Designing Dynamic Layouts with Text and Dialog in Comics

Layout begins with two pieces: an illustrated comic and a script. It ends with a dynamic design where both words and action leap off the page. This balance—between text and images—is essential for new artists to master. Here professional comic creator Ben Bishop shares his techniques for laying out narration, dialog, and sound effects in a comic book. He reviews the different terms (speech balloons, captions, panels, gutters, sound effects, etc.) and then shows examples of how to use these devices, with pages from some of his favorite artists' work. Then he goes through the different options available when adding text to a comic page, using the same script in different ways and exploring what different treatments do to the story. These exercises illustrate the most effective and impactful compositions and design options when laying out the text on the illustrated page.

Learning objectives
Writing left to right, top to bottom
Adding script placeholders and rough balloon placements
Pausing and pacing
Showing inner dialog
Adding sound effects
Putting it all together in InDesign