Design Comics Templates 1.0, Part I
Remember those comic storyboard examples I posted a while ago? I also promised I would post complete slides with characters and scenes as they became available. The first batch is ready, so here they are:
You can use these characters and scenes in storyboards, presentations and brainstorming during product development; they're free for you to use. I do ask that you include a short credit in your finished work (see the slides), but other than that we encourage you to get creative and use them however you like as a base for graphic storytelling in your company or organization. If you enjoy them or have additional ideas, please post a comment to this blog.
About the Scenes
The scenes here were developed to illustrate use of web sites and computer products, but you could use them as a foundation for telling a user-centered for almost any product. Here's an example of what the range of images looks like:
Why comics? Telling a product story in a graphic style -- using characters as part of thr story -- helps people inside your company understand realistically how their products will be used. More important, graphic narratives offer a glimpse at potential issues that customers will encounter when using and getting support for your products or services. Here's an example of a storyboard using one of the characters (the same storyboard example linked to above):
More Info on the Slides
Format: The slides above are in Open Document Presentation format. To use them, download one of the following: StarOffice (the affordable office productivity application from Sun), OpenOffice (a free version of the office productivity application for Solaris, Linux, and Windows), and NeoOffice (a free version available for the Mac).
Credits: The concept for these templates originated here at Sun, and the illustrations were done by ISD Group, a small design company based in the Ukraine. The original ideas were inspired by an early comic storyboard set we did in the 1990s for Sun's Answerbook product, as well as Kevin Cheng's and Jane Jao's recent talks on using comics in the design process.
Future versions: These are early 1.0 versions of expressions and scenes for a few characters. Stay tuned for additional characters and scenes which are still in development. By the way, if you like this format and need additional scenes developed, you can certainly develop your own to add to the mix, or contact ISD Group and they can likely develop new scenes or even new characters in vector or JPEG formats (originals are done in Adobe Illustrator, in case you're curious, and then we convert to JPEGs and PNGs).
Enjoy!
Technorati Tags: Design Web-Design CustomerExperience Comics
Tunes: 43: Esque: Hard Living
 |  |  |
| Galina 1.0 | Pravin 1.0 | Mary 1.0 |
You can use these characters and scenes in storyboards, presentations and brainstorming during product development; they're free for you to use. I do ask that you include a short credit in your finished work (see the slides), but other than that we encourage you to get creative and use them however you like as a base for graphic storytelling in your company or organization. If you enjoy them or have additional ideas, please post a comment to this blog.
About the Scenes
The scenes here were developed to illustrate use of web sites and computer products, but you could use them as a foundation for telling a user-centered for almost any product. Here's an example of what the range of images looks like:
Why comics? Telling a product story in a graphic style -- using characters as part of thr story -- helps people inside your company understand realistically how their products will be used. More important, graphic narratives offer a glimpse at potential issues that customers will encounter when using and getting support for your products or services. Here's an example of a storyboard using one of the characters (the same storyboard example linked to above):
More Info on the Slides
Format: The slides above are in Open Document Presentation format. To use them, download one of the following: StarOffice (the affordable office productivity application from Sun), OpenOffice (a free version of the office productivity application for Solaris, Linux, and Windows), and NeoOffice (a free version available for the Mac).
Credits: The concept for these templates originated here at Sun, and the illustrations were done by ISD Group, a small design company based in the Ukraine. The original ideas were inspired by an early comic storyboard set we did in the 1990s for Sun's Answerbook product, as well as Kevin Cheng's and Jane Jao's recent talks on using comics in the design process.
Future versions: These are early 1.0 versions of expressions and scenes for a few characters. Stay tuned for additional characters and scenes which are still in development. By the way, if you like this format and need additional scenes developed, you can certainly develop your own to add to the mix, or contact ISD Group and they can likely develop new scenes or even new characters in vector or JPEG formats (originals are done in Adobe Illustrator, in case you're curious, and then we convert to JPEGs and PNGs).
Enjoy!
Technorati Tags: Design Web-Design CustomerExperience Comics
Tunes: 43: Esque: Hard Living
Posted by Rob Fay on January 02, 2007 at 06:12 AM PST #
Posted by Martin Hardee on January 02, 2007 at 07:29 AM PST #
Posted by Calum Benson on January 03, 2007 at 05:59 AM PST #
Posted by Kingsley Idehen on January 03, 2007 at 09:20 PM PST #
Posted by Kingsley Idehen on January 03, 2007 at 09:55 PM PST #
Posted by Alja Sulčič on January 04, 2007 at 05:15 AM PST #
Posted by Leslie on January 05, 2007 at 11:15 AM PST #
Posted by Scott Mark on January 05, 2007 at 12:34 PM PST #
Posted by CHOI, Jae-Hoon on January 14, 2007 at 04:06 PM PST #
Martin, this is fantastic stuff. When I did my workshop on this at IA Summit (which I'll shamelessly plug I'm teaching again this year), I had created about 9 panels for people to use as reference and that proved immensely useful.
Part of the reason that I didn't release them as a template was that I encourage people to create their own, even if they don't deem themselves "artists" (everyone is) but some kick-start tools like these are always helpful. Coincidentally, I found myself creating phone scenarios just a few months ago myself. Perhaps there needs ot be a library built around this as I've also met others who have been creating templates.
Btw, I've been compiling a list of link that are useful related to creating comics for design and of course, just added your templates.
and psst, it's chEng ;)Posted by Kevin Cheng on January 21, 2007 at 01:01 PM PST #
Posted by Skrocki on January 25, 2007 at 01:52 PM PST #
Posted by Martin Hardee on January 27, 2007 at 08:18 AM PST #
Posted by Jan on March 05, 2007 at 09:53 AM PST #
Posted by susie on June 07, 2007 at 02:09 AM PDT #
bakwaas
Posted by 220.224.52.233 on August 07, 2007 at 11:56 PM PDT #
Martin, thanks. I am terminally challenged at drawing, but I noticed a simple stick-figure diagram in my last presentation was better received than my sweated, beautifully carved thirty-worder. So for my next company's VC tour I was looking for something creative-commons-comics-style, but feeling slightly silly, and then I stumbled upon your wonderful work.
Thank you guys, I envy you since before StarFire. I will find a way to return the favour.
W
Posted by Walter Vannini on September 06, 2007 at 01:49 AM PDT #
good job my friends
Posted by การ์ตูน on May 12, 2008 at 12:07 AM PDT #
Posted by Usolab on July 08, 2008 at 11:28 PM PDT #