Graphic Novel Terms

Icon

Any imaage used to represent a person, place, thing or idea

Non pictorial icon

An icon with an fixed appearence, meaning does not change

Pictorial Icon

An icon with a fluid, changing appearence, icon can vary

Universality Effect

The simpler the image, the more universial it becomes

Frame

The lines around an image

Panel

Each framed image

Layout

How panels are organized on a page

Foreground

What’s depicted closest to the reader; usually the subject.

Midground

Subjects depicted in the middle of the scene, in front of a background/setting.

Background

The objects that are furthest from the reader, usually conveying setting/ contextual details.

Gutter

Space between the panels

Splash

A type of panel that spans the width of the page; it’s used to grab the reader’s attention, and often establishes setting/time/place/mood

Bleed

A panel that runs off the page - or seems to “bleed” beyond the edges of the paper

Graphic Weight

The term used to discuss the amount of contrast in an image.

Mise en Scene

Everything that exists within in a frame

Caption

Boxed) words that give voice to the narrator

Speech Ballons

Balloons extending from characters’ mouths which contain dialogue (aka, character speech); if the speech balloon is drawn using jagged lines, the character is shouting.

Emanta

Artistic representations of feelings, emotions or movement, such as: tear drops, sweat drops, exclamation marks, question marks, and/or motion lines.