Project Overview
This comic book project was a creative collaboration between myself and my classmate Mubarak, developed as part of our Digital Media major. What began as a fun side project during our final university term evolved into a deeply engaging study of visual storytelling, character design, and sequential narrative.
Through this journey, we explored how a combination of hand-drawn elements, AI tools, and digital design software can bring a story to life in a cinematic and emotionally impactful way.
date:
May 26, 2021
Core Learning & Research
Before diving into the actual design, I studied key texts like “Mangasia”, which offered insight into:
- Authentic Dialogue Writing: Developing character voices that feel real and emotionally grounded.
- Text Styling for Emphasis: Using bold, italics, and fonts to guide readers’ emotions.
- Expressive Character Design: Visual cues like posture, clothing, and expressions to communicate personality.
- Strategic Colour Use: Establishing atmosphere and emotional tone through warm and cool palettes.
We also examined published comics for real-world applications of these techniques.
Main Character Spotlight: Martha Williams
Age: 26
Background: A young woman shaped by childhood abuse and homelessness.
Personality: Guarded, vulnerable, emotionally volatile but resilient.
Motivation: Seeking redemption and healing from trauma, struggling to build a new life.
Martha was developed with layered backstory and visual storytelling in mind. Her posture, expressions, and palette of muted tones reflect her emotional state and past.
Visual Storytelling: Colour & Layout
Colour and page composition played a vital role in shaping the emotional rhythm and cinematic flow of our comic.
We strategically used bold blues to signal confidence or intensity, while muted reds and blacks conveyed moments of tension, sorrow, or regret. Contrasting hues were applied to differentiate characters and emphasize emotional shifts. Each colour palette was carefully chosen to reflect the tone of the scene, adding narrative depth and clarity.
In parallel, our page layouts were crafted to control pacing and build tension. We used more panels for slower, suspenseful sequences and fewer panels for fast, action-driven scenes. Camera angles like close-ups and dramatic high/low shots heightened emotional impact, while transitions between panels were designed for smooth narrative flow.
Using tools like Photoshop, we added cinematic flourishes — zooms, establishing shots, and focal framing — to give each page a dynamic, film-like quality. This combination of thoughtful colour use and structured layout brought our story to life with energy and emotion.
My Role in the Project
📝 Story Development: write the narrative arc, outlined scenes, and created dialog
🎭 Character Creation: Conceptualized visual and emotional traits
🔍 Research: Studied manga/comic theory and visual language
🤖 AI Tools & editing: Used Midjourney for early designs and concept iterations, editing in the adobe illustartor & photoshop
✏️ Documentation: Drafted blog content and maintained visual development logs
Project Legacy & Portfolio Impact
This comic book project reflects:
- My ability to build stories from the ground up
- Mastery over visual language and digital tools
- A commitment to collaborative, long-term creative work
Note
