Printing Research

There are many options for printing your own publications, whether it be in-house or through an external service. For my graphic novel, I have decided to use an external site to professionally print and publish it. This is beneficial to my practice as it means that I can spend more time on producing the illustrations and do not have to schedule a long amount of time for in-house production, also meaning that I do not have to rely on my less than ideal bookmaking skills.


Blurb is a self-publishing service where you can upload a formatted PDF of your book or use one of the pre-made templates to design a range of books or magazines for your needs. The site also has an option to make and sell your book through Blurb, Amazon, Ingram, or the Apple iBooks Store. It also offers a variety of free tools such as Bookwright and Adobe Lightroom to get started designing your book without having to pay upfront.

Volume printing options include print on demand, offset printing for 750+ copies, bespoke enhancements such as custom sizes, embossing and foil stamping, and warehouse storage. The site also has a pricing calculator that helps you figure out the dimensions and specifications of the book that you want. These options are what make Blurb one of the most diverse self-publishing services on the internet.


PrintNinja is an online printing service that specialises in graphic novel printing, but also offers other services such as children's book, magazines and custom games. The site boasts premium graphic novel printing at affordable prices and has a full breakdown of the features that you can expect from your custom novel.

This seems promising and it would make sense to use a service that specialises in graphic novels, however their offset printing production is based in China, with a United States customer service team. This could make cooperation difficult and printing times long, added to the fact that a more localised site would be more convenient for self-publishing on a deadline.


IngramSpark is a service that only offers graphic novels but boasts a larger range of features and options to choose from. You can choose to produce a print novel or an e-book version of your novel, which then connects to 70+ online retailers around the world. For their offset printing, IngramSpark has the most advanced print technology to create bookstore quality products with fast shipping and global distribution.

The site also has a range of tools, how-to videos and experts for help in setting up and choosing the best option for your graphic novel. Although, these tools are mainly calculators used to assist in dimension specifics and there are no programs so that you can visualise or make last-minute changes to your book, like the service that Blurb offers. This along with a seemingly shallow list of self-publishing options makes the site not worth using when there are better services out there.


After conducting research into these external printing sites, I have decided that Blurb is the best choice for me as it caters to my specific practice and needs as a self-publishing site. I will be sending the finished pages to Blurb to be professionally printed as a graphic novel and expect to recieve my printed novel quickly and efficiently. This research has also helped me to recognise that this service is the best place for me as an illustrator to use to self-publish future graphic novel publications.

Primary Research

When conducting research for my Final Major Project, I first went to the library to find books on how to create my graphic novels. While reading through each book, I made concise notes on the key points and made sure I understood how they could apply to my project. This reading research helped me to understand the different aspects of comics, their production, and the comic industry as a whole.


Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art - Scott McCloud (1)

In this book, Scott McCloud gives incredible insight into how we define comics as an art form, the importance of comic format, and what makes a successful comic. As well as giving a history of how people have created and viewed comics, it also deconstructs hidden elements of comics that make them connect so efficiently to the reader.

During my research of Understanding Comics, I also learned about how to effectively present time and motion in comic format, which will help with the pacing of my graphic novels. These techniques are important so that I can plan out each panel of my novels without having the action too cluttered on the pages, and can more easily connect with the reader.


Character Design for Graphic Novels - Stephen Withrow and Alexander Danner (2)

This book gives a clear breakdown on storytelling through characters, and the various archetypes of characters that are usually found in graphic novels. It also teaches how to visually develop characters for a story - with various examples of artists/graphic novelists and their work.

During my research of Character Design for Graphic Novels, I learned about the seven precepts of designing characters for this medium, as well as the different character archetypes that are present in most modern stories, and how to differentiate the central character from the opposing and supporting characters, along with creating motivation and conflict for these characters.


Making Comics - Scott McCloud (3)

Making Comics provides an understanding on how to structure everything in a comic, from basic panel construction and layout, to how to effectively and clearly tell stories through the artwork.

During my research of Making Comics, I discovered how to use clarity to present stories through the choice of moment, frame, image, word and flow. I also learnt about important techniques for making comics, which included depth cues, exaggerated poses for characters, and the use of diagonals (among other things).


Next, I conducted research into the more specific interests that inspired elements of my Final Major Project, and looked into how I could use this inspiration to tell my own graphic novel story. This helped me to understand some examples of the sci-fi comics and novels that were already on the market, and how they were presented to a wide audience.


Halo: Uprising - Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev (4)

Halo: Uprising is a comic series that follows the adventures of Spartan supersoldier Master Chief as a Covenant invasion of an Earth city begins. This comic introduces us to a character called Ruwan who is able to escape the invasion and sacrifice himself to destroy the alien leadership. It has a gritty, detailed art-style that captures the horror of an alien invasion like no other Halo comic.

