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Dec 2016

I know there's already a post somewhere like this but I'm looking for panels that are ideally borderless with interesting layouts.

I've got a scene coming up in my comic SPIRE8 that's really dreamy/psychedelic and it needs a borderless and fluid kind of panel layout, but I'm still new at comics and the whole panelling deal (I mean with my last one I'd just copy/paste border layouts from some comic masterpost I found on tumblr instead of making them myself..............) so I'd like to take a look at some of your panels to maybe get some inspiration and ideas!!! It's gonna be one of those scenes where it'll stretch my artistic abilities a little more than the comic is currently doing so I'd like to prepare for it at least a little bit :'v

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    Dec '16
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    Dec '16
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Oooh, this has some awesome potential, REALLY cool stuff could come out of your comic -- your pacing is really nice even while remaining in the classic bordered format! I'm very much a huge fan of page layout and composition. It's something I get so excited about organising when I sit down to start a page - THAT SAID, I'm really a novice and sheerly enjoy the experience of setting up panels and experimenting with filled gutters. Here are a couple borderless/semi-borderless pages from my comic that could be a start to expand on what you have in mind.

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This page2 is a full bleed from the bottom to balance and weight the intense rift of the timeframe cutting the characters' realities at the top. I used the zig-zag panel to direct eyeflow along the speech bubbles as well as from one figure to the other until its reconnected with the present.


This page bleeds in at the top and focuses on a sort of fluid, cursor-automation progression kinda feel. I broke up the panels at the top of the programme "playing" to infer its start-up. The pinkish glare-stars overlap the borders, including the one cupping from the bottom.

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And this page1 spreads out into the gutters from middle panel. I use the antennae jutting from the character's head to link to and pace through the top panels while setting it behind the arcing bottom panels (to present action in sequence against dimension shift).

I haven't done many borderless pages but I can recommend Seeing Starsigns1, Anarchy Dreamers1 and #Wafflefry for more interesting and dynamic full-page spreads that are border-free. Really excited to see what you do with Spire in its psychedelic scene!!

In Rooftop Bookshop3 I sometimes like to use the smudge tool and blur tool to sort of fade out like this:

Or like this
:

I use a different layout entirely in (Semi) Super, but I think that just the best way to get better with the panels and ways you want to use your panels is by watching others like you are doing. Seeing what makes their comics flow well and direct the reader's eye was a huge help for me. So keep it up! I'm sure you'll find the layout that works for you as you go, (your art is gorgeous by the way.)

I do usually use pretty standard panels in Fallacy1, just varying the size and shape. But that makes it really fun to have a reason to break it with something else. Usually with me it means characters extending over the frames or something similar.
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