Word & Image - book covers

In my previous blog, I discussed Brian Fies’s comic Mom’s Cancer, explaining the relationship between word and image and how they are able to communicate a meaning or message much more effectively when used together rather than a using single image or text would. Not only are word and image successful in comic book storytelling, they are also used in marketing and advertising for book covers.

   

Image: Brian Fies

     

Image: Brian Fies

In the comic, Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? by Brian Fies, both word and image are used on the book cover to create a quick glimpse of the narrative, while not giving away the whole story at once. It is important that image and word must coincide to create a message or theme that will attract the reader into picking up and reading the book.

Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? contains two parts to the original book cover. The outside layer includes a paper flap which wraps around the hardcover book itself (picture on the left) and the main cover, without the cover flap (picture on the right). The picture on the left displays a world during the 1940s to 1960s era and the picture on the right portrays a more futuristic and space age time. The two images combine to make the official cover for the book. The cover works by putting the two images side-by-side, comparing and contrasting the two periods of time, which relates to the narrative of the comic. The title, Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow, at the top of the cover ties the two images together by asking a question to the readers. It makes the reader view the page as whole, making them think about the narrative and theme of this of this comic.

Credits: Fies, Brian. Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?

Word & Image

“Comics books are a lot like rock music,” says Brian Fies, the author of Mom’s Cancer and What ever happened to the World of Tomorrow.

Image: Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies

On Tuesday, November 2, Brian Fies guest lectured for the Intro to Design class at UC Davis. His first book, Mom’s Cancer, was influenced by his mother who was diagnosed with lung cancer. His inspiration came from sketching his mother one day during chemotherapy. Looking back at the sketch, he noticed how the combination of words and image worked together to describe what went on that day.

Image: Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies

Comic books are essentially the juxtaposition of words and images. Brian Fies explained that comics transcend and the words and images must work together to tell a story. Without one or the other the message or meaning will be lost to the audience. During his lecture, he described comic books by using it an analogy to rock music. He explained that all rock music had lyrics and music. When the lyrics are separated from music, the message of the song is not as effective as having both music and lyrics together. Combining music and lyrics together give the song a much more powerful message and have a stronger impact on the audience. The same applies to comic books. The combination of image and words together give much more meaning and depth than having only words without images or just having images without words. Brian Fies chose the comic book form because juxtaposing word and image could easily establish metaphors, symbolism and imagery.

Image: Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies

This is an image from Mom’s Cancer and also was used for the book cover. Brian Fies creates a bisecting border, splitting the image horizontally. The image implies a window panel. The viewer is looking into the window, into his mother’s life of as cancer patient. The upper half of the window marks the mind and the lower half the body. Mind and body are both represented in the text but are separated by the bisecting border in the center. The structure places viewers outside the window, looking in, distancing the audience from fully understanding the hardships and experiences. The combination of image and word exposes the exhaustion and pain of both mind and body.


Credits: Fies, Brian. Mom's Cancer.