Making banners for your webcomic is part of an art that’s called “graphic design.” People go to college to learn about graphic design.  You can get degrees in graphic design!

That said, there is no shame in having a hard time making banners for your comic.  This article will feature a couple tips I’ve learned over the years about how to advertise your product, or rather, your webcomic. You need to get used to the fact that you are in fact SELLING your webcomic to people who don’t already read it. These people are buying your webcomic with the currency called “free time.”  Anything you sell must be marketed. In order to market a product, you have to make that product attractive.  For a shallow example, do you EVER see shaving or body wash commercials that feature non-studly men? Ok, ok, I admit, I’m a fan of those commercials. As a woman, I won’t buy those products,  but hey, if I had a boyfriend I may recommend them.

So, how do you make your webcomic “attractive” in a banner? There are 2 ways. With art (color schemes, images, etc) or with writing (motto, tag-line, etc.)  The best banners use both art AND writing, but good banners can be made with either separately if you know how to design!

Before I talk about either element (art or writing), there is something else I’m going to say real quick: It is ALWAYS important to include the title of your comic on your banner. By “title,” I mostly mean “logo.” A logo is something unique to YOUR project that represents it. It is not simply your title in a font you kinda like today and may not like tomorrow, with a couple layer effects thrown in and gradient on top.  You should have one design for the title, so that it is always associated with your comic. A logo can include art too, for example, the Palace in the Sky Logo. On your banner, all or part of your logo should be visible. Even if people don’t click on your banner, they at least know and recognize your logo image.  That in itself is lasting advertising.

Sometimes you really can’t fit your logo on an ad though, and I know.  Sometimes you just don’t have a logo you like. It takes a lot of time to develop a logo! What do you do then? Read to the end of the article to find out.

BANNER ELEMENTS:

Element 1: Faces and/or Facial Features:

What you never want your banner to do is look too crowded, too empty, too garish, or camouflaged into a site’s background. Banner art should draw the eye, not cause the eye to pass it over without seeing it.  A simple way to draw the eye is to INCLUDE eyes (and/or a face) in your banner.  Humans are genetically wired to look at faces and features, and if we see eyes, we look at eyes.  Eyes in banner art should be looking out AT the person, or be focused on something else…something exciting, troublesome, funny, etc! If you include bored or sleepy eyes in your banner, what’s the point? You want to draw attention, not chase it away!

For example, I went a little overboard with eyes in this ad, but it has had great results:

Element 2: “Tag-line, what it’s about, motto, click-me-saying!”

Something the previous button ad also features is a short “what’s it about” tagline. It’s a line I use when advertising to an audience that perhaps doesn’t read or know about webcomics. “Free fantasy online comic.” Here, I don’t even use the word “webcomic” because that’s a confusing word to people who don’t know it. I say “free,” because yeah, some people don’t know they are free entertainment. “Fantasy” is a generic term, just to give people an idea of the genre. I would run this fantasy-associated sites, obviously.  Something like roleplaying or MMORPG-associated sites.

If your comic has a tag-line (mine is “The Four Winds aren’t legend. They’re real.”), use it. The tag-line, like your logo, becomes associated with you and your work. If you don’t have any kind of tag-line, you need to make one. Condense your work into under 10 words. This is important.

Element 3: URL

Another thing the button ad has is my URL. Since I have my own domain name, it’s important to, like a logo/title, make people associate it with me and my webcomic.  I don’t have “twow.comicgenesis.com,” I have WAROFWINDS.com.  Those of you who don’t already have your own domain, I HIGHLY recommend getting one.  It separates you from the rest of the pack, and makes you distinct.

Element 4: Separation

The last thing this ad has is 1px white border surrounding it. By framing the ad, I keep it from blending in to a site’s background or blending into a large group of ads the same size.  You can do this in photoship going to layer properties and selecting stroke, 1px, inside.  For that to work, the layer you choose to do this on must be cropped to the right size. For example, if you open a new document, import a LARGER document, and then try the “inside 1px stroke” part, the stroke will not be visible. Understand? Crop the image to the right size first, or put it on a transparent layer on top, then flatten.

