Important Question!

[tasteslikeevil]

Alright, quick question - I'm currently trying to decide how I'm going to letter the "graphic novel" thingy that I'm currently working on. I know hand lettering ROCKS, but I'm considering going with computer lettering because of the time/labor saving element. Is this a good idea? Will I lose all my cartoonist street cred if I don't hand-letter?

Comments

[spinolio]

Courier New is the most exciting font ever!

[tasteslikeevil]

This statement is questionable!

[larsony]

No one ever says nothing about me using Comicraft Tim Sale. Oni gave me a sampling of several fonts and I used a graphic designer friend to pinpoint which one worked and there it is. If it's personal work I use Blambot 10 cent Hero, also no issues. It's readable, so no problem.

I personally like hand-drawing the balloons and I have gotten guff about that.

[tasteslikeevil]

Oh, cool, that's wicked that Oni did that for you! Yeah, I think the computer lettering in North World totally works. I'll have to check out 10 Cent Hero and see how it looks with my stuff.

Also, what have people said about hand-drawn balloons?? That's ridiculous! Computer word balloons look so AWKWARD most of the time...

[larsony]

Someone said that my balloons were unbalanced, and sometimes they're a little hasty.

I think some people do really good computer word balloons. Nate Piekos work is generally very good in comics, and Stuart Immonmen had a rather elegant technique in Moving Pictures: circles with a single line for a tail. The best ones are the ones you don't recognize. But I think with the rougher, indie type art its best to draw your own balloons.

[tobyisawesome]

Just do hand lettering. Seriously! Get someone else to hand letter for you if need be.

[tasteslikeevil]

Hahaha, ugh, but I can't afford to hire an assistaaaaant....

[larsony]

Perhaps he is offering!

[tasteslikeevil]

Haha, yeah, if you want to hand letter MANY PAGES of dialogue for me, we could totally talk! Accepting all applicants! ;)

[ztoical]

digital lettering is an art forum itself when done correctly. For something super dialogue heavy I would digital letter it just to save the stress of fixing spelling and grammer errors. You can spend the time to create your own font based off your hand lettering - couple of good programs around that allow you to do that so you can keep that personal quality.

[tasteslikeevil]

Yeah, I totally agree. And I've definitely been considering going with a font based off of my hand lettering. Have you tried any of the programs before? Is there one you'd recommend?

[ztoical]

I haven't yet as I've never done a comic that's very dialogue heavy enough but in the last few months I've been wanting to do it more and more as I find I'm using more dialogue. I had two programs rec'd by a friend who'd tired it and one he liked and the other he didn't but for the life of me I can't find the email with the names of the programs right now.

[tasteslikeevil]

Yeah, that's cool. I've actually started a folder in my bookmarks full of different sites that offer different "make your handwriting into a font!" services I've found, so I'll have plenty of different options to do google searches on before I choose if I decide to go that route.

If you do end up finding that email though, please let me know!

[randombooks]

I'd do computer lettering for a couple of reasons. You can have different styles for different people or moods. Yes you can also do that by hand, but I find that I can only change my writing style so much and still have it be done fast. Also, if it's heaving on the wording, you don't have to worry so much about getting it all to fit and be readable.
Honestly though, just do what you think is best. It matters more how you feel about it than most others in the creative process. There are tons of fonts out there to look like a person's handwriting, so if you do it right, the readers won't really know.