The Narrative Image

Visual Stories & Semiotics

Stories are fundamental to human culture.

Narrative images (visual stories) are a powerful method of conveying ideas, information, and cultural wisdom. Narrative images use semiotics which is a sort of visual grammar.

 

Semiotics: Visual clues, or signs, are combined into patterns that transmit messages to the viewer. 

 

Signs

Philosopher/ Scientist Charles Sanders Peirce categorized signs as:

Iconic Sign: Looks like what it is representing. This could be a portrait or scientific illustration. 

Symbolic Sign: Does not look like what it is representing. The meaning of the symbolic sign must be learned. A few examples include a country's flag or a company logo. 

Indexical Sign: A visual clue that links meanings. Smoke is an indexical sign of fire; a pointing finger is an indexical sign of whatever it is pointing at; etc..

 

TIP: You can use all of these types of signs in different combinations to tell your story!

Types of Narrative Images

Flavored

A Flavored Image is a subjective, editorialized depiction of a thing, person or place. These images usually have a connotative meaning and a denotative meaning.

Connotative Meaning: The implied meaning or the "flavor" of an image.

Denotative Meaning: The literal meaning of the image. 

Many images have a denotative meaning that differs from their connotative meaning.

Most of the obvious examples of flavored images can be found in advertising:

Denotative Meaning of Ad: This camel is a "smooth character" and smokes Camel cigarettes.

Connotative (Flavored) Meaning of Ad: Smoking camel cigarettes will make you cool, rich and "smooth".

 

Linear

Linear images depict the passage of time and/or space in a single image. 

The Battle of Scannagallo by Giorgio Vasari  Links to an external site., in the Palazzo Vecchio  Links to an external site. of Florence  Links to an external site..

 

Aggregated

Aggregated images depict relationships between things in a single image composed of multiple parts.

 

Paneled

Paneled images depict the passage of time and/or space in multiple sequenced images.

3 Ways Paneled Images Tell Stories:

1. Closure: The psychological leap that is essential to make paneled images work. Closure occurs in the gutter, the space between panels. 

2. The Frame as Time: Each frame is a unit of time. The dimensions and shape of the panel are as important as the space between the panels, as well as the placement of the panel on the page.

3. Transitions: There are 6 major types of transitions between frames, each of which has a different effect on the pacing of the story:

  • Moment-to-Moment: requires very little closure.
  • Subject-to-Subject: Shows different people or things in a scene or idea.
  • Aspect-to-Aspect: Transitions between aspects of a place, idea, or mood.
  • Action-to-Action: Single subject in a process.
  • Scene-to-Scene: Spans significant distances of time or space.
  • Non-Sequitur: No logical relationship - lots of closure required.

4. Interdependent Words and Images: Most comics rely on a combination of words and images to convey a story or idea. 
If the story is driven mainly by the imagery, then the words can wander in many directions.
If the story is driven mainly by the words, then the images can wander, becoming more abstract and utilizing more closure.