Webby Webby Bang Bang

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So I'm working on revamping my website. Which is a pretty daunting task, considering how much time it normally takes me just to edit one page or (god forbid) revamp the entire concept I have for a series of pages. When you have 291 pages of one single webcomic, the thought of restructuring it usually doesn't go too far in my head before it hits a brick wall. I could spend 4 hours revamping a series of pages, or actually post a comic page. Or, y'know, go get something to eat.

Over the years I've gone through a few design phases, but mainly I've relied heavily on image maps.

Image maps always appealed to me because I could switch up the layout, images, and color palette without having to do to much coding around it. I loved the idea of big, bright images that people could click on, rather than having to navigate through tables and text links. But anytime I wanted to change a page, I did it individually, without considering the bigger picture. So my site has haphazardly grown over the years into a bunch of pages that may/may not match one another's overall theme:

As you can see, any sense of an overall design scheme is pretty much nonexistent. Recently, I've learned a lot more CSS, HTML5, and JavaScript, so I've been itching to redesign it. But if I worked in the way I normally work, it would remain pretty much the same. An updated piece here, an outdated piece there. I'm terrible at stepping back and painstakingly planning a process once I'm excited about something. I want to DO it, so let's do it! Instant gratification! Yay!

Luckily for me, I attended the HOW Interactive Design conference last week (as I may have over-mentioned already), and it helped me realize the value of putting on the brakes. Since this is such a HUGE change I'm looking to make, I'd like to make sure and do it right. (And by right, I mean the way that I define right, which could very well still include fake links and messed up pages. And probably will.) So, like  a proper grown-up, I've started with the first steps. Some sketches of the overall page structure/layout.

Next comes the wireframe, which is a black and white no-frills version of the navigation and what needs to happen.

(Okay, truth - I started the wireframe and then got excited/sidetracked by creating a mood board full of different things that I want to include):

Yep, off to a good start already. But I'll keep you guys updated on my process along the way, and I'd love to hear if any of you out there have gone through a similar site-wide redesign. Were you able to wait until the entire thing was planned? Or did you just start coding left and right, process be damned?

Trips Be Necessary

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Sometimes it's so durn hard just to retain a little positivity throughout the day. I let myself get bogged down in the minutiae of the gridlock and mind numbingly dull work conversations to the point where I forget about stuff to look forward to. But luckily . . . that's where random road/plane trips come through to save my outlook.

Last week I got to attend the HOW Interactive Design Conference in San Francisco, one of my favoritest of places. I used to go to San Fran on a yearly basis, thanks to the kickass indie comics show APE, that takes place annually at the airy Concourse Exhibition Center. For four lovely years in a row my friends and I would pack our gear, pick a pink hotel to stay in, and immerse ourselves in the hilly chilly lifestyle of that fair city. Sadly, when APE moved from APE-ril to November, I stopped going and haven't been back since. I also started going to Portland in April, and was forced to make a West Coast choice. I'm sorry San Fran! I'm so sorry!

Anyway. Just being back flooded me with warm snuggly memories. (Despite the fact that the homeless population has gotten a wee bit more aggressive since the last time I was there. Oddly enough, I can now say I haven't been trailed by scary guys in Baltimore as much as I have in SF.) And I'm not sure if it was the uber inspiring conference, the chance to meet up with friends AND family AND meet faces in person (the amazing Adrianne Ambrose), or the major bucks I dropped at H&M (it was RIGHT. ACROSS. THE STREET!!) ... but I've returned home feeling full of things to be happy about.

Thing #1: My new book to read

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. I've been a drooling fan of  his since Virgin Suicides, and although I haven't read all of Middlesex yet, I was dying to read this one. Happily, it hasn't disappointed and it successfully kept me entertained through the multiple bumpy plane trips I endured in the last week.

Thing #2: My new way to run

It looks totally silly, and I've already lost my balance AND made my calves super sore by attempting it, but I love the idea of this Once and Future Way to Run. Although, admittedly, my favorite thing about this could be the random Peter Sarsgaard in the video. The world would be a better place if it had some more P.S. Or is this just because I've seen Skeleton Key too much lately, and my logic is all skewed?

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/11/02/magazine/100000001149415/the-lost-secret-of-running.html

 

Thing #3: My extra hour

That's right, it's mine, that hour. For all the people who complain about winter and the darkness creeping in on them at 5:00 when they're trying to leave work and make it home before the vampires get out ... I say "God, finally!" Fall is engulfing us and winter is right around the corner and everyone is batting down the hatches trying to get ready. Here's to layers, gray mornings, crisp weather, and all the loveliness that is November!

