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LinkedIn Learning Summary: Graphic Design Foundations

In his LinkedIn course, Ben Bishop presents different composition techniques that graphic novel illustrators use to storyboard out comic panels. These techniques are common in international graphic novels, but their medium and styles may vary slightly depending on the medium. 

South Korean webcomics site WEBTOON forgoes the traditional format of left to right or right to left page layouts in favor of a strip that scrolls from top to bottom. This style is convenient for the screens of mobile devices as it allows users to read pages in a manageable magnification without having to zoom and drag the screen around. 

Bishop goes over different shots that make up the panel compositions of a comic. Full shots, medium shots, and close-up shots work in a scrolling view, but wide shots are less flexible on WEBTOON. Instead of using wide shots, WEBTOON comic creators rely more on full shots to establish setting and situation. 

Bishop also shows how the flow of the panels guides the eye around the page. Whereas a graphic novel page would be able to position multiple panels horizontally to create a progression, WEBTOONs comics have less space to do so while remaining legible. 

WEBTOON comics show how different mediums can change the way comics are storyboarded. Ben Bishop’s advice is still relevant for these South Korean webcomics.