As a graphic arts student working with late 70′s and early 80′s presses, I’ve had the importance of color registration *ahem* impressed on me on a daily basis. It is an exacting manual process, far removed from today’s push-button technology of computer adjustments. If nothing else I’m finding an incredible appreciation for the sheer TIME involved with older printing mechanics — so many, many hours of setup and frustration to ensure readers casually flipping through those comics saw the action and art as opposed to blurred text and patchy color.
And then, on the other hand, I find a heartwarming coziness when confronted with vintage printing gone awry. Halftones running off with each other, smudged dialogue bubbles, streaking solid patches … it somehow breeds maniacal life into the product. The knowledge that someone, somewhere, tried hard to bring this to you, the reader, intact and presentable and failed, showing all too well there is far more than a machine behind the process.
June 15, 2012
Denver, CO Rocky Mountain Conference on Comics and Graphic Novels
Lecture
(This event is in association with Denver Comic Con, but I'll only be making a brief Saturday morning appearance at DCC itself.)
July 12-15
San Diego, CA Comic-Con International
Hanging out. Seeing friends. Maybe a panel or two. :-)
May 4, 2012
As a graphic arts student working with late 70′s and early 80′s presses, I’ve had the importance of color registration *ahem* impressed on me on a daily basis. It is an exacting manual process, far removed from today’s push-button technology of computer adjustments. If nothing else I’m finding an incredible appreciation for the sheer TIME involved with older printing mechanics — so many, many hours of setup and frustration to ensure readers casually flipping through those comics saw the action and art as opposed to blurred text and patchy color.
And then, on the other hand, I find a heartwarming coziness when confronted with vintage printing gone awry. Halftones running off with each other, smudged dialogue bubbles, streaking solid patches … it somehow breeds maniacal life into the product. The knowledge that someone, somewhere, tried hard to bring this to you, the reader, intact and presentable and failed, showing all too well there is far more than a machine behind the process.