As previously discussed, in the fall of my junior year, I took an interactive zine class where we had the assignment to create a print zine for a specific subculture and then create a digital version as well. In addition to actually designing, a lot of the class involved discussing how print can be interactive beyond the basic "page turning" and how print is and will be viewed now that there are so many digital channels for information to be presented.
I also participated in an internship at the St. Petersburg (Tampa Bay) Times last summer. Again, in this every growing digital society, there was much discussion on how to keep consumers interested in a print edition of the paper. A lot of my knowledge of user interface, experience and web design knowledge was used during my time there because the Times seemed to understand that they will not survive in a print only channel. They are migrating to more digital applications.
How print is viewed has changed. With the newspaper, because it is daily and newsprint is cheap, like Pulp Fiction, it seems to be regarded as disposable. In magazines, much like comic books, it seems that the print version is coveted as a tangible item that can be collected.
Though the world of comics is varied and vast, like the subculture zine I created, comics are still for a specific audience, though that audience is growing. I think that a transition into a digital environment will help that situation. For one thing, the internet connects to most places on the planet (I know, crazy right?) so comics in digital form could be delivered to more people a lot quicker.
The most interesting concept for comics in a digital environment is the idea of inserting rich media. As a graphic design student, we have discussed digital interactivity quite a bit. When looking at interfaces of digital versions of magazines, there are opportunities for graphics and charts that would be static in print to move and become interactive. The same discussions were held at the Times about their website and applications. Like I discussed in my Octopus Pie post, there are so many possibilities for this kind of interaction in web and digital comics. Though Octopus Pie author Meredith Gran chooses to keep her work simple and in strip form, I can see comics writers choosing to use touch screen motions for interactive panels and animated panels that would add to the movement, excitement and appeal of comics and graphic narratives.
As with all things too much of this could be a bad thing. What will be interesting to see is the change in how comics writers choose to balance still and moving/interactive panels and how writing will change when the author must choose the right places for interaction.
This class has been great for me. I have had interaction with most of the basic comics (strips, superheroes, the popular graphic novels) before this class. Though I learned so much about the history, structure and process of comics writing, what I enjoy the most is how this class made me realize how vast the world of comics really is. I think that most people immediately jump to the stereotypical hero in tights when the hear "comic books". What I now know is that comics don't only include science fiction stories about super-humans or little trouble-making kids and their dogs. A lot of comics are stories about real people with real issues, based on events in their lives. Or some comics are meant to make statements about social and political issues. Or event present philosophical and conceptual ideas.
The point is that this medium is perfect for communicating dynamic and engaging stories and I think that the future of comics in digital realms can only extend how vast this world is. I look forward to seeing what comes next.
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