Online cartoon format

Russet Level 1

July 6, 2018, 8:20 pm

29

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Online cartoon format

I have had intermittent success selling cartoons and blog posts that use cartoons. These are normally cartoons that comment on recent happenings in a very specific topic area.

Now I have decided to create a series of cartoons to draw traffic to one of my blogs. My question is, for 1-3 panel cartoons the natural format is landscape. But do you think that for online viewing, especially for smart phone users, a square or portrait format might actually work better? And using text large enough to read on an iphone without zooming? Or is that going to overly limit the narrative of the cartoon.

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RhealaineS

RhealaineS

To be honest, I think it will be quite hard to make a 3 panel cartoons for phone. I mean it will be quite uncomfortable to view it on phone. So I suggest that you just simply focus on either laptops/computer or cellphone viewing.

6 years ago

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bienn05

bienn05

Yes, I think it is more practical to use laptops or desktops in this kind of situation. I think using phone can be more time consuming than using laptop. Time and money would be wasted for phone in my opinion.

6 years ago

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fishbate

fishbate

I agree, it could be confusing on the part of the viewer but it's a good idea to use cartoon as a booster for your blogs. Many people have success using cartoons on their products and services. You just have to find a way to make it more flexible in terms of views in different devices.

6 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

Are you talking about infographics? For smartphones I think a square format would be more suitable, a 3 panel cartoon won't work because of the size of the screen, unless you use a vertical panel.

6 years ago

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Barida

Barida

I agree with you that he should make use of Sqaure format as that is the only method that I know that can work pretty well especially when one is making use of smartphone for the work. There are image structure that might not be good when we take them with mobile devices.

6 years ago

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Chinet23

Chinet23

That's right. I think that you really have to consider how people would view it from their smartphones. Many people use smartphones these days if they're just browsing. The only time that I actually use my laptop or pc is when I use it for work or I have to type something.

6 years ago

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theresajane

theresajane

I agree with you. Most people would not even send their time rotating their phone so they could see the totality in a clearer and full view.

6 years ago

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ballyhara

ballyhara

Honestly, I don't think that should be an issue, at least for regular people that love the common 1-3 panel format. Of course, there's people that will think that it can be somehow annoying, to be reading on a 3 panel cartoon, but that seems lazy to me. Maybe, you can try to have smaller panels, with shorter dialogues, and that can solve the issue.

6 years ago

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treecko142

treecko142

Yeah, I think shifting to portrait, fitting 1 panel just enough on the screen will really help users be able to browse the comic without having to tilt their phones or increase magnification.

6 years ago

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kammy143

kammy143

I am down with the larger text format. It is nice to read texts without making a fuzz in zooming it. I would rather tilt my phone to see a better view of the animation and text rather than viewing it in a square format.

6 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

Seriously, I get aggravated when images are small which would force me to zoom in before I can fully see them well. It makes lose interest immediately and completely in the video. So, I'm all in support like you do with large images context and it's good to know that the bigger the images, the better and more satisfying the cartoon would become.

6 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

I think that landscape would actually be better in terms of convenience for smart phone users. Portrait might seem more appropriate at first, given it's the way people generally hold their smart phones, but in order to read it, they are probably going to have to zoom in. Putting it in landscape means that all they are most likely going to need to do is rotate their phone. It's going to depend on the size of the actual panels though. Making three panel comics with square shaped panels is going to be a bit difficult to get right, at least if your goal is to minimize how much the viewer must do to actually read the panels.

6 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

I think I have to agree with you on this, having the format in landscape will give more clarity and increase the overall quality of the cartoon for smartphone users. Portrait format won't be that good in my opinion but it's not going to be entirely bad.

6 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

It’s going to also depend on the length and width of the actual panels, and how they are being composed, whether in portrait or landscape. The fact is that doing this with square panels would most likely make it nearly impossible to get any degree of clarity without zooming in either mode. If the panels are rectangular then it might make things a bit easier.

As someone who has done web comics before, but has never focused on mobile compatibility, I kind of feel like trying this out myself.

6 years ago

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Russet

Russet

Another option of course would be to have the panels stacked vertically. I see a lot of online cartoonists do this especially if they get a lot of traffic from Pinterest. But it really changes the way the narrative works and I would have to get out of my usual habits and learn a few new things to make that work.

6 years ago

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EfficientNinja

EfficientNinja

The portrait format would look well for mobile users. It is easy to scroll if it is in that format. You can see posts on 9gag for example. Vertically oriented sites and images work well for mobile users if they are your main target.

6 years ago

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fishbate

fishbate

I suggest you can make it more interactive like a short cartoon film just to make sure that all platforms and devices are compatible. If there are 3 panels you can make it a video showing the panels on a time lapse.

6 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

Not a bad idea, but getting the timing right for that sort of method might be a little complicated. You have to count on the assumption that everyone reads at the same pace, and anyone who reads slower or faster than the pace of your comic might feel a bit annoyed when it isn’t transitioning when they want it to.

I like the idea of interactivity though. I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to maybe give each panel its own screen time, and then have the user swipe to transition to the next panel. It could be like turning a page in a comic.

6 years ago

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fishbate

fishbate

Yeah your a fast innovator, that would be a great way to make all viewers see the video in their own pace. Also it will be more interactive at the same time because people are now in control on what they are viewing.

6 years ago

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mdayrit

mdayrit

I suggest using portrait format if your target viewers are mobile users. It is good that you considered mobile users in making your cartoon since most people are using their phones to do almost anything. It is more accessible and portable to use rather than laptop or desktop. I personally prefer viewing portrait format for easy scrolling rather than a format that would need me to rotate my mobile screen.

6 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

I think this might help you in making cartoons. It's a site in which you can convert photos into cartoons in an instant.

www.cartoonize.net

6 years ago

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MomoStarr16

MomoStarr16

It is really hard for me now to tell you what is a good format for the phone because i am always on my laptop rather than my phone. But I think the square one format will do better. It will save some space and load it easily rather than the big wide format.

6 years ago

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jayjaydimson

jayjaydimson

Cartoons are really good, even I'm adult, I'm not feeling bored watching eat, because it brings back good memories when I was a kid.

6 years ago

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theresajane

theresajane

Cartoons are always good for all ages. The charm of cartoons is that it can cater the interest of younger and older generations. There's no standard age for good entertainment, by the way.

6 years ago

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jayjaydimson

jayjaydimson

I think this will attract a lot of children over there because children really love the cartoon, and using cartoon on every content will make them interested.

6 years ago

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theresajane

theresajane

Just make sure that the images are big and the texts are readable. I'm sure nothing could go wrong as long as your story is great and the graphics are enticing. People would always go crazy over cartoons.

6 years ago

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cmoneyspinner

cmoneyspinner

I think you could use square or landscape. Can't people turn their devices sideways? As for the text, guess you'll have to fiddle with it until you get it where it's readable without covering up the artwork. Advice from a non-expert. LOL.

6 years ago

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jpk0007

jpk0007

It's great that you are focussing on the mobile users as your target audience in this regard. I think most of the internet users are increasingly using their mobile phones to access the internet and this trend is set to increase by every passing day. I think it's better to keep it simple and try not to go overboard when it comes to mobiles because viewing an animation on a basic mobile phone will be difficult for most of the users. If you use the portrait format and keep it simple then such cartoon work will definitely be appreciated by all mobile users.

6 years ago

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theresajane

theresajane

I agree with you. People will always choose something that makes a task easier. Using a mobile phone is more convenient than bringing a laptop and a pocket wifi just so you could use it for searching when you need it outside.

6 years ago

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