What Can You Learn from a Comic Book? Part 2

This two-part post originally ran as one, in slightly longer form, on The Content Wrangler. For part 1, click here . Abridged with the author’s permission.

Comics can make you laugh, cry, gasp in wonder, or shake in terror, and they can also make great instruction manuals, training aids, white papers, or any other type of business or technical communication you can think of.

So what can we learn from studying the comics medium?

Color. Not all comics employ color, in fact some of the best are done in black and white, yet those use even such a restricted color palate to provide context and set mood. The use of color in comics is as significant a factor in storytelling as the words or art. Color can set tone, provide context and even aid transition from one scene (or subject) to another. Take a look at the instruction leaflet for a Lego assembly kit. It not only uses color to differentiate individual parts of the product, but to also show sequence and provide visual context.

Concise Language. In comics the words need to share space with the art. They also need to complement the art, not describe what’s happening. Good comics writing uses a minimum of words to drive the narrative forward and impart the necessary information. It is also used to communicate facts, establish character and relationships, comment or even foreshadow. That’s a lot to do with only a limited space, and writing comics becomes a balancing act between the words and the art. Minimalism for minimalism’s sake leads to poor information exchange. What is needed is a concise and controlled approach to language, using just the right amount of words. Above all comics rely on the axiom of “show, don’t tell” and that’s a good guideline for any type of communication.

Teamwork. Putting together a comic nearly always involves a team of three to seven people. It’s one of the things that makes comics such a great medium to work in, as each individual can bring their own skills and ideas, and when the team is in sync, the end results are much greater. The team needs to work together to produce something for the reader/end user that will fit their need and convey the message or experience they were expecting. Within this team environment the focus shifts from the individual creators to the end product.

Media and Market Awareness. Comics are a reusable medium. Art and words can be repurposed for different formats and adapted for new emerging media. Consider the traditional 32-page pamphlet type American comic book. Today it is common for that content to be republished in a hardback edition, a paperback edition and adapted for digital delivery on the Web and hand-held devices. The awareness of reusability and repackaging for different audiences brings with it an inherent consideration for asset management, be it content management or image management.

While a comic in its purest from can be a great medium for business and technical communication, and I’ve written and produced technical, promotional and educational comics for various clients over the last few years, you don’t necessarily need to rush out and hire a comics writer and artist to take advantage of some of the ideas and techniques I’ve discussed above.

Just thinking about the way that comics work can improve your existing communications. Consider this page from a photocopier manual. It doesn’t look like a comic yet it uses sequence, color, narrative, concise language, symbols and icons.

Alan J. Porter, a twenty-year veteran of the corporate communications industry, is founder of 4Js Group LLC, a consulting and services company that specializes in combining creative talent with business expertise to help companies tell their story.