Comics by RED

My final comic will be a physical portfolio for advertising and public relations. In this portfolio I will use my comic creation skills to illustrate my experience within advertising and public relations. While still including an overall description of who I am, my comic character will also do just that.

Subject: The subject of the comic is me, Keara, and my work as a young advertising professional.

Purpose: To stand out among competition in the job market with a more creative portfolio with comics

Audience: Potential employers looking to hire an exceptional candidate 

Genre: This I am still struggling with as I feel like the portfolio could technically be an adaption of my online portfolio, kearaspicer.com

Workshop #3: Expressions and gestures

Workshop Task #1

A comic portfolio/resume/cover letter.

As I head into the advertising industry, I want to stand out among most candidates for job opportunities. Some candidates make video cover letters. And that makes them stand out. Which makes me think, what can I do that makes me stand out apart from my wild, red hair. 

Comics. I can now create comics. There is currently a job opening in Seattle for Facebook that I think I could have a great shot at. Perhaps if I curate a comic based on my interest for working with Facebook as a cover letter versus the traditional cover letter, I could land it. 

Discovery Task 10: Travel Comic

I have become infatuated with Lynda Barry’s style of comic creations. The complete 360 of what someone might expect of a comic is Barry’s specialty. In this comic specifically, each panel is overpowered with text bubbles. Rhetorically speaking, what does that convey? Perhaps that the speakers are louder than most comic characters. Or that the text is the main story and the illustrations are just to supplement it. 

Link: http://www.comic-tools.com/2009/09/this-week-replacing-crappy-panel.html

As a new comic creator I find myself stressing out over the little things, mainly panel structure. I found this instruction to be incredibly helpful in bringing my attention to I can eliminate my crappy panels by simply using a stencil (DIY style). To implement cleaner panels and an overall more consistent page layout, my comic comic creations will surely benefit. 

As the semester progresses, so do I. When it comes to my process I feel stuck in my ways. I brainstorm heavily and for too long where I find myself scrambling last minute to execute my ideas. This ultimately results in final products that I’m not satisfied with and wish I had done better. Perhaps if I spent less time thinking so hard about what can I do and more time actually doing it, will help. I still try to stray away from pencil usage for comic creation, but its such a comfortable starting point. For my Adaptation project, I still relied on using pencil as primary tool. I felt uncomfortable using real text versus hand writing my own text for comics as well. I do not feel this part of the medium suits me or my style well.

To be brutally honest, I felt more constrained completing a purpose-driven comic. I feel that it is a mix between pressure being on to make this comic the best comic while meeting the requirements to ensure I get a great grade. My favorite comic I’ve created so far was the collage comic. I felt inspired to create this comic because of a real personal connection. I suppose maybe having a better connection to material in my comics can help inspire better results.

1. Voter Registration Steps

As heated politics in America rise, specifically on gun control, new voters turn 18 with each day passing. Registering to vote is a fundamental right as an American Citizen but it is also a privilege. Having the privilege to register to vote and not acting on it or voting at all translates to an individual unable to create change in a democracy. 

An adaptation of this text into a comic will be more visual stimulating than it appears now. A less strict and wordy adaptation of this text can make it more attainable and enjoyable to digest for a reader. The intended audience for my adaptation will be young eligible voters who are politically active and ready for their voices to be heard. The envisioned purpose is mainly to make an intimidating and somewhat boring text on how to register to vote more appealing to young voters. The overall goal to is to persuade 18 year olds or younger to register to vote.

2. Jared Ficklin’s TedTalk

The opportunity to adapt a video, specifically a TedTalk, into a comic sounds overwhelmingly fun. Using words that once told a story and illustrating that same story presents itself as a challenge. I am a firm believer in the importance of audio stimulation to heighten creativity levels, you should see me draw while listening to The Talking Heads.

An adaption adds another layer to Ficklin’s narrative. As he is animated and outspoken when he is onstage, how might that translate into a comic?  How do I remove the audio from a TedTalk explaining the importance of audio in creative cultivation. 

I see the audience being a stressed out student who procrastinated on a paper. What inspires the student to get it done? Is it the deadline or is it the Wu Tang Clan? The overall goal is to persuade procrastinators to get work done while enjoying yourself, create to the beat. 

3. C.R.A.A.P. Test

I find the C.R.A.A.P. test to be appealing as so many radicals throw the words “fake news” around, well, real news and journalism. The term fake news is obnoxious at this point due to the overuse and misuse of it. The National Inquirer, that’s fake news. CNN, thats a trusted news source. 

Discovery Task #9: Maps and Diagrams

Discovery Task 8: Collage Comic

I graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas in 2014. This is the high school that teen film writers strive to capture. You can find your place at Douglas virtually anywhere, and my place was Douglas Drama. After the tragedy on February 14, 2018 I am not only incredibly proud to say “I went to Stoneman Douglas” but “I was one of those kids once.” The current students are making a change and rising from the chaos that took place. Change is now. 

Discovery Task 7: A Conversation

My group and I stumbled upon an interesting conversation near UCF’s student union at the Muslim Student Association (MSA) table. An older gentleman seemed elated to converse with MSA students about his experiences. Overall the conversation was pleasant to listen to and enjoyable to make into a comic. 

Discovery Task #6: One year, one page

While browsing Instagram I came across some inspiration from Penelope Gazin to use sticky notes as panels for comics. I was excited to try it out as I watched her process all week long in her Instagram stories. This task was perfect for it. However, the sticky notes were too large for the page so I had to make some cuts to create a 9 panel comic. 

Out of all of the comics I have digested in such a small period of time, I found “Translated from Japanese” to be the most profound. The art of storytelling was magnificently done in a light that left the story open for interpretation.

This inspired me for the idea of my final project. With drawn inspirations both from “Translated from Japanese” and “The Photographer,” I aim to document letters from my relationship. The relationship is interesting as we wrote letters back and forth from Florida to New York. As the relationship developed we both documented our time with film photography. I hope to tell this story with these photos, the letters and illustrations to convey how two people came together.