Today I made a bunch of speech and thought bubbles for my comic!!!
Recently I have been trying to think up ways to make my creative process less of a slog, and this is definitely one!
I will no longer have to make speech bubbles manually, which I used to do because the default ones are way too smooth and nasty and don't fit my art style at all...
I do have to sacrifice the gaps that I sometimes had in the lineart and genuinely liked, but it's definitely a very minute thing. Especially compared to how GOOD a thing it is that now I can just slap one of these on, fill it in, and move on instead of enabling my carpal tunnel...
Here is an example of how it WAS:
These stamps do NOT come with tails because those can be pretty specific, so I will draw them in manually.
If you would like to use these yourself, you're free to do so! Though the brushes in the zip file are ONLY for ClipStudio Paint.
They're also pretty niche in artstyle, but if you think that they might be a good fit for you, be my guest!
Credit would be lovely and preferable, but ultimately I don't care too much and won't hunt you down LOL
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<adventure log- 000000000021- error: invalid function handle- please update and recompile- contact your system administrator if this problem persists.>
Learn from this, Link! Don't punch right through trees! At least not to climb them. There may be other tree-punching applications.
...I'm stuck.
...If I pull back, I'll get so many splinters.
I'd better power through. PUSH!
Oops. Guess one application is freaking people out.
The shrine?! He knows about the Shrine!
"DON'T LEAVE, OKAY?! I'M GONNA GRAB THESE APPLES AND THEN I WANT TO TALK TO YOU!"
"Ah- ah-haha... well, I suppose that was the plan... VERY WELL, YOUNG MAN! I AWAIT YOU!"
Oh- oh- was I rude? I don't know this person. I shouldn't just order them around. "HEY, UH- CAN YOU WAIT FOR ME, PLEASE?"
"Didn't I just say I would...? YES! I AWAIT YOU!"
"GREAT, THANKS! I APPRECIATE IT!" Good job, Link! You remembered manners!
...Ohhhhhh. Uh oh. Oops. I wasn't very polite to Voice-Lady, was I? I was pushy. Oh... I... denied her very existence, too...
To be fair, if she's telling the truth I DIED. I can probably be forgiven for freaking out.
Hey... Voice-Lady? Are you there?
...
Guess not.
The old man's waiting for me. Guess I'll-
"AH! Wh- woah. Seriously, slate? You have to make noise when I pick up an apple? It's... an APPLE!"
"Yeah... um... thanks. Wait, what effect?!"
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Before I begin, remember: you are writing a comic! The emphasis is on visual storytelling, not literary storytelling. If you are trying to use your speech bubbles to carry your story, that is going to somewhat defeat the purpose of the comic. As a general rule, you want to keep the amount of text and dialogue on a page to a minimum. Lettering and artwork should complement each other!
Number of words
Standard DC comics typically have a guideline of about 35 words per page. That is:
Thirty five words is going to look like this, plus or minus a few. It doesnāt feel like a lot, but itās typically enough to get a back-and-forth between two or three characters.
Word balloons with 20-25 words are gonna be a liāl big. For webcomics, honestly, Iād keep the words per page to about what you can get away with in a tweet (280 characters). Exposition can get a little lengthier, but again, emphasis on visual storytelling! Try to incorporate lengthy expositions into the visuals of the comic. Or find other ways to explain whatever youāre trying to explain. Get creative!
Formatting
Word balloons can come in a lot of different forms and you can make them unique to your story! Jagged edges, no edges, airbrushed, hard edges, you name it. But if youāre just starting out and havenāt gotten a feel for word balloons yet, here are some easy guidelines.
Whether working digitally or traditionally, getting your words down first is going to be tremendously helpful. It is much easier to configure the word balloon around the text than the text around the word balloon!Ā
Remember that, for western readers, we read left to right, then up to down. Arrange your bubbles accordingly! The first one to be read should be left and above the others, then so on and so forth.
Keep bubbles to about two sentences max.Ā
Your character can only emote once per panel; word bubbles should reflect that! Donāt try to smush two different emotions into one speech bubble.
Format text typically into a diamond shape. (Donāt extend middles too far out!)
But...
Sometimes this really is unavoidable though, so donāt worry if you break the rule. Just do your best!
Ideally, you want about a letterās width of space between the edge of the font and the edge of the speech bubble (whether you use ellipsoids or squircles, like me).
But wide spaces can convey some neat emotions, like loneliness or sadness or forlorn or characters talking to themselves.
Should the tail go in theĀ ācornerā or center of the bubble? Good question! This is debated pretty frequently in webcomics, but typically, so long as you use the center or corner closest to the character and the tail is pointing to their mouth, you should be fine.
But hey, speaking of that tail, how long to make it? About halfway between the bubble and the characterās mouth!
Try not to overlap tails, it usually confuses the readers--but that can be used to effect! Such as say, confusing conversations.
Curved or straight tails? Up to you! It can be a stylistic choice, though if you use both, readers will typically feel straight tails are more direct while curved tails are more casual.
DONāT COVER CHARACTERS WITH WORD BUBBLES OR TAILS. Unless being used to effect, such as say, a word bubble overlapping a character that is being spoken over (probably rudely). Usually overlapping word balloons will get the same effect though.
Thumbnails will help you figure out word balloon placement! Use the two-thirds rule, you will almost always have the space to put word balloons in a pleasing composition.
There is still so much to formatting word balloons. Fuck. But this will help you get started. Try to think of word balloons like musical notation! Big balloons for big beats, small balloons for small beats, little interruptions with interludes, pauses, etc.
Text
TEXT. What fonts do you pick? How large? Italicized? Bold? Holy shit.
Number one, pick a font that is either free-to-use-commercially or that you have bought the license to. If it came pre-installed on your computer, youāre typically fine, as you bought the rights when you bought the OS. But check to make sure! AND DONāT ASSUME ITāS FREE-TO-USE-COMMERCIALLY IF YOU GOT THE FONT FROM DAFONT.COM. This website has been stealing fonts from creators and saying theyāre free-to-use for years.
But moreso, what kindsĀ of fonts to use. This will depend on your comic, of course, but typically, whether hand-lettering or using digital font, you want the most basic shit possible. Donāt go for Old English fonts, donāt go for cursive (barely anyone can read it anyway now), try to avoid Fancy fonts even if your character IS fancy (this can be ignored if the character is a one-off and you REALLY WANT TO EMPHASIZE HOW FANCY).Ā
What sorts of fonts to use? Most often for comics, you want a sans-serif font. That is, fonts without serifs. What are serifs?
The little calligraphic strokes sometimes put at the ends. Sans-serif fonts typically have very uniform line widths that are easy to read.Ā
If you want to make your comics easier for those who have a hard time reading, such as the visually-impaired or dyslexic, choose fonts similar to those that have been found easier to read, such asĀ Dyslexie, Open Dyslexic, and Comic Sans! Yes, that comic sans. Other fonts that have been found easier to read are Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, Century Gothic, and Trebuchet. If you hand-draw your own font, try to emulate those.
For your comic, once you pick a font, try to keep it the same size throughout the comic.Ā
As tempting as it is to choose different fonts for each character, many readers can find this distracting. Try to avoid this, but if you are dead-set on it, pick different fonts that feel similar to each other or wonāt interrupt the flow of reading.Ā
Phew, thatās a lot of shit..
All that said, if you have any questions or want further clarification, please feel free to drop an ask in my inbox! And always, remember that all rules have exceptions! But you gotta learn the rules to know how to break them, first.
