Reading “Understanding Comics” by Scott McCloud was a very fun, but also informative read! Comics have always played a major role in my life, and have shaped my goals for drawing and creating stories. However, even being a fan of this kind of work, sometimes people do not take the time to think about the history of comics or how people have used images to effectively tell stories for hundreds and even thousands of years! The fact that we have even used images in such a way is so interesting, yet how we have evolved in using them is even more so. For instance, McCloud references the Egyptians who used images to tell stories of their lives. Over time, we have gone from recording events with drawing to creating fictional stories, in which there are endless imaginary worlds and people with powers that exist, such as the ninja in Naruto or the superheroes in the Marvel/DC universes. Nonetheless, there are still authors who use comics in other genres, like “Persepolis” in biography and “Maus” in history. This, in fact, shows that comics are a very good way to convey really anything if techniques are utilized correctly. Like McCloud said, comics are truly a form of media.
Response to Understanding Comics – Julia Riguerra
Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics sheds light on the history of comics, emphasizing the abilities of comics to convey ideas, just as other, more mainstream, media do. I had never thought of comics as something that can be used for academic purposes, but McCloud seems to do this rather seamlessly as he aims to educate his audience through comics as a medium. This does make learning about the history and capacities of comics more engaging, as he says it himself that icons and images do not require the same brain power as reading.
What I found particularly interesting was the discussion in Chapter 2 on how our brains automatically search for images of ourselves in the world, and how comics and icons create vessels for us to inhabit. I’m intrigued by the idea of a universal form of communication, and the potential for that through the use of iconography, as iconography and visuals allow us to transcend language barriers.
Week 2: Map Assignment (Chen)- Ashley Zhu
The map that I created is “A Foodie’s Guide of Shanghai”, along with some of my favorite food places. On the weekends, I love going out to brunch with my friends and really see Shanghai in a different light. Since I am a foodie, I love exploring new places and finding new restaurants and cafes to try out. Luckily, Shanghai is an enormous city full of delicious food and coffee. On my map, I drew the different areas that I have been to and recommend for others to try as well. For example, one of my favorite cafes is Rac Coffee, which is located in Puxi. I did not include a legend on my map since the map is pretty self-explanatory and I included names of recognizable attractions to better understand the exact locations. I also drew out some roads and buildings to provide a clear guide as to where things are. I would like to update my map once in a while, of the new foods that I tried out, and maybe it will become a foodie’s guide to delicious Shanghai food. I drew everything in pen first and then colored it in with my colored pens and highlighter since I wanted to keep the aesthetics minimal and easy on the eye. I also included doodles of food at each location to better ‘explain’ the specialties. For example, I drew an ice cream cone next to Zaku Zaku, since it is a creamery. Overall, my map is a detailed representation of my observations of the good food places in Shanghai.
CSS Portfolio – Julia Riguerra
Link: https://imanas.shanghai.nyu.edu/~jhr360/week2/index.html
I found using CSS to be frustrating at first, since there so many ways to format a website and I didn’t any prior knowledge of any of the functions. However, I did find that the process gets easier the more I tinkered with it, and it soon became more satisfying than annoying.
I mostly had issues with the footer, though the site w3schools was extremely helpful in that respect. I also struggled a lot with the flex container and its components. Trying to edit the margins and padding of the boxes became frustrating, though I eventually figured it out.
Week 2: Understanding Comics – Bonnie Chan
Comics were always an intriguing art form for me. It was a hybrid of text and images that somehow managed to develop into intricate stories and showcase complicated relationships. To think of comics as static images in deliberate sequences seems so different from the experiences I have when reading comics. The sense of time and space is so easily understood without fully recognizing the details of the information at hand. That was something that really intrigued me. The idea that pictures are received information and do not require formal education to understand unlike words. It made me realize the power of images and recognize that the power of comics lies in its use of both the strengths of text and images in one.
Other important parts that stood out to me was this idea of how images form in our heads through the small bits that are presented to us visually. Pixels on a screen or newspaper are only small dots that somehow group together to become whole. Or the idea that many panels of separate objects is capable of recreating a continuous scene. As well as the idea that symbols and simple images often aid our abilities to understand a message as the most important elements are emphasized. Our imagination takes such a large role in deciphering not just comics, but also art that human capabilities never cease to amaze me. This not only taught me how our mind processes images but also how to create images and works that will be easily understood by viewers.