Trips Be Necessary

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Sometimes it's so durn hard just to retain a little positivity throughout the day. I let myself get bogged down in the minutiae of the gridlock and mind numbingly dull work conversations to the point where I forget about stuff to look forward to. But luckily . . . that's where random road/plane trips come through to save my outlook.

Last week I got to attend the HOW Interactive Design Conference in San Francisco, one of my favoritest of places. I used to go to San Fran on a yearly basis, thanks to the kickass indie comics show APE, that takes place annually at the airy Concourse Exhibition Center. For four lovely years in a row my friends and I would pack our gear, pick a pink hotel to stay in, and immerse ourselves in the hilly chilly lifestyle of that fair city. Sadly, when APE moved from APE-ril to November, I stopped going and haven't been back since. I also started going to Portland in April, and was forced to make a West Coast choice. I'm sorry San Fran! I'm so sorry!

Anyway. Just being back flooded me with warm snuggly memories. (Despite the fact that the homeless population has gotten a wee bit more aggressive since the last time I was there. Oddly enough, I can now say I haven't been trailed by scary guys in Baltimore as much as I have in SF.) And I'm not sure if it was the uber inspiring conference, the chance to meet up with friends AND family AND meet faces in person (the amazing Adrianne Ambrose), or the major bucks I dropped at H&M (it was RIGHT. ACROSS. THE STREET!!) ... but I've returned home feeling full of things to be happy about.

Thing #1: My new book to read

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. I've been a drooling fan of  his since Virgin Suicides, and although I haven't read all of Middlesex yet, I was dying to read this one. Happily, it hasn't disappointed and it successfully kept me entertained through the multiple bumpy plane trips I endured in the last week.

Thing #2: My new way to run

It looks totally silly, and I've already lost my balance AND made my calves super sore by attempting it, but I love the idea of this Once and Future Way to Run. Although, admittedly, my favorite thing about this could be the random Peter Sarsgaard in the video. The world would be a better place if it had some more P.S. Or is this just because I've seen Skeleton Key too much lately, and my logic is all skewed?

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/11/02/magazine/100000001149415/the-lost-secret-of-running.html

 

Thing #3: My extra hour

That's right, it's mine, that hour. For all the people who complain about winter and the darkness creeping in on them at 5:00 when they're trying to leave work and make it home before the vampires get out ... I say "God, finally!" Fall is engulfing us and winter is right around the corner and everyone is batting down the hatches trying to get ready. Here's to layers, gray mornings, crisp weather, and all the loveliness that is November!

Ding ding!

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Sorry I've been so quiet over here - now I'm waaayyyyy over here on the west coast for the rest of this week! I'm super excited to be attending the HOW Interactive Design conference in San Francisco - giving me a chance to brush up on these CSS skillz I'm slowly accumulating. In the meantime, I picked up Jeffrey Eugenides' latest book that I'm already enamored with - The Marriage Plot. I adored Virgin Suicides (as evidenced by my comic version here) but never read all of Middlesex. If any of you out there haven't read any of his books, they're a wonderful, heady blend of prose and imagery to completely immerse yourself in.

I also can't wait to pick up Mindy Kaling's new book - quick, I need more plane trips in my future so I can finally reeeead!

Wait ...

Ding ding!

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Sorry I've been so quiet over here - now I'm waaayyyyy over here on the west coast for the rest of this week! I'm super excited to be attending the HOW Interactive Design conference in San Francisco - giving me a chance to brush up on these CSS skillz I'm slowly accumulating. In the meantime, I picked up Jeffrey Eugenides' latest book that I'm already enamored with - The Marriage Plot. I adored Virgin Suicides (as evidenced by my comic version here) but never read all of Middlesex. If any of you out there haven't read any of his books, they're a wonderful, heady blend of prose and imagery to completely immerse yourself in.

I also can't wait to pick up Mindy Kaling's new book - quick, I need more plane trips in my future so I can finally reeeead!

Wait ...

...Aaaand the diet is still going

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In my head, that title is totally pronounced in the same voice as Bill Murray in Ghostbusters: "Aaaaand the FLOWERS are STILL standing!" I think I'm starting to forget what cheese tasted like.

That's right, it's been over 6 weeks since I last had any dairy, soy, or gluten on purpose. I'm sure there's been slips here and there (and last weekend in New Orleans we TOTALLY splurged on some bread), but my dietary life has been pretty awfully regulated. And although sometimes it makes me want to cry (why do they stick soy in EVERYTHING??), some positives have come out of it.

