2 PAGE LAYOUT and DESIGN

In the broadest terms, page layout and design is the composition of artistic elements on the page. When it comes to comics, we look at how the individual panels are arranged, shaped and positioned in relationship with each other. Ease on the reader is important. The order in which the reader should look at the panels must be intuitively obvious. The composition within each panel should lead the reader’s eye gently into the next panel.

Laying out a page is not easy. To do it right takes time, study and a lot of attention to detail. This is the most often overlooked and rushed step of the artistic process. For that reason it’s a good idea to do layout thumbnail sketches before moving forward. It helps to focus attention on the importance of the layout and design of each page. When this step is rushed or skipped altogether, the page layout can become a virtual train wreck—trapezoid or squeezed panels that were shaped in such twisted ways simply because the artist didn’t do a thumbnail layout first.

Next time you swing by your comic shop, flip through the comics on the rack. The easiest way to identify an artist who did not bother thinking through the page design and layout before starting is to look at the top of the page and then glance to the bottom. If the panels at the top have appropriate space and flow nicely, but the panels toward the bottom are cramped and shoehorned into places or stacked on top of each other, there’s a good chance the artist cut the layout stage out of his process.

In the following pages you’ll learn a little more about the importance of page layout and scene design and how they help tell dynamic stories. Enjoy…

Penciller’s Tools

The penciller uses several more tools than the writer. These include but are not limited to:

Various pencils

Blue line

Drafting table

Bristol board

Light box

Splash page Composition

Note how Art composed this splash page so the reader’s eye naturally flows from top-left to bottom-right, focusing the attention on the skull that the ape has found. The ape is looking at it, the sea monster’s whole body curves the reader’s eye into it, and the woman’s body frames it.

Monkeyman and O’Brien pinup: ©2006 Art Adams.