My research into this comic inspired me with ideas about alien invasions and armoured heroes, with the biggest takeaway being the name of the character Ruwan was used for the name of the protagonist of my story. As the comic mostly shows the alien aggressors speaking in their native languages (symbols in print form), it gave me the idea to develop my own symbol-based language/alphabet for the Cryp'lar aliens of my project.


Halo: The Fall of Reach - Eric Nylund (5)

Halo: The Fall of Reach is a novel that details the events leading up to the first Halo game, including the creation of the Spartan-II supersoldiers and the most devastating loss during the war with the alien Covenant - the Fall of the planet Reach. The novel is written with scientific detail and detailed descriptions which paint a vivid depiction of the last days of the Covenant war.

My research into this book inspired me to read deeper into the lore of the series and want to create such a rich canon story for my own project with as much depth as Halo. This led me to write character histories and planet names and descriptions for world-building. It also helped me to appreciate the detail of the story and be able to apply the same level of detail to my own writing and illustration work.


Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith - Matthew Stover (6)

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is a novelisation of the third episode of the Star Wars film series. It is an adaptation of the events that led to the end of the Clone Wars and the fall of the Republic, with the shadow of Darth Vader being an ever-present threat. The novel is written with great care and is emotionally moving in its descriptions of events seen on the screen, now viewed in a more respected light.

My research into this book inspired me to improve my own fictional writing, resulting in a drive to improve the humanity of my characters, and my writing within the graphic novel itself. When comparing the book with its film counterpoint, it was important to note that words make all the difference to the interpretation of a scene - which is something I hope to replicate when creating the lore and emotional struggles for the characters of my story.


After this, I conducted a final round of research into the mythology of narrative and how it could inspire me to utilise classical story structures while creating new stories. This helped me to understand the representation of journeys, especially the 'Hero's Journey,' and encouraged me to merge what I knew about modern sci-fi storytelling with the mono-myth and themes from other mythological stories.


Orpheus in the Underworld - Ovid (7)

This book is a reprint of one of Ovid's most renown Greek myths, and tells the story of a musician journeying into the underworld to retrieve his lover, only to lose her again at the last moment. It is a tale of tragedy and adventure through both the metaphorical and physical underworld of Orpheus.

As short as this tale is, during my research I learnt about the origins of underworld mythology and the representation of Greek demons and devils. The journey to the underworld is a myth that I am planning to incorporate into the journey present in my own narrative.


The Hero With a Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell (8)

This book describes the great mono-myth of the one tale that has been passed through centuries of storytelling - the 'Hero's Journey.' This myth details a character journeying across worlds and returning in a different form of himself. It was the intentional basis for the original Star Wars movie and continues to be an inspiration to storytellers across the world.

During my research into the 'Hero's Journey' mythologue, I discovered the different stages of the journey, along with the character archetypes and outcomes. Early in the development stages of my project, I adapted this information to the characters of my narrative, as well as the overall journey that the protagonist embarks on.


This primary research maintained a strong foundation for project development and inspiration, ranging from classical myths to modern sci-fi media. I believe that this research was relevant to my practice and will not only have an impact on my FMP, but also on any future projects I choose to do.


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(1) McCloud, S. and Martin, M. (2014). Understanding comics. 1st ed. New York, NY: William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers.

(2) Withrow, S. and Danner, A. (2007). Character design for graphic novels. 1st ed. Burlington, MA [u.a.]: Focal Press.

(3) McCloud, S. (2007). Making comics. 1st ed. New York: Harper.

(4) Bendis, B. and Maleev, A. (2010). Halo: Uprising. 1st ed. New York: Marvel Pub.

(5) Nylund, E. (2001). Halo: The Fall of Reach. 1st ed. New York: Ballantine Pub. Group.

(6) Stover, M. (2005). Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. 1st ed. New York: Del Rey/Ballantine Books.

(7) Ovid and Innes, M. (1995). Orpheus in the underworld. 1st ed. New York: Penguin Books.

(8) Campbell, J. (1971). The Hero with a Thousand Faces. 1st ed. Princeton, N.J.]: Princeton University Press.

Character development

When developing characters for my Final Major Project, I made sure to make unique visual designs for each of the main characters, as well as the opposing forces of the Invasion of the Cryp'lar series. The designs are practical and efficient while working from the character's personality and history to produce a more believable character with a realised visual design.

The first character I developed was the protagonist of the series, Dr. Michael Ruwan, an Earth exobiologist who goes on an adventure to stop the Cryp'lar invasion. I wanted to show him as a passionate and overworked man that dedicates himself to his work. This could be done by making his hair a mess and his beard unshaven, while he constantly wears his lab coