Week 12 – 12/3

For this week, I wanted to talk about the creation of comic books, and how it relates to Software Process Management and Software Design. Within the article linked below, it describes the process of how a comic is created, and the steps needed to reach a final project. I specifically wanted to look more into this as the process is quite similar to how software is developed.

Overview Of The Comic Creation Process

The first step is coming up with an idea for what the comic would be about. Some stories might be a story needed to be told to convey a message or present a solution, which is things that we have been learning about in Software Process Management. Or perhaps you have a creative idea you want to put out there, which can relate to the creation of software on your own, like we are doing in Software Design.

The second step is writing a plot, which is much like creating a backlog for your process, planning the beginning, middle and end of the process.

Then, its off to creating the art, which is a multi-step process, which is much like creating the code. For the artists, they need to sketch, then line, then ink and even maybe color the panels of the comic, which parallels how code will need a framework, then main code, supplemental code, and comments to build on top of each other. This process isn’t always in a predetermined order, and can vary from project to project.

And then theres editing and review. Everyone looks over the draft of the work they’ve made, and then tweaks whatever needs adjustments as needed. This process might lead to the recreation of art or code, depending on which process we’re discussing. Once a review gets a pass, they’re ready to finalize and move onto the last step, which is…

Publishing and marketing! Once you’re done, you send the finished copy of the work to consumers to receive, and perhaps you’ll even advertise it, if its not well-known. This can include things like advertisements, sponsorships, and even word of mouth.

The parallels of the dynamics in which these processes interest me a ton as someone whos also minoring in art, and wants to go into a digital design or digital-art focused field, whether it be game design or webcomics. It’s kinda awesome to see that theres a sort of venn diagram between my two passions, and that they can intersect.

EDIT: I meant to post this earlier before, but I had connectivity issues and it never posted when I thought it did. I only realized because a friend wanted to read my blog, haha. To clarify, this blog is intended for Week-12, and for both classes, not 13, it just was posted late due to issues. My apologies for this inconvenience.