THE CHALLENGE: Aliens are invading
Earth to mine ALL its resources (that
includes YOU!!). Pick a side and create a message that either helps SAVE Earth from invading aliens or helps aliens CONQUER Earth... one image at a
time.
To do this let me give you some background information, basic building blocks for creating messages, and some suggestions and details to help you meet the challenge.
BACKGROUND:
This challenge was presented at the 2013 San Diego
International Comic-Con was called “How to Conquer the World One Image at a
Time.” The following four award-winning graphic novel
writers/illustrators joined me:
Jimmy Gownley (
Amelia
books),
Royden Lepp (
Rust);
JohnGreen (
Teen Boat), and
Larry Marder (
Bean World).
In this post I’d like to invite you all to virtually join our panel. Below are:
- Details of the challenge;
- The basics of visually storytelling;
- Examples of how the panelists responded to the challenge
I begin with the challenge. Please think about this challenge as I relay the
visual-story telling basics. Then take a look at what my colleagues created and share
your own. Share this with your kids
too!!!! I’d love to see what they come up with!
 |
| Courtesy: Men in Black |
The
CHALLENGE DETAILS:
Aliens are invading
Earth to mine ALL its resources (that
includes YOU!!). Pick a side and help SAVE or CONQUER Earth one image at a
time. You must create a visual message for your side (its content and target
audience is up to you). Your message might:
·
WARN Earth
of its impending danger where resistance is futile;
·
RALLY
public awareness and resistance because resistance is never futile;
·
CONVINCE
humans of a better life on alien planets;
·
CREATE
an Alien Party Election poster;
·
Provide
INVASION SAFETY TIPS;
·
Anything
else you think will help your side.
 |
| From: theabundantartist.com |
With this challenge in mind, let me relay some four key elements to
visually story-telling:
1. As you create your message you must KNOW/CONSIDER:
·
WHO
your target audience is (kids, teachers, parents, friends, aliens, Americans, etc.);
·
WHAT
you want to say (Try to save Earth from invasion? Try to help aliens make peaceful transition? Humorous? Fact-filled? Safety tips? Instructions? );
·
HOW to
clearly and relate that message, grab their attention and convince them balancing logic, credibility, and passion (with humor, facts, universal icons and symbols, simple vocabulary, etc.)
For Example:
Depending on the message and our target audience you
will need to balance and use varying amount of
credibility, logic andpassion.
For example, a message to your
teacher, asking her to consider using graphic novels for a book report will
probably include a good deal of logic along with a dose of credibility citing
references to the benefits of graphic novels for educational purposes.
Trying to convince a friend to read
a graphic novel, however, will probably relay more on emotion and
passion (“
Oh
its so AWESOME”) than credibility and references to its educational
benefits. For more on this please see this post on
balancing logos (logic), ethos (credibility), and pathos (passion/emotion) in visual messages.
2. You must decide how to balance and use words, symbols, images and icons. And, regardless of the balance you chose to
use, carefully considering how your audience will interpret your
choices. For example, this image can be
seen as:
·
The number “two” or two fingers;
·
Bunny ears;
·
A sign for victory; and/or
·
A sign for peace
While this particular example shows the multiple messages
images and symbols can relay, know that words also frequently carry multiple
meanings. So, when using words or images make sure you usie them effectively for your
particular target audience.
3. Your use of COLOR also
must be carefully considered. Color can grab our attention, raise or lower
blood pressure, clam or excite us, and relay concepts and motions. Colorful images make communication interesting
and motivate the receiver.
As I have already
posted and written a lot about
use of color I will only briefly relay a points
to illustrate color choice influences your message.
Briefly:
red excites us and raises blood pressure, appetite
and body temperature while
blue clams us and lowers our blood pressure and
respiration.
Red can relay danger and
prime attention.
Blue, aside from calming,
can relay elite status and adventure.
Green is
also calming and is often used to denote ‘nature’ or ‘natural’ but it can also
be used to relay ‘envy.’
Yellow (like red)
primes our attention and is actually the first color our brains register.
Yellow relays sunshine and youth but too much
yellow can often be unpleasant.
4. Your use of the SPACE
and DESIGN of the page is also
really important. While our brains tend
to prefer “balanced” pages and designs, our attention is held longer by
asymmetrical images. Also while an image may be placed asymmetrically on a
page, it can still be “balanced” with
proper use of color, icons, words and corollary images.
Let me give you an
example:
In the image below by Pablo
Alfieri we can clearly see how he uses color, font, space, icons/image, and
asymmetry and balance to make us FEEL PLAYFUL.
First, PLAYFUL is presented in a bold yellow font and feels energetic and...playful. The word
is then set against a regal purple
background (relaying a feeling of acceptance and authority).
Next, is the use of confetti – a symbol of celebration and
playfulness and one sees a random, impulsive purple string and diagonal narrow
blue line – again suggesting playfulness and creativity.
Then, there is the a play of light and dark. PLAYFULNESS and the confetti are placed to
the side and inside a lighter purple area, surrounded by a much darker purple
background. Placing the message inside
the lighter area AND the use of bright yellow, immediately bring our attention
to the message.
Finally, we see that the words are off to the side. This use of asymmetry is another effective
means of grabbing our attention and keeping our interest on the message. And,
even though the message is asymmetrical, it feels balanced as the lighter,
playful message on one side, is balanced, surrounded and to some extent
grounded by the darker, established, authoritative purple all around it. The blue diagonal line and extending confetti also help add a feeling of balance and harmony.
CHALLENGE MESSAGES BY MY ESTEEMED PANELISTS:
Below are some of the messages designed by
my esteemed panelists (please do not copy or reproduce these images without express written permission).
Please consider contributing your own images and the
images of your kids and students. As
always, I thank you for your visit and hope you’ll contribute your own
insights, experiences and images in the comments below.
This first image was done by John Green. Unfortunately, my scanner did not include the colors used. In this image, while mostly black and white, all the lettering is in a dark green shade.
In this image, John Green shows a "friendly" alien trying to lure kids into space (because it's "cool") in an effort to take over Earth and harvest its resources:
 |
| Courtesy of John Green |
The next two images are by Larry Marder. Here too, I am was unable to transfer the color. Larry's first image "Join or Die!" is black and white...the message is clear. Notice the use of jagged edges in this explosion and the tiny figure on a sphere. Notice how tense the image makes us:
 |
| Courtesy of Larry Marder |
 |
| Courtesy of Larry Marder |
In Larry's second image, "There is room for us all!" the figure is in black and white but he's standing on Earth whose oceans are a light blue color and continents are shades of green. The other "mass" is also colored in shades of green with the large circles shaded in yellow. Notice how different the "feel"of the image is:
Finally, below is an image by Royden Lepp. Luckily the color did come out:
 |
| Courtesy of Royden Lepp |
When designing this image, Royden wanted the viewer to recollect the propaganda images the Nazis relayed (particularly to the French) in World War II where viewers were informed that Nazi invasion would bring happier, better times. Notice the use of color, light and design. The aliens are clearly invading, but families are happy, lights are on and they seem quite welcome. What is Royeden's real message?
WHAT WILL YOUR MESSAGE BE?
Please think about this and include your own images in the comments below.
And, if you're not up to creating/sending your own image, please let us know what you might say and how.
As always, thank you for your visit and please leave some message for us in the comments below.
NOTE: The images above by John Green, Larry Marder and Royden Lepp ARE FOR THIS POST ONLY. YOU MAY NOT COPY OR REPRODUCE THEM without expressed written permission.
Our world today is driven by digital technologies. From cell phones to
tablets, to electronic readers, and computers, almost all our work and
the majority of our entertainment is delivered, shared, and enjoyed
digitally.
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