University Comics

I was asked to create a series of ten new comic strips for use by the Admissions Department at a liberal arts four-year university. These were to be four-panel comic strips in the style of newspaper comics. This was a dream assignment since I have always loved making comics and telling a story with humor. The client wanted to include the comics with Admissions materials with the intent of motivating high school-aged students to apply there for college.

The challenge was the scope of the story. We wanted to show a student’s full experience at the university, from first day all the way to graduation, as well as an epilogue when the student, now a parent, brings their kid back for a campus tour. My client already knew of a number of events and opportunities they wanted the comics to cover, so my job was to turn those points into a coherent story and tell it through the eyes of a university student.

We went through several rounds of drafts. First I outlined the comics using text and a few sketches. Then, when I thought I had a full set of ten comic strips that both included the story points my client wanted and were funny, I made a rough version of the strips with art and text. I sent the set of ten roughs to my client, and we went over each one. My client suggested some changes and I revised and sent a new set of roughs. Once the set was approved, I drew the final comic strips.

But the work was not yet done! When my client read the comics, they decided that two of the ten just did not fit. So we went back to the proverbial drawing board and came up with two new scenarios. I went through the same process as before, and finished the final two comics.

In the end we had a set of comics that my client was satisfied with and now can use for promotional material. Further, since they are essentially not dated, they can be used for as long as the client wishes.