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Downloadable Essays by Neil Cohn •

ESSAYS

Where to start...

Downloadable essays

Comic Theory 101

Visual Language Manifesto

Notable Blog Posts

Current Projects


Glossary of Visual Language terms

List of Conventional graphic signs


For frequently updated musings on visual language, visit my blog:
The Visual Linguist

Please support my visual language research

Also check out my book on politics,
We the People

Click on title or image to download pdf.
Latest version of Acrobat Reader is recommended
NEW Navigating Comics • Spring 2008
Most people believe that the reading of comic pages moves along the same order as text: the "z-path" of left-to-rigth and down. However, what happens when layouts are more complicated than simple grids? This paper reports the findings of a psychology experiment which found that readers follow a far more complex process of page layout navigation than the z-path. (30 pages, 1.6MB) Blog Thread

Japanese Visual Language • Fall 2007
Over the past two decades, manga has exploded in readership beyond Japan, and its style has captured the interest of young artists all over. But, what exactly are the properties of this "style" beyond the surface of big-eyes and "backward" reading? This paper explores the structural properties of the visual language underlying the "manga style," how it works, and how it differs from the visual languages in comics from other parts of the world. (21 pages, 1.4MB) Blog Thread

Time Frames... Or Not • Fall 2006
The juxtaposition of two images often produces the illusory sense of time passing in the visual language used in modern comic books. While this linear sequence may seem to present a succession of moments, the understanding of graphic narrative is hardly so simple. This paper explores various assumptions about sequential images to show why panels are not moments in time. (16 pages, 744K) Blog Thread

Cross-Cultural Space • Fall 2005
Comparisons between Japanese manga and American comics have often been made, yet only a few studies have actually tried to quantify these differences. This study examines the "spatial" qualities of panels in a variety of American and Japanese books (17 pages, 952K) Blog Thread

A Visual Lexicon • Summer 2005
The most recognized unit in visual language is the "panel," though meaningful units do exist that are both smaller and larger than panels. This is similar to spoken languages, where lexical items can be both above or below the level of the "word." This paper will address these varying levels of representation in visual language to lead toward a general understanding of what it means to have "visual lexical items." *An expanded version of this essay appears in the Public Journal of Semiotics (19 pages, 725K)

A Force of Change • Summer 2005
Various visual techniques can create meaning across sequences of images in interesting and effective ways. This piece examines metonymy, conceptual metaphors, and blending across a three-panel pattern used in strips from an advertising campaign by the Chicago Tribune newspaper. (13 pages, 755K)

¡Eye græfIk Semiosis! Summer 2005
Written as my Masters Thesis for the University of Chicago, this piece challenges the common classifcation between "sound" and "idea" based writing systems. I argue that all graphic signs lie on a cognitive continuum, the ramifications of which beg for reconsidering their analysis as homogenous systems, the conception of their invention, the nature of their relationship to other visual signs, and the universality of the category of "writing" in the first place. (61 pages, 1.5MB) Cognitive Map

These links go to Comixpedia site, not pdf. files:

Interactive Comics? (February 2005) - Usually, when people think about language, there is an aspect of face to face intaction and exchange that springs to mind. This piece addresses how social interactivity factors into visual language structure and use

Art vs. Language (July 2004) - This pieces discusses how the cultural conceptions of "Art" and "Language" might affect the structure and usage of visual language in American society.

Interfaces and Interactions • Fall 2003
Besides sequential images, "comics" are often lauded for their union of text and image. This paper examines the ways in which visual and written language connect to each other, and how expression of meaning exchanges in such multimodal communication. Notable topics include how 'speech' and 'thought balloons' derive meaning, and the integration of text and image into unified increments. (48 pages, 720K)

Generative grammarVisual Syntactic Structures • Spring 2003
Straightforwardly, communication made by a sequence of images might be viewed in terms of linear "panel transitions." However, while intuitive, a linear approach ultimately has many problems with it.

Part 1 addresses the problems found in a panel transition model (22 pages, 452K)
Part 2
proposes an alternative method of analysis in the form of hierarchic rules, and can be found in my book, Early Writings on Visual Language

A Time Frame of Mind • Spring 2002
Written as my undergraduate honors thesis at UC Berkeley, this work has been published in the Spring 2003 edition of the Berkeley Undergraduate Journal. This somewhat esoteric piece offers a look at the relationship of the Dharma Theory of ancient Buddhist philosophy to the understanding of visual language temporal mapping. (42 pages, 521KB)

Early Writings on Visual Language
More writings are included in this 120 page book which collects, refines, and expands on the earliest of writings on visual language theory. It covers topics such as the muddled definition of "comics" and its relation to visual language, how sequences of images communicate, and child visual language learning, plus a lot more. Want one?


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