  • Recipes! I'm actually cooking now! Before it was only whenever we didn't order pizza, and now it's basically every day. Here are some successes I've had:
  • Weight loss - Okay, so I wasn't trying to lose weight necessarily, but it was kind of nice to see some pounds of pure cheese and bread melt away. Mmm ... melllltttt ....
  • Attitude adjustment - Although I can't claim that I've been happier these last couple of weeks (i.e. see cheese post), it has been nice to not be so obsessed with food. I'm a big gorger. Going out to eat, parties of any kind, Thursday nights, etc. were all reasons for me to binge. And it's true, I did have an awfully depressing soy/gluten/dairy free birthday cake, but there are better things in life than food, right? Right??
  • Better Sleep - Not eating bread or cheese means no more late night cheese n' cracker fests, which I'm sure we could all agree on as a bad idea anyway. So take that stuff away and what do I have to Midnight Snack on? Just wine. Mmmm .... wine ....

So I'm not out of the woods yet - in a couple more weeks I have a follow-up with my nutritionist and she has some more stuff to test out on me. A happy little beaker of experimentation, I am. But this has been an interesting trial overall, and boy has it made me realize life from the other side of the fence. The most difficult thing by far seems to be traveling. I've resigned myself to mainly salads and chicken when we go out to eat, but when you can't cook your own meals and are thrown to the wolves of the chain restaurants of the world, it can get a little panic-inducing. I can't count how many "Say what now?" responses we've gotten for asking for something gluten-free. I'm just going to keep my head down these next few weeks and forget that my nutritionist gave me a look when I told her I was surviving on a lot of packets of Fruit Snacks. (y'know, artificial flavoring and coloring and all that nonsense)

How about anyone else out there? Have your dietary experimentations/restrictions paid off?

Webcomic Week Day 5: The Weak Spots

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Okay, here we go. Let's do this. Let's talk about the areas that I really hate drawing, therefore suck the most when I draw them - aka my weak spots.

As you can tell from this picture, my weak spots are most definitely backgrounds. A lot of artists have areas they particularly dread drawing. Some are hand-phobes, other face-phobes, I am a background-phobe. Filling backgrounds with people and objects and *shudder* perspective never ceases to paralyze me. As you can tell from these next few shots, the beginning of Gods & Undergrads was chock full of poorly planned, horribly executed backgrounds that I really gave a crap about and boy does the sloppiness show ...

Everything I drew seemed like it's own little lesson in What Not To Do as an artist. If there was a comic equivalent of Stacey & Clinton, they would haul me off to New York and give me an illustration renovation STAT. Actually . . . who would the comic makeover king and queen of the comics world be? I already have a list going of the hottest comickers. But the ones with the ability to makeover others? Hmm. I smell an industry need, waiting to be filled ...

Anyway. So why am I showing you multiple examples of horrible drawing in my own book? Because when you create any comic, or webcomic, or story, or art, or what have you, it's important to face your fears. Sure, I did a lot of terrible backgrounds (and still do sometimes), but like with the writing, I kept doing them until they gradually got better. Look, at the end of the first book the backgrounds had already improved:

And by the second book? LIGHTYEARS better.

I'm not saying I don't still have loads of work ahead of me in the Backgrounds Arena. But once I realized that backgrounds were just as much an important part of the story as the facial expressions, the color, the dialogue, the outfits, etc. the comic started to evolve just from being an amateur mish-mash into an actual evolving style. One I didn't plan on, but one that was slowly becoming more cohesive.

Last year, when I started illustrating my first graphic novel for a publisher, my editor gave me some notes on how all of my panel compositions were starting to look the same - headshots, waist up shots, ALL people, all the time. My old nemesis was creeping up on me and not only making me steer clear from drawing backgrounds, but skewing the page layouts of the book too. So was I going to take that shit from backgrounds? Oh hell no. Sure, perspective still boggles my mind and dressing a scene can cause me to break out into cold sweats, but with a little patience, a lot of stress coffee drinking, and this book:

it's gotten MUCH better.

Webcomic Week Day 5: The Weak Spots

/

Okay, here we go. Let's do this. Let's talk about the areas that I really hate drawing, therefore suck the most when I draw them - aka my weak spots.

As you can tell from this picture, my weak spots are most definitely backgrounds. A lot of artists have areas they particularly dread drawing. Some are hand-phobes, other face-phobes, I am a background-phobe. Filling backgrounds with people and objects and *shudder* perspective never ceases to paralyze me. As you can tell from these next few shots, the beginning of Gods & Undergrads was chock full of poorly planned, horribly executed backgrounds that I really gave a crap about and boy does the sloppiness show ...

Everything I drew seemed like it's own little lesson in What Not To Do as an artist. If there was a comic equivalent of Stacey & Clinton, they would haul me off to New York and give me an illustration renovation STAT. Actually . . . who would the comic makeover king and queen of the comics world be? I already have a list going of the hottest comickers. But the ones with the ability to makeover others? Hmm. I smell an industry need, waiting to be filled ...

