Placing Word Balloons into Panels

[K. Ann]

I am working on a mini comic featuring some original characters, and part of it goes into a conversation between two people (a five year old and a forty year old sitting in a coffee shop).

So far this is my panel set up for that duration:



I am wondering though how best to place word balloons without sacrificing the entire background in each panel? At some points more than one short sentence is spoken, and I want to keep it visually interesting to look at.

Perhaps I should re-size my pages to have bigger panels (in actual size) to draw into? Tips and suggestions, please!

[Erick Cruz]

Showing a grid layout doesnt help in this case, we need to see some prelim artwork to see where you are placing the characters in the panels/shot. You can then figure out if its going to work in regards to the balloon placements.
Quick tip: Once you establish where the scene is occurring you can omit a bg here and there and focus just on the talking heads. Unless the bg is crucial to what is happening, and the dialogue is obscuring a critical piece to the storytelling then you might need to rethink the overall page layout (for example bigger panels for a section with a lot of dialogue, smaller panels for a 5 word or less sentence)

Also, remember the rule of thirds (for composition) if you position your characters in the intersecting points you should have enough room in the open space to place your dialogue comfortably. Overlapping or breaking the panel border also works but just like doing so with characters breaking panels, they have to naturally lead to the next panel without causing any confusion or disrupting the flow.

Hope this helps

[Symson]

Standard procedure is to leave the top third of the panel open for word balloons.

Open not empty. It's filled with background content that is not essential to the story.

Keep the word count to about 25 words per balloon.

[K. Ann]

Showing a grid layout doesnt help in this case, we need to see some prelim artwork to see where you are placing the characters in the panels/shot. You can then figure out if its going to work in regards to the balloon placements.
Quick tip: Once you establish where the scene is occurring you can omit a bg here and there and focus just on the talking heads. Unless the bg is crucial to what is happening, and the dialogue is obscuring a critical piece to the storytelling then you might need to rethink the overall page layout (for example bigger panels for a section with a lot of dialogue, smaller panels for a 5 word or less sentence)

Also, remember the rule of thirds (for composition) if you position your characters in the intersecting points you should have enough room in the open space to place your dialogue comfortably. Overlapping or breaking the panel border also works but just like doing so with characters breaking panels, they have to naturally lead to the next panel without causing any confusion or disrupting the flow.

Hope this helps

I'll post the first page where this happens tomorrow, as it's super late right now.


Warning in advance - all the characters are anthropomorphic animals. (I just realised that so far my threads with the greatest feedback on this forum are fan art for such tv shows... oh dear.)

[K. Ann]

As requested, here are the thumbs/v. rough pencils for first page with dialogue. Red was used to help me determine where to put the speech bubbles on THIS page.

[Inkthinker]

Given that the placement of text is one of the few elements on the page that the reader is almost forced to observe, you can use the placement of bubbles and boxes to guide the eyes effectively. Sometimes that means you want to put them at the bottom of the panel (if you want to end on a dialogue line rather than an image, for instance), or place them overlapping panels (if you want to tie panels together).

I suggest that means you should always be making these decisions during the rough layout phase. The last thing you want to do is be deciding where the words go after you draw the pictures. Better to make these decisions early, and not bother drawing through the areas you'll cover in the first place.

[K. Ann]

I suggest that means you should always be making these decisions during the rough layout phase. The last thing you want to do is be deciding where the words go after you draw the pictures. Better to make these decisions early, and not bother drawing through the areas you'll cover in the first place.

So in the page above, how should I do that?

[Inkthinker]

Well, it's looking rough, so I'd reckon you're doing it now. But basically you have the option, while doing the simple sketches or thumbnails, to try a few things and see what's most effective. For example, how might the effect be changed if the last line were at the bottom-right of the panel rather than the upper left?

That's not to say there's anything wrong with the way you're doing it (though I would like to suggest you get a ruler and lightly establish some horizontal, parallel lines to set your words upon so that you can letter neatly and avoid the "floaty" effect, it'll look more professional). There are many, many excellent artists who choose to maintain a consistent space in their layout for dialogue and effects. Carl Barks (creator of Scrooge McDuck and illustrator of many of the most famous Donald/Scrooge stories) is a good example. He often worked with the same grid-based panel solution and kept his dialogue in the upper-thirds.



A more extreme example (though a favorite of mine) might be Vaughn Bode, who would very specifically separate all his dialogue and SFX in an area directly above or below the panel, storyboard-style.



(if you wanna look up more Bode, be aware most of his content is pretty immaturely mature. There will be boobs and coarse humor)

My point being that there's no "correct" way. All that matters is that your panel-to-panel storytelling is legible and clear. Clarity trumps everything, in the end.

[Orphangrinder]

Here's a great post on the subject by an American "mangaka." Manga tends to get a little more wild with the page/panel/lettering flow than western comics do.

For what it's worth, I think yours looks fine the way you have it. Nothing fancy, but the basics are basics for a reason.

[Bruce Lee]

Here's a great post on the subject by an American "mangaka." Manga tends to get a little more wild with the page/panel/lettering flow than western comics do.

For what it's worth, I think yours looks fine the way you have it. Nothing fancy, but the basics are basics for a reason.

That was a great read, Orphan!