ComicLab Ep 359 — Should your readers be your writers?

ComicLab Ep 359 — Should your readers be your writers?

BlueSky is beginning to feel like Twitter did ten years ago! Engagement is up, conversations are genuine, and follower counts...
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Understanding social media

Understanding social media

Social media is among an independent artist's most frustrating elements. We struggle for engagement, wage constant battles with "The Algorithm,"...
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Writing humor

Writing humor

Writing comedy is a challenge that is made even more daunting by the fact that humor itself is completely subjective...
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CMYK vs RGB

CMYK vs RGB

If you're saving your comics in RGB mode, you may be making a potentially expensive mistake. The content you are...
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ComicLab Ep 358 — “Help! I’m not funny anymore!”

ComicLab Ep 358 — “Help! I’m not funny anymore!”

Cartoonists Dave and Brad share some thoughts with a young humor writer trying to find their Funny. Also: Is BlueSky...
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ISBN — a beginner’s guide

ISBN — a beginner’s guide

An ISBN is a 10- or 13-digit number used to identify a book from a specific publisher. Once your book...
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How to write a Halloween joke

How to write a Halloween joke

On Substack, a cartoonist was struggling with writing a Halloween joke. He was experiencing a common problem. He was stuck...
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Webcomics Confidential: Size doesn’t matter

Webcomics Confidential: Size doesn’t matter

when it comes to your audience, size doesn't matter. A small and engaged readership beats a huge, lukewarm audience every...
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ComicLab Ep 357 — Innovation fascination

ComicLab Ep 357 — Innovation fascination

Having wrapped up his 16th Kickstarter, cartoonist Dave Kellett shares some insights about setting realistic expectations, avoiding paid advertising, and...
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Adding lettering to improve original art sales

Adding lettering to improve original art sales

Selling original art is an integral part of the business model of an independent cartoonist who works with traditional media...
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Logo Hot Seat, Part Three: Typography

In the first Logo Hot Seat, we discussed some flaws that fall under the heading of an important element of design: Legibility. In the next Hot Seat, we talked about using Negative Space to improve your logo.

In this next group of logos, I’d like to discuss another important aspect of design: Typography.

Typography is such a powerful tool. It can convey attitude and emotion. It can add amazing flavor. If you’re timid with your font choices, you logo could end up bland. And if you’re careless, you could wind up with something that tastes horrible. To your readers’ eyes.

Too bad fonts can’t be used to fix a bad metaphor.

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by on August 25, 2010
Posted In: Uncategorized
36 Comments

Failure is an option

This piece was kindly submitted by Patric Lewandowski.

You finally did it.  You thought about it for years, but you finally started your first comic.  And it’s on the web!  There’s no one to stop you from reaching the masses with your comic!  There’s no one to tell you “no!”  And, your craft is strong!  You draw well.  Jokes are funny.  At least, that’s what the few readers you have told you.  But why don’t you have more readers?  You just need to work harder, right?

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by on August 24, 2010
Posted In: Creativity
27 Comments

Buying a one-year membership in August?!

Since the question has arisen once or twice, I figured I’d better clear up any confusion.

Your Webcomics.com membership is good for twelve months after your starting date. In other words, it will not expire on Dec. 31, 2010. Rather, it will expire one year after you first subscribe.

When you subscribe, you are automatically enrolled to have your subscription renewed after one year. You have every right to cancel that auto-enroll, and it is very easy to do to. However, if you cancel the auto-renewal and forget to update your subscription, your account will be automatically locked.

 

by on August 24, 2010
Posted In: Uncategorized

Logo Hot Seat, Part One: Legibility

As I stated in my original post on the subject, designing a good logo is an integral part of the branding of your comic and your site. During the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be grouping some of the submitted logos into groups according to the similar problems that they exhibit so we can discuss those issues one by one.

The first issue I want to discuss is legibility.

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by on August 19, 2010
Posted In: Uncategorized
54 Comments

Robert Khoo: Comic-Con Review

Penny Arcade has been exhibiting at San Diego Comic Con for a decade, and I can say with confidence that we’ll never get it 100% right. From shipping mistakes to inventory issues to unplanned expenses, the combination of so many moving parts in your planning process and a show that continues to evolve creates a situation that’s always error-prone.

Despite that incredibly upbeat opener, I actually hope this article will show two things: A. everyone makes mistakes so you shouldn’t feel bad when you do (and you will) and B. you shouldn’t let those mistakes haunt you.

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by on August 18, 2010
Posted In: Uncategorized
11 Comments

Sales Tax at Conventions

Something happened at Comic-Con in July that really made my eyes pop open.

And it had nothing to do with cosplayers.

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by on August 16, 2010
Posted In: Business
32 Comments

Thumbnail Sketches

Sometimes we get so immeshed in the routine of doing regularly updated art that we forget to pay attention to some of the small things that make a big difference in our work.

One of these often-overlooked details is composition.

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by on August 12, 2010
Posted In: Uncategorized
9 Comments

Logo Design

Designing a logo for your comic is an exercise in branding that, unfortunately, many people don’t put a whole lot of thought into. However, that logo often says as much about your comic as your comic itself. In fact, it might be argued to have a little more weight — since it sits there as a repeated visual on page after page… reiterating its message to your readers.

Here’s how to help make sure the message comes through loud and clear.

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by on August 11, 2010
Posted In: Art
58 Comments