Anyway. So why am I showing you multiple examples of horrible drawing in my own book? Because when you create any comic, or webcomic, or story, or art, or what have you, it's important to face your fears. Sure, I did a lot of terrible backgrounds (and still do sometimes), but like with the writing, I kept doing them until they gradually got better. Look, at the end of the first book the backgrounds had already improved:

And by the second book? LIGHTYEARS better.

I'm not saying I don't still have loads of work ahead of me in the Backgrounds Arena. But once I realized that backgrounds were just as much an important part of the story as the facial expressions, the color, the dialogue, the outfits, etc. the comic started to evolve just from being an amateur mish-mash into an actual evolving style. One I didn't plan on, but one that was slowly becoming more cohesive.

Last year, when I started illustrating my first graphic novel for a publisher, my editor gave me some notes on how all of my panel compositions were starting to look the same - headshots, waist up shots, ALL people, all the time. My old nemesis was creeping up on me and not only making me steer clear from drawing backgrounds, but skewing the page layouts of the book too. So was I going to take that shit from backgrounds? Oh hell no. Sure, perspective still boggles my mind and dressing a scene can cause me to break out into cold sweats, but with a little patience, a lot of stress coffee drinking, and this book:

it's gotten MUCH better.

Webcomic Week Day 4: Planning vs. Evolution

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Yep, it's not really Day 4, since Webcomic Week started last week ... oh well, continuity blows! ... Aaaand also happens to be the topic of this post. I've been writing terrible stories since I was little. Luckily I didn't let that deter me. I had a screenwriting teacher in college who told us flat out:

Everything you write will be shit.

And she was spot on. But luckily she added:

If you keep writing, it will become less shitty.

That's the motto I've clung to over my years of writing several short comic stories and one looooooong comic story. If I keep writing, in theory the writing gets better. Or, rather, it gets less shitty. I used to think when you wrote out a story, you had to plan everything in advance before you started drawing. This thought managed to paralyze me and prevent me from ever writing fully fleshed out stories. When I started Gods & Undergrads, my detailed plot points looked like this:

  • There is a girl.
  • She is the off-spring of some gods and stuff.
  • She's going to be at college doing college-y things.
  • Now and again a god will come in and mess everything up.
  • The end.

The inbetweens I wasn't able to quite figure out until I started writing the story. Occasionally I'd randomly decide upon bigger events I wanted to happen (she breaks her arm, Furies are called, etc.) and then would be able to steer the story in those specific directions. Sometimes I worried that all I was doing was spinning my wheels and putting in filler between big, random events. I kept thinking my job as a writer was to keep the reader occupied and unassuming until BAM! The next plot point came around.

Unfortunately, this resulted in a lot of my earlier (okay, truthfully, and current) work occasionally slogging through some slow parts. In these slogs, nothing much happens plot-wise, but at least the characters do take the opportunity to become more developed and separate their personalities from one another. Intially created out of laziness, over time I realized this truly was a storytelling preference of mine. I gravitate towards stories with a sloooowwww burn, all build up and pretense and atmosphere. And most of the time I don't even care if there's a BAM ending (or hell, even an ending at all), I just like to sit and immerse myself in that world for a little while. To me, it adds to the experience of getting into a story. Mm, maybe half that and half laziness.

Over the years my haphazard storytelling method has had to evolve, and I've developed a system I'm pretty comfortable with.

  1. The story idea arrives (usually in the car, or during a meeting, or some other time when I'm generally supposed to be otherwise engaged)
  2. I jot down notes, sketches, snippets of dialogue - whatever keeps me thinking of the idea
  3. I start to storyboard (I go into this process in further detail here), and depending on whether or not I have a deadline, I'll do this right away or take my time
  4. I back WAY the hell off
  5. I return to storyboarding
  6. Repeat steps four and five

Step 4 is what saves me from getting stuck in a story rut or getting bored or throwing shit in the story just to fill it out. I find that if I just physically leave my work, my mind kicks into gear and comes up with way better stuff than if I'd still been sitting there, staring at the paper. The same theory works for me when I draw my pages - if I'm getting bogged down, feeling uninspired, have no clue how to draw this next thing - LEAVE THE DESK. I go get some coffee or candy or let my cat attack me. As the Ghost Hunters say (that's right, I referenced them): When in doubt, get the hell out.

So whether your method is of the JK Rowling variety (I can't even fathom the amount of detail she has in her notebooks) or if you're like me and have trouble staring at Big Scary Story's Monster Face all at once, there is a method for you. I find the best way to keep yourself motivated is to lean toward your strengths. Do whatever you need to to keep yourself going and being excited about the idea. If you're no longer excited, switch gears and try something else. Or go let a cat attack you.

Webcomic Week Day 3

Webcomic Week Day 2

Webcomic Week Day 1