3/6/2023 0 Comments Simple comic character headAfter all, a good letterer knows when to stay soft and simple and when to go big and bold. As Eliopoulos explains in his essay for Marvel by Design, this leads the letterer to use a handful of skills – including graphic design, calligraphy, storytelling, and computer literacy – to provide a holistic experience for the reader. The letterer's job, then, is to mesh seamlessly with the artwork. A letterer's work shouldn't go totally unnoticed, but it shouldn't overpower the artwork, either. Letterers also control pacing, convey emphasis, create sound effects, distinguish spoken words from thoughts, and so much more. According to prolific letterer and Virtual Calligraphy (VC) studio head Chris Eliopoulos, "Letterers are the inkers for the writers." In other words, letterers are the graphic artists who take the writer's words and add them to the artwork, but their job extends beyond the simple transfer from script to the published page. This article is part of a series from the International Literacy Association’s Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG). She designs and instructs technology and online courses in addition to facilitating technology trainings for students, faculty, and staff. Mary Beth Scumaci is a clinical associate professor and technology coordinator with the Division of Education at Medaille College in Buffalo, NY. Get excited, get motivated, and create engaging comics that will add a flare to your creative writing lessons. Start Lite, explore Comics Head, and go from there. In my opinion, the Lite version provides endless possibilities for free, but the paid version provides additional design and creative potential. Creating a slideshow is an another option. With the paid version, the storyboard can be posted to YouTube. Once finished with the storyboard, you can preview, save, and share to Facebook or Twitter or via e-mail with the Lite version. The camera tool and paint tool provide customization options. The paid version includes themes along with web and map access, where screenshots of Internet webpages and map locations can be integrated to enhance your comic designs. After selecting your storyboard, you then create backgrounds, characters, props, and photos. With the paid version, there is a My Templates option that allows you to design custom templates. The template section has stories ready to use, or you can edit the dialogue text. You make a selection from the white canvas panel layouts. To begin creating comics, you simply click Create New Comic Image. This, of course, has more bells and whistles, or should I say superheroes and powers? The website supports a blog with instructional demo videos to help get you started. There are two versions of the app: the free Comics Head Lite and Comics Head, a paid version for $4.99. Create posters, alternate endings, new characters, character profiles, debates, and more. I suppose that is why I love their catchphrase, “Not an Artist? Not a Problem!” Integrating this user-friendly storytelling writing tool across the curriculum is limited only by your imagination. Using an art tool like this sure would have helped me to feel like an expert illustrator. I wish I had something like Comics Head to help illustrate my stories growing up. Seeing everyone exploring and creating their own masterpieces is such fun. The app was a hit my teacher candidates love it, too. I recently demonstrated the app at a technology workshop for a school district with their grade 3–5 teachers, literacy coaches, and principals. Create one-page posters or multiframe storyboards and personal templates. You also have the ability to upload your own photos into the comics. You can select template comics and simply add or edit dialogue. With a few more taps, you explore a variety of layout options, including some that can be the focus for beginning, middle, and ending story activities. With a few taps on your iPad, you create fun settings, adding characters and speech bubbles for your dialogue. This visual storytelling tool engages children and adults of all ages and makes creating comics a snap. Comics Head is a colorful writing-focused app that has earned a five-star rating from the Educational App Store. Looking to inspire some creative writing fun with your students? The Comics Head app will delight your students and help chase away any writing blues.
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