MINNIE MARKER WAS AN UNTALENTED JOURNALIST INTERN, JUST ABOUT TO QUIT JOURNALISM FOREVER... THIS IS JUST GODDAMN BORING!
THUS GAINING THE SUPERPOWERS OF GRAPHIC STORYTELLING!
BUT THAT ALL CHANGED THE DAY MINNIE WAS STUNG BY A RADIOACTIVE FOUNTAIN PEN... NOW WHERE DID I PUT...
SUDDENLY SHE WAS ABLE TO HELP AN ENTIRE WORLD IN NEED OF SHARING IDEAS AND INFORMATION THIS IS JUST GODDAMN ENGAGING!
I CAN DRAW AND WRITE NOW!
BECAUSE WITH THE GREAT POWER OF COMICS COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY. I WANT MY BOSS TO NOTICE MY BUSINESS STRATEGY! I NEED PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND MY RESEARCH!
CAN YOU EXPLAIN TO PEOPLE HOW TO RECYCLE PROPERLY?
THE BRAIN NEEDS AS LITTLE AS 13 MILLISECONDS TO PROCESS AND ATTACH MEANING TO AN IMAGE -MIT NEWS 16/1 2014
- WHILE THE AVERAGE SPEED OF READING ONE WORD IS 250 MILLISECONDS. -BRYESBAERT, 2019
AN EMOTIONAL RESPONSE STRENGTHENS MEMORY AND INFORMATION PROCESSING. -MOLECULAR BIOLOGIST JOHN MEDINA
BRAI N SC AN RE STOR VEAL THA S IES S T THE TIMULAT E BRAI N
AS IF EXPE WE RI THE S ENCE T OURS ORY ELVES . YO RK -T HE NE W 20 12 TI ME S 17 /3
A STUDY FOUND THAT COLLEGE STUDENTS READ NARRATIVE TEXTS TWICE AS FAST AS EXPOSITORY TEXTS ... ... YET REMEMBERED THE NARRATIVE TWICE AS WELL. -GRAESSER ET AL. (1980)
I’M ON MY WAY!
A CITIZEN IN NEED?
HOW MAY I HELP YOU MA’AM?
THE GRAPHIC STORYTELLER? —T HANK GOD!
I HAVE IMPORTANT RESEARCH THAT WILL SAVE THE WORLD FROM CLIMATE CHANGE... —BUT I CAN’T GET PEOPLE TO READ BEYOND PAGE THREE!
AN INFOGRAPHIC? WHAT’S THAT? THE EXAMPLE YOU SAW ON THE PREVIOUS PAGE IS WHAT WE CALL AN INFOGRAPHIC.
THAT SOUNDS LIKE A JOB FOR THE INFOGRAPHIC!
IT’S A FORMAT WHERE BULLET POINTS OF FACTS ARE INCORPORATED INTO AN EASY-TO-READ LAYOUT WITH COOL ILLUSTRATION TO SUPPORT AND EXPAND ON THE INFORMATION. YES, THAT’S WHAT I NEED!
COULD YOU HELP ME AS WELL?
I WANT TO PROMOTE MY BUSINESS TO NEW CLIENTS! ALSO A GREAT SUBJECT FOR AN INFOGRAPHIC!
WE COULD COLLECT YOUR MOST IMPRESSIVE RESULTS IN SOME COOL CHARTS AND DIAGRAMS AND MAYBE MIX IT UP WITH SOME TESTIMONIALS FROM SATISFIED CLIENTS. OOH...
WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS ABOUT?
I’M A GARDENER
SO THE ILLUSTRATIONS SHOULD DEFINITELY BE PLANT-THEMED!
YES!
THANKS!
HEY, GRAPHIC STORYTELLER! COULDN’T YOU DO A COUPLE OF FUNNY STRIPS FOR THE BACK OF MY NEWSPAPER?
BUT AS THE EDITOR, YOU SHOULD ALSO CONSIDER PRINTING JOURNALISTIC COMICS IN YOUR NEWSPAPER!
SURE, I LOVE ALL THE CLASSIC CARTOONS!
JUST LIKE REGULAR JOURNALISM, THE JOURNALISTIC COMIC COVERS NEWS, INTERVIEWS, AND OTHER KINDS OF NONFICTION TOPICS.
HUH?
THE GENRE IS USED INCREASINGLY BY NEWS MEDIA ALL OVER THE WORLD.
SO I COULD USE COMICS TO COVER SERIOUS STUFF? YEAH! JOURNALISTIC COMICS ARE EXTENSIVELY RESEARCHED AND SUBJECT TO THE SAME CODE OF ETHICS.
THAT OPENS UP SO MANY POSSIBILITIES!
THE INFOGRAPHIC IS ALSO A KIND OF JOURNALISM, BUT THE JOURNALISTIC COMIC IS A MORE DYNAMIC FORM OF STORYTELLING.
I WANT YOU TO DO AN INVESTIGATIVE PIECE ON THE BLOOD DIAMOND WARLORDS!!
GULP!
THAT SOUNDS KIND OF DANGEROUS, SO I THINK I’LL JUST...
NOT SO FAST, DARLING!
I’M THE CEO OF A BILLION DOLLAR TECH COMPANY, AND I DESPERATELY NEED SOMEONE TO EXPLAIN OUR PRODUCTS TO NEW INVESTORS! A JOURNALISTIC COMIC WOULD BE GREAT FOR THAT. IT COULD BE IN PRINT, BUT IF YOU DESIGN IT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA IT COULD REACH EVEN WIDER!
I THINK YOU MIGHT BE THE GRAPHIC STORYTELLER I NEED!
INTERESTING... LET ME BUY YOU A DRINK, DARLING, AND WE’LL HAVE A CHAT ABOUT HOW YOU’LL MAKE ME RICH!
DON’T FORGET THE WARLORDS!
MAN, WHAT AN EXCITING DAY!
I JUST LOVE SEING COMICS EXCEL IN THE NONFICTION GENRE.
IN THE INFO-NARRATIVE WE TRY TO MAKE THE INFORMATION MORE MEMORABLE BY BUILDING IT INTO A NARRATIVE.
BUT FICTION CAN ACTUALLY ALSO BE A GREAT WAY TO INFORM AND EDUCATE!
A MAIN CHARACTER, AN ILLUSTRATIVE ENVIRONMENT AND A BIT OF A PLOT CAN REALLY ENRICH YOUR MESSAGE.
AN EXAMPLE IS THIS BROCHURE, WHERE YOU ARE INTRODUCED TO THE CONCEPT OF A GRAPHIC STORYTELLER THROUGH A FUNNY NARRATIVE ABOUT ME, THE SUPERHERO MINNIE MARKER!
YOU GET VALID INFORMATION, WHILE THE NARRATIVE AND THE DRAWINGS HELP SET AN ATMOSPHERE AND CREATE METAPHORS THAT ARE HELPFUL AND ENTERTAINING AT THE SAME TIME.
BOY AM I GLAD YOU’RE HERE MISS GS! I’M FROM AN NGO THAT REPRESENTS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, AND I REALLY NEED FOR PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THE STRUGGLE FOR THESE PEOPLE.
I’M BEING SUMMONED!
THEN AN INFO-NARRATIVE WOULD BE USEFUL. WE CAN MAKE A STORY ABOUT A FICTIONAL REPRESENTATIVE IMMIGRANT, THAT ILLUSTRATES REAL EXPERIENCES, WITHOUT BREAKING ANONYMITY.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
YOU’RE WELCOME!
YEAH, I LIKE THAT.
WHAT A GOOD DAY’S WORK!
OH WAIT, I FORGOT ...
... I ALSO HAVE TO DRAW ALL OF THESE THINGS!
SO DO YOU HAVE A MESSAGE, AN IDEA, OR A PIECE OF INFORMATION YOU WANT TO SHARE WITH OTHER PEOPLE?
HERE’S THE PROCESS FOR MAKING APPLIED COMICS!
BASED ON THE CONTENT, THE TARGET AUDIENCE AND THE BUDGET, THE GRAPHIC STORYTELLER WILL HAVE IDEAS FOR WHICH EXACT FORMAT WILL SUIT YOUR PROJECT.
THE SCRIPT HELPS PIN DOWN THE INFORMATION, THE STORY AND THE DIALOGUE, BEFORE THE GRAPHIC STORYTELLER BEGINS SKETCHING.
THE GRAPHIC STORYTELLER WILL PRESENT EACH STEP OF THE PROCESS. YOUR QUESTIONS AND FEEDBACK WILL HELP GUIDE THE PROGRESS.
THE SKETCHES START OUT PRETTY ROUGH TO ILLUSTRATE THE LAYOUT OF TEXT AND CHARACTERS, BUT LITTLE BY LITTLE THE DRAWINGS WILL COME TO LIFE!
THEN: LEAN BACK AND RELAX, AS THE GRAPHIC STORYTELLER FINALIZES THE DRAWINGS IN THE STYLE AND COLORS YOU REQUESTED.
LET ME SHOW YOU SOME EXAMPLES OF APPLIED COMICS BY MY TALENTED COLLEAGUES.
GRAPHIC STORYTELLER NILAS RØPKE DRIESSEN VISUALIZES STATISTICS AND RESEARCH RELATED TO SHIP WRECKS AND SURVIVAL.
CECILIA VALDEZ AND RESEARCHER NAOMI DAYAN REPORT IN TRADE JOURNAL DANSTEM MAGAZINE ABOUT THE SCIENTIFIC RESULTS OF A RESEARCH GRANT.
SARAH THOMAS AND NGO WWF TELL A FUN AND SERIOUS STORY ABOUT THE DANGER OF AMAZON FOREST FIRES FOR THEIR KIDS MAGAZINE PANDACLUB.
NEXT UP: WHAT DID THE CLIENTS THINK ABOUT APPLIED COMICS?
BACK IN 2018, THE CENTRAL DENMARK EU OFFICE (CDEU) IN BRUXELLES WANTED TO CELEBRATE THEIR 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH A VERY SPECIAL ANNUAL REPORT.
BRIAN WOODWARD FROM STØVRING WOODWARD COMMUNICATIONS WAS THE IDEA MAN BEHIND THE PROJECT.
HOW ABOUT A COMIC BOOK?
HI!
IN THE BELGIAN STYLE!
CDEU HELPS PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS NAVIGATE BRUSSELS AND TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF DENMARK’S EU MEMBERSHIP, AND THAT WORK CAN SEEM COMPLEX AND BE DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN.
GRAPHIC STORYTELLING SIMPLIFIED CDEU’S COMMUNICATION
MAKING IT MORE ACCESSIBLE MORE UNDERSTANDABLE
AND, ULTIMATELY, MORE EFFECTIVE! THE PROCESS OF WORKING WITH A PROFESSIONAL GRAPHIC STORYTELLER TO CREATE A “COMIC BOOK” BROADENED THE WAY CDEU LOOKS AT ITSELF, TOO. I NEVER THOUGHT OF IT LIKE THAT!
THAT’S ME!
OVERALL, IT WAS A MEMORABLE AND VERY IMPACTFUL WAY TO COMMUNICATE COMPLEX INFORMATION IN A WAY THAT WE CAN ALL UNDERSTAND.
OH, THAT’S WHAT YOU GUYS DO DOWN HERE?
INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE?
SEE MORE EXAMPLES AND FIND OUR CONTACT INFO AT: WWW.GRAPHIC-STORYTELLING.COM/APPLIEDCOMICS