Poison Ivy Letterer shows the behind-the-scenes process of lettering comics
Award-winning comics writer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou continues to prove why comics writers should be held in much higher regard in the comics industry and among readers. Otsmane-Elhaou provided an amazing behind-the-scenes look at his typeface’s “organized chaos” for his work on the acclaimed Poisonous Ivy Series.
Comic book lettering is an often overlooked and underappreciated art form by fans, critics, and even members of the comics industry itself. There is incredibly difficult and creative work that goes into the lettering process of a comic book or graphic novel. Comic lettering not only gives characters language, but helps writers and illustrators shape a character’s tone, attitude, and inner world while creating dynamic movement through the use of written sounds and exclamations.
Casual comic book fans might not realize the importance of lettering at first glance, but after spending a lot of time reading and thinking about comics, you quickly realize that a letterer is an integral shaper of history and the world is and that choosing a letterer too Not Including lettering is often just as intentional and effective as using lettering itself. From titles to sound effects to exclamations and the different ways speech and thought bubbles interpret a character’s position in a scene, comic book lettering is part of the complex machinery of comic making that brings a story to life. Comic lettering is not only an essential aspect of the final product, but also difficult and undeniably an art form in which a letterer must work with the writer and the artist to create the most dynamic page possible, while determining the appropriate spacing and placement of the lettering so as not to overshadow the art, but rather its interpretation and message to facilitate. Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou – Editor of the Eisner Prize-winning comic magazine PanelxPanel and winner of the inaugural TripWire Award for Best Letterer – is an impressively talented comics letterer and editor who has worked on dozens of comics and recently published an amazing behind-the-scenes look at his lettering work for the acclaimed Poisonous Ivy (2022) Series written by G. Willow Wilson with interior illustration by Marcio Takara and color by Arif Prianto.
Otsmane-Elhaou’s behind-the-scenes photo captures the caption’s “organized chaos.”
The amazing template shared by Otsmane-Elhaou is the absolutely perfect description of “organized chaos,” showing how the talented letterer uses Adobe Illustrator to organize all of his lettering templates to make his lettering more efficient and creative in every issue to be able to place from Poisonous Ivy. Otsmane-Elhaou shares this behind-the-scenes look Poisonous Ivy Lettering has inspired other comic book creators to share their own lettering templates, like Ariana Maher’s incredibly organized template for her lettering detective Comics, share that comparing the font templates feels “It’s like comparing pictures of our sock drawers. Strangely intimate, but irrelevant.“Otsmane-Elhaou also inspired other aspiring letterers to feel better about their own lettering template organization, with many commenting that by sharing his messy but personally efficient template he gave them more confidence in their own process of organizing their lettering gave. Poisonous Ivy is a beautifully written book with stunning art, and all of this stunning text and illustrations are held together by the talented work of Otsmane-Elhaou, who uses unique color palettes, wonky designs, and chaotic language captions to infuse every scene Poisonous Ivy with individuality and meaning.
In many ways, lettering is the heart and soul of comics, giving voice and meaning to the character and helping the artists and writers build the world of comics, and Otsmane-Elhaou’s impressively chaotic typeface for Poisonous Ivy is just further proof that comic book lettering needs to be appreciated and appreciated more by fans, critics, and the industry itself.
Source: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
https://screenrant.com/poison-ivy-letterer-shows-behind-the-scenes-lettering-process/ Poison Ivy Letterer shows the behind-the-scenes process of lettering comics