Element 5: Action or Movement

Here is an add that doesn’t include a logo or a face, or a tagline, or a URL, or a genre.

This is an ad that I would use on strictly webcomic-only sites, where a reading audience knows that the ad has something to do with webcomics. Thanks to Project Wonderful, that kind of targeted advertising is possible.  This is an “action” ad. It shows weapons, a hint at tattoos, and a medieval/non-technological time period judging by the clothes. Even if I don’t include the word “Fantasy” it still says it. I include my title in an aesthetically pleasing matter on the side. This way, I’m not advertising the title. Here, the ART is first, when the eye is drawn and someone becomes curious, they see the title. It is NOT they see the title, and then they see the art.  Put your most attractive “foot” forward.

Element 6: Color [schemes]:

Sometimes you have art that is not distinct enough on its own, or that doesn’t have a natural color scheme, and you need to make your own. Color theory is, like graphic design, something to be studied. I’m only going to touch on it lightly. I’ll start first with black and white:

This ad is Just the logo and a silhouette. This ad is stylish, but says only that it has something to do with “dogs.” It says nothing about it being a webcomic, that it’s fantasy, the art style, or the plot. This is an ad I use ONLY for comic-comic linking purposes. People will KNOW it’s a webcomic if it’s found in another webcomic’s links list. This ad design is not one I use when advertising my comic because it doesn’t have enough information. Design-wise, I love it. It’s distinct and pleasing to the eye. But I would expect click-thru’s to very low using this style ad on project wonderful.

This had a complimentary color scheme. It uses blues and oranges.  Complementary colors attract the eye, but do remember TASTE and SUBTLETY. Don’t go overboard on supersaturated, bright colors just to make people look at your ad. Who clicks ugly, annoying ads? No one. They actually make a point to NOT click. Just because you draw attention to your ad doesn’t mean it’s always a good thing.

Something to remember with colors is the emotions certain schemes evoke. Do you want exciting colors (orange, red, yellow; warm colors; bright colors) or soothing colors (green, blue, purple; cool colors, dark colors, unsaturated colors)? Warm colors can also be aggressive, whereas cool colors can also be depressing. For more on color theory, google it!

Element 7: More Than Tag-Lines:

Larger banner sizes let you put more information on your banner.  Use that room to your advantage! Include as many elements as think important. Don’t crowd it, and always leave breathing room (for articles tangential to this topic, check out YWCSBS’ features on text balloons) . Imagine that people have 3 seconds max to see your banner. ONLY THREE. In those short seconds, what is the important information you want to impart?  Find a way to do that. If it takes longer than three, you probably put too much on there.

There are, of course, exceptions to the 3 second rule. Animated banners, for one, and really great art for another. The more a banner can capture attention, the longer you have to impress a person with words.

Element 8: Sexual Attraction:

The last element I’m going to talk about is the crudest, yet often best performing method: boobs, babes and big weapons. I include the last here because, well, in my experience, men can often find swords, guns and mecha just as attractive as women, and 18-24 year old men make up the majority of the webcomic viewing audience thanks to PA, CAD, Apple Geeks, etc.

If you want visits fast, make a pr0n comic, and advertise for it with the wares you draw. Have you seen the ads for Cru the Dwarf? Have you seen how fast that webcomic has risen in the ranks? Hey, it works, and that’s all there is to it.

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What about “false advertising?” Displaying art that doesn’t appear in your comic? Displaying color ads when your comic is B&W?  NOT A GOOD IDEA.  Disappointed readers leave fast. If they come expecting a certain product and you don’t live up to your part of the bargain, your comic had better be good enough to keep them anyways.  The best policy is to include art directly from your comic.

Any other elements you can think of that I missed? Leave a comment and I will append the article. These are for reference, not to satisfy my vanity.  I also apologize for using only my own banners in this. I feel uncomfortable critiquing others’ banners.

Tomorrow: Making Banners Part II: Advanced.  Making animations in ImageReady, choosing art, creating tag-lines.