Sequential Art

Riordan Henry

10/02/2008

INFO 390

Sequential Art

This image is a depiction of the creative process that I undergo when writing a paper for school, specifically. This does not reflect my process when writing recreationally. Specifically, the recreationally written items are not forced, thus the beginning differs as there is no procrastination.

This is a flow chart of sorts that does not follow any specific linear direction. It is obvious there are potentially different outcomes, as shown at the corners. The bottom right corner is the paper that comes from diligent work and time budgeted efficiently. The Top right corner shows what happens when I take too long of a break from my work and the train of thought is utterly lost. Generally this can be rectified with more time spent and often a complete renovation of my idea, starting over. The bottom left corner, unfortunately shows what happens when I waste my time and ignore the assignment at hand and just enjoy a bit of gaming. The angry teacher wielding a failure of a paper speaks iconically of my failure there as a student. Each direction can possibly go awry, though, as shown in the multiple possibilities leading away from the trash can, which shows a complete renovation of the paper, or at the very least a cancellation of my previous work. Clearly, if I decide to ignore my work and join friends out for a night of partying as opposed to reworking my assignment, the same outcome will occur as if I had initially wasted my time. The path that generally leads to the most efficient outcome is the path cutting straight from the top left to the bottom right; once the project is started, I find it most beneficial to write as much as possible, then rework whatever parts need alterations. Overall, this type of process is the quickest for me and usually it is the only way I like to write my papers. The generally accepted mode of project generation for an academic setting is writing and revising, whereas my process involves mostly barreling through the project, completing it as quickly as possible and revising little, aside from spell changes and punctuation errors.

The images used here are all taken from Google image searches. All these images were chosen on the basis of amusement and my ability to relate to them. This speaks to McCloud’s essay of iconic art. Since all these images are relatable to most views, or at least presumably so, I feel that the piece as a whole is quite understandable. The example here is the snack pack with cheese and crackers that most people of my age ate at a younger age. It is also a type of food that is likely a college staple. The foods we ate as children are once again acceptable and widely enjoyed in our college days strangely enough. Had I used personal images that only meant something to me personally, it would likely appear to be a garbled array of strange images. For instance if I used my tattoo designs as a symbol of my distractions, no viewer would likely be able to discern their meaning as it relates to the picture. The most specific image that appears here is the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare game cover. This was actually chosen as a personal relation to me as the creator because it specifically is a major source of distraction from my work, whereas most other video games attract little of my interest, time or effort. This could potentially be a confusing image to viewers that do not play video games or are not familiar with this one in particular. I feel, though, that this game is widely known enough to create the desired effect of frivolous distraction from the assignment.

Sequential Art

This is how I work...sometimes