Graphic Novels

The Graphic Novel I found in the Bird Library is called “The Talk” by Darrin Bell. I was drawn to the book because of how bright orange it is and on the front cover there is an illustration of a black boy. In the context of the cover it immediately made me think of a talk as in how you would handle situations involving the police to keep you alive. 

From an artist perspective, alot of different technologies must’ve been used to develop the story but also create it in physical form. For all the illustrations in the book they could have been drawn using an online app like procreate, fresco, or illustrator. Or even editing tools like photoshop or InDesign could have been used to create the layouts of each page and even the cut off panels on the front cover. Especially in the sense of graphic design InDesign or even canva might’ve been used to create the back-cover using 2-3 different fonts and having the spaced to the liking of the designer and author. 

Thinking of this book as a technology in itself. It’s more informative in the research on black communities and police brutality that might have gone with it. Even a more general search of the different stereotypes and forms of racism African Americans face. Two that I read stories through graphics were “The Talk” and “Big Lips” (These were actually the names of the first and second chapters.)