors are a bit flat. I do like the pointalism effect, though. It has a nice vibe to it.
Wow! Awesome feedback! :D Thank you so much @Linwelly @Griffin Avid @duckbomb @algovincian @FirstBastion and @mmitchell_houston ! You guys are awesome to give me your opinions and leave some great advice. There doesn't seem to be much consensus on the one that looks the best, but I guess that's to be expected since these are the kinds of things where personal tastes play a big role.
You all gave me a lot to mull over and a lot of "food for thought". As was pointed out, I will really need to see what the styles look like in different situations as well as what they look like with lettering and speech bubbles. I have no idea where to even start with that. Ahhh I know there are a few different types of speech bubbles and a ton of different fonts. Finding both that will fit the tone of the comic as well as with the art style might be a challenge all on it's own. It sounds like I have a lot more experimenting and testing to do. Oy! lol
Thank you all again for your help. I hope I can get more feedback from you guys as I search for the right combination of art style, speech bubbles, lettering, etc that I will be producing my comic in. I want to try to get this right from the start, so (hopefully) it will lead to more consistency with the art and lettering going forward. :)
This is like my quest for the right font for the different language, you will get as many answers as there are people answering, and everyone has a point that's worth considering, but in the end it's what you feel is right. I would like to disagree with duckbomb in the aspect that people would not care in the end. I believe a lot of people won't notice the thoughts you've put behind this but they would note when you didn't do it because often it's more a feel for "this is not worked out/ it's not fitting" The careful reader (and it's those who are the ones who stay) will know if a work was just jammed down or has been considered and a decision was made for this or that.
For my part I use light (souce of light/ colour / angle etc) to transport mood and personality of my characters. Since I don't do thought captions, it's an important medium and it gets noticed.