Does anyone really know what shizzle means? Anyways!

Making Good Banners 1 dealt with 8 technical elements of banner-making: facial features/eyes, tag-lines, URL, separation, action, color, more than tag-lines, and sexual attraction. I also touched on the importance of having a recognizable logo and ended talking about the dangers of “false” advertising.

This article is going to touch on MAKING tag lines and targeting demographics, placement of images, and when/how to use animations.

1) Tag-line, motto, etc: If you don’t have one, it’s time to sit down and make one. It is one thing to have good art on your banner, but good art alone will get you only half the clicks good art AND a catchy tag line will get you. A tag-line should be short, about 10 words.  In this case, less is better, so if you can get under 10 words and still get your point across, you’re golden.

When you make one of these, what you should do is transmit the overall FEEL of your comic to someone who has never read, seen or heard of your work before. You are not necessarily trying to give them the plot synopsis (that’s what your about page is for!), you are trying to make people click to see your site first, to get them excited, to make them think, “that sounds like something I would like.” Plot-schmot. You are the hunter, they are the prey, your tag line is the bait.  The bait isn’t the whole animal, just a small, tantalizing piece. Now go and get ‘em, Sparky!

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Examples! I’ll (yet again) start with my own stuff. I had to make a 600×29px banner for the new, narrower, SpiderForest rotating header for my comic Not Alone.  I already had a short, tight synopsis, which is what I recommend starting with first if you’re having trouble thinking of a tag line. After all, if you can’t even condense your story into a paragraph, you’re going to have quite the time condensing it into 10 words or less!

Ignoring that synopsis for now, Not Alone is a story about self-discovery, leaving home, trusting yourself and having an adventure. It’s fluff, really, and I’m not afraid to say that. It’s short, it’s cliche, but it’s the stuff people like, especially young women between the ages of 14 and 21, my target audience for that comic.  My tag line is, “Who were you meant to be?” (I like tag-lines that directly ask a question. I find them to be more interactive.)

Pretty much a fluffy tag-line, just like the comic. (I’m considering, “Fate is a choice, not a destination,” but…eeehhhh…..)

What it was meant to evoke: a sense of fate, adventure and discovery. Much like the story of Harry Potter, perhaps you are simply waiting to be discovered. You deserve more in life than you have.  There’s something out there, and you’re missing it!

Targeted demographic: Teens and dreamers.

Here are some more examples, better than mine:

Abandon: First Vampire “The Past Will Bite You.”

SkyFall: “1000 years of war, 6 magical devices, 1 last hope.”

Dreadnought Invasion Six: “Existence to Extinction in One Short Trip.”

Fortune’s Fools: “There are Epic Tales of Chivalry, Honor and Love Undying… This is Not One of Them.” (Could easily be shortened up a bit, but works as is.)

Utukki: “Some People Can’t Let Sleeping Demons Lie.”

Looking For Group is basically a tag line and title in one!

You’ll notice in each of these either a distinct crescendo or a forceful OOMPH at the end.  None of these patter out. They’re almost sharp, like a warning, harsh, like a dark whisper, exciting, or amusing. They are meant to stick in your head, and perhaps (especially Utukki’s) play off something else you may have heard before.  Think of WHOM these tag-lines target. What age ranges? What backgrounds? People who watch what type of TV or play what type of games? You do the same thing. Consider who reads your comic, and then make a tag-line to get more people like them.  If you are going to advertise to people who are NOT like them, you’ll need a tag-line that appeals to another audience.  Always always always market to your audience, because your banners will have poor results if you don’t. Would you ever advertise a minivan to a guy looking for a corvette? No! But you would advertise that minivan to, say, a couple with kids, and perhaps, if you gave that minivan a pimpin’ make-over, flames on the side and rims, you COULD market to the guy looking for a corvette.  But you need to remember, no matter how much you package a minivan to look like a corvette, it’s still a minivan. Changing the packaging may just make the one guy think that hey, maybe he would like a minivan TOO.

(Please note, by minivan and corvette in this example, I am not talking about comic quality. I just wanted two extremely different cars, owned by usually two very different kinds of people.)

Here’s a game for you, to see how well prospective tag-lines can work: NAME THE MOVIE!

“The World Isn’t Ending…We Are.”

“Why So Serious?”

“A Hero Is Unleashed.”

This article is getting longer than desired, and I don’t want to cram more information here. It’s better if these are shorter and to the point.  Animations and image placements in banners will be discussed tomorrow! And as always, my disclaimer: I don’t claim to be a professional or even moderately talented in any of these areas. This is food for thought, based on what successful comics (and or games and movies) already have been doing!  Take what you can use, and put your own spin on it.