Author: Bob Apr 25, 2018 7 min read
Comic books are extremely popular among a great number of people all over the world. These are stories about superheroes and ordinary people who try to save the world, as usual. Graphic novels and strip cartoons are considered the most popular types of comics. Since competition is intense in this field, crafting an engaging, original cover may become a serious contribution to a certain series’ success. So, it is necessary to learn what secrets of a good cover may guarantee so that your comics will become favorite for many people.
Although comics are considered a nice combination of graphic design and literature, graphic presentation of the story is always in the first place. In addition, it is still important to draw the attention of readers. Therefore, comics, as well as books, must have engaging covers to attract as many readers as possible. From this point of view, the creation of a comic book cover may need even more time than the creation of the comic itself. So, what are the steps of comic book cover creation?
The first thing to think about if you start making comic covers is to define its particular characteristics such as dimensions, weight, and type of paper. The size 6.625” by 10.25” is considered a golden standard for many comic books. However, you and your publisher may always change these frameworks. The paper for a future cover can be glossy or matte, and it is up to you to determine its appearance. The weight of the chosen paper will depend on its thickness.
The concept of a cover, or its main idea, should reflect the content of a comic book. However, it is necessary to keep the balance on this issue. On the one hand, your cover should have a concept revealing its content. On the other hand, a cover should preserve an intrigue that will invite customers to read the comic and find everything out. Therefore, pay great attention to this step. A proper concept is half of the battle!
It is necessary to place some characters of the comic book on the cover. In this case, you should think over the number of characters – only one main character or two main characters, etc. If your comic book is about superheroes, it is also possible to picture the main character together with the new villain of this volume. However, some publishers prefer to depict the main character only.
The color scheme of the comic book’s cover should be original and eye-catching, on the one hand. On the other hand, it is necessary to make a cover in the framework of a branded color scheme so that this cover can make your new comic book recognizable among its avid readers. In this case, you can draw the attention of old fans, and attract new ones easily and quickly.
Although a catchy picture for a cover needs more time and effort, your comic book cannot do without a title, as well as ordinary books. Therefore, it is necessary to think over a title meticulously, since creating a good hook for readers will catch their eyes from the very first sight.
Although creating a title is a laborious task to do, it is also necessary to choose the right font for it. This part of work also needs time. In addition, for some popular modern comics such as “The Amazing Spider-Man” or “Batman,” their own fonts were created. So, try to think about it.
When you have a ready concept and a catchy title, it is high time to start sketching a cover for your comic book. The first sketch is like a draft with the help of which one can see how to place necessary characters and the title on the cover in a proper way. Therefore, don’t go into despair if you cannot sketch a good cover from the first time. It means that you need just some more variants of placing the characters on the cover to achieve the desired look and impression.
Creation of a cover for a comic book is a very responsible task because it needs a combination of many different factors to become a commercially viable product. Fortunately, the WOW-HOW Studio knows a lot about comics design from the very basics to the cover creation.
A bright cover is the very first thing that potential readers may see and decide whether they want to read this publication or not. Although many people try not to judge the book by its cover, it doesn’t mean that there is no room for improvement. Comic book cover design is an interesting process that needs a lot of time and effort because a cover itself should achieve the following goals:
A good cover is extremely important for each publication, especially if we talk about a comic book because it is a face of a new series. Hence, it is quite clear why the creation of a cover involves such a great number of peculiarities and includes so many steps.
All in all, the creation of a comic book and its cover is a painstaking process, and it is necessary to find experienced professionals to embody your ideas in the form of a comic book. This genre is very popular today because many people all over the world saw “Avengers” by “Marvel” or “Batman” by “DC Comics” in the movies. Therefore, one should understand that comic book design is a combination of literature, graphics, marketing, and psychology. From this point of view, each series of comics is about us – ordinary people – our advantages and disadvantages in everyday life and extreme situations. So, you may even create your own comics with the help of our graphic designers who know how to create a graphic novel from cover to cover step by step.
