{"id":1234,"date":"2011-06-06T07:51:03","date_gmt":"2011-06-06T11:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?p=1234"},"modified":"2017-04-20T00:05:20","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T04:05:20","slug":"web-content-insights-through-understanding-comics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/web-content-insights-through-understanding-comics\/","title":{"rendered":"Web Content Insights Through ‘Understanding Comics’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Understanding
What can comics teach us about content?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I am not a comics nerd (I don\u2019t think my Archie obsession as a kid holds muster), though I have befriended many \u2014 and married one. So while I\u2019ve never sniffed at comics and graphic novels as child’s play, I didn\u2019t fully realize the complexity of the form until I picked up a copy of Scott McCloud\u2019s seminal text, Understanding Comics<\/a>, in which he explains many principles of visual communication and what makes comics tick.<\/p>\n

I had heard of the book before, but I didn\u2019t get a clear sense of what it might have to teach me until 2009 when I interviewed Neil Cohn<\/a>, a psychology graduate student at Tufts who studies the grammar of visual language<\/a>. “Visual language is to comics what English is to novels,” he explained to me, and you can substitute \u201cnovels\u201d with any written content. McCloud\u2019s book, for him, is a foundational text.<\/p>\n

Recently, I came across this a blog post by McCloud<\/a>, referencing an article in UX Magazine on how the concepts McCloud discusses in \u201cUnderstanding Comics\u201d apply to user interface design. Wanting to learn more, I finally borrowed the book from the library. Suffice it to say, I will be buying my own copy.<\/p>\n

As I read, I found myself holding many of McCloud\u2019s insights up to our field, and some clear parallels emerged.<\/p>\n

The Power of the Archetype<\/h2>\n

McCloud questions why our culture is \u201cso in thrall to the simplified reality of the cartoon.\u201d The answer? \u201cAmplification through simplification.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cBy stripping down an image to its essential \u2018meaning,\u2019 an artist can amplify that meaning in a way that realistic art can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Focusing on specific ideas, McCloud explains, helps elevate the importance and impact of those ideas. By erasing the details of the messenger, or the medium, you raise the visibility of the message. \u201cIf who I am matters less,\u201d posits McCloud, \u201cmaybe what I say will matter more.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n
Don’t let yourself \u2013 or your medium \u2013 get in the way of your message. <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

One of the lessons here is, don’t let yourself \u2013 or your medium \u2013 get in the way of your message. It’s not about you (or your org chart), and it’s not about Twitter. It’s about what you’re trying to say and who you’re saying it to. And the messages that hit the mark will be relevant and appropriate in both subject matter and context.<\/p>\n

Part of that context is related to the audience’s selves. The iconic quality of cartoon images, McCloud continues, have a universal quality that allows us to see ourselves in them, and thus incorporate ourselves into the narrative. \u201cStorytellers in all media know that a sure indicator of audience involvement is the degree to which the audience identifies with a story\u2019s characters,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n

If we extend this a bit further, we can stretch the idea of iconography into that of archetypes<\/strong>. We use archetypes when we create user personae, write stories about excited first-year students, develop brand messages and even while writing usability testing scripts. We employ them to tap into shared affinities with our audience, or to simply better understand them. To my earlier point, it is the power of those archetypes that is elevated when you strip a message down to its core meaning. That meaning, at its most effective, is something in which the audience sees itself.<\/p>\n

Combining Words and Pictures<\/h2>\n

\u201cWords and pictures have great powers to tell stories when creators fully exploit them both,\u201d writes McCloud. \u201cIn comics at its best, words and pictures are like partners in a dance and each one takes turns leading.\u201d He goes on to explain seven categories of how words and pictures can be combined:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Word specific
    \n <\/strong>The text drives understanding; the image is complementary, but not essential<\/li>\n
  2. Picture specific<\/strong>
    \n Vice versa; the image drives understanding, while the text is superfluous<\/li>\n
  3. Duo specific<\/strong>
    \n Words and pictures communicate exactly the same thing<\/li>\n
  4. Additive
    \n <\/strong>One amplifies the other<\/li>\n
  5. Parallel
    \n <\/strong>Words and pictures are moving along non-intersecting paths, appearing unrelated<\/li>\n
  6. Montage<\/strong>
    \n Words are part of the image<\/li>\n
  7. Interdependent<\/strong>
    \n The most common combination; \u201cWords and pictures go hand in hand to convey an idea that neither could convey alone.”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    It may seem like these categories are exclusive to comics, but not so. Whether it’s a montage splash image on our advancement homepage, a caption on a homepage photo from the playoff lacrosse game or a user-generated image supporting copy about the student experience on campus, we can use different combinations of words and images to achieve different goals. I touched on another way of combining words and pictures in my recent post on infographics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \n
    The mixing of words and pictures is more alchemy than science.– Scott McCloud<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    One of the aspects of web content creation that I find the most intriguing (and challenging) is the meaningful employment of photography. Jakob Nielsen wrote a great article last year about photos as web content<\/a>, asserting with data from eyetracking studies that “users pay close attention to photos and other images that contain relevant information but ignore fluffy pictures used to ‘jazz up’ Web pages.” Case in point: “girls under trees,” which Jared Spool first decried in 2008<\/a> as the bane of university homepages.<\/p>\n

    While McCloud’s categories are helpful as a rubric for the potential relationships between words and images on our websites, there is no formula for getting it right. It depends on your goals, your audience, your messages, even your resources at hand. Perhaps McCloud put it best: \u201cThe mixing of words and pictures is more alchemy than science.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The Invisible Art<\/h2>\n

    The subtitle to McCloud\u2019s book is \u201cThe Invisible Art.\u201d Can our work be similarly described? I\u2019m reminded of a moment in Ian Alexander\u2019s Confab presentation<\/a>, when he noted that no user ever said \u201cI love their content strategy\u201d or \u201cWhat a great content marketing plan.\u201d The user is interested in the experience and the story, not the underlying process it takes to get there \u2014 and the same goes for the comic reader. <\/p>\n

    \n
    So much of the framework supporting our content goals is not immediately apparent. But it runs deep, and it is essential.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    So much of the framework supporting our content goals is not immediately apparent. But it runs deep, and it is essential. Without a rock-solid framework, the plush exterior collapses into a puddle of fabric on the floor. And while the user may not see it or even know it is there, you can bet dollars to donuts that they appreciate it.<\/p>\n

    Another way to look at the idea of “the invisible art”: Comics and content both are occasionally subject to disrespect \u2014 comics are sometimes decried as “low art,” while content may struggle for a serviceable share of the web project timeline. But books like “Understanding Comics,” much like Kristina Halvorson’s Content Strategy for the Web<\/a>, (affiliate link) helped not only demystify a field, but validate a medium and evangelize for that value, in part by breaking down the components of that framework and starting a conversation about them. <\/p>\n

    As Corey Vilhauer noted recently<\/a>, there is no one methodology for getting this work done. But by learning, teaching, talking and reading \u2014 including books from other fields, like “Understanding Comics” \u2014 we’ll eventually figure out the methodology that works for us and, in the end, our users.<\/p>\n

    What else can comics teach us about web content? Where have you drawn unexpected web content insights?<\/p>\n

    Postscript: James Callan wrote a great post last August summarizing a talk he gave at BarCamp Seattle on content lessons from comics<\/a>. I highly recommend giving it a read.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Homepage image by jleveque \/ Flickr Creative Commons<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I am not a comics nerd (I don\u2019t think my Archie obsession as a kid holds muster), though I have befriended many \u2014 and married one. So while I\u2019ve never sniffed at comics and graphic novels as child’s play, I didn\u2019t fully realize the complexity of the form until I picked up a copy of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[127],"tags":[26,21,62,31,10],"yoast_head":"\nWeb Content Insights Through 'Understanding Comics' | Meet Content<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" has many insights to share about web content with regard to archetypes, words and pictures, and the nature of our field.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/web-content-insights-through-understanding-comics\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Georgy Cohen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/web-content-insights-through-understanding-comics\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/web-content-insights-through-understanding-comics\/\",\"name\":\"Web Content Insights Through 'Understanding Comics' | Meet Content\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-06T11:51:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-04-20T04:05:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c46e3050ea513291a46336298ee82c91\"},\"description\":\"Scott McCloud's \\\"Understanding Comics\\\" has many insights to share about web content with regard to archetypes, words and pictures, and the nature of our field.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/web-content-insights-through-understanding-comics\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/\",\"name\":\"Meet Content\",\"description\":\"Empowering higher education to create and sustain web content that works\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c46e3050ea513291a46336298ee82c91\",\"name\":\"Georgy Cohen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed49bc8dd530713ec3ccdf6523f474b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed49bc8dd530713ec3ccdf6523f474b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Georgy Cohen\"},\"description\":\"Georgy Cohen is associate creative director, content strategy, at OHO Interactive in Cambridge, Mass.. 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