Reflection of Understanding Comics

Scott McCloud’s comic on understanding comics puts into perspective how important images, lines and symbols are to portraying a message without words. He makes a fascinating point that cartooning is about stripping down the objects and focusing on the important part, the meaning. Humans assign identities and meaning to almost every icon they see, which gives the image life. Pictures can also evoke an emotional response from the viewer simply by the lines they use. As McCloud states, “All lines have expressive potential.” The important pieces of a comic book are also vital when creating a well designed advertisement or work of art. As an artist and designer, you want to evoke an emotion and make the viewer associate meaning to the piece.