Visual Storytelling

icon

any image used to represent a person, place, thing, or idea. In the world of symbols, icons range from the highly realistic (a photograph) to the nearly abstract (a stick figure).

amplification through simplification

by stripping an image down to its essential "meaning," an artist can focus the viewer’s attention on a specific idea or emotion.

closure

seeing a part of something and imagining the whole

the gutter

space in between the panels

medium shot

seeing a character from the waist up

close up

seeing a very specific part of a character / only faces + one thing

long shot

seeing whole scene / everything

emanata

these are the “unrealistic” lines or icons drawn around a character (sweat drops, lightbulbs indicating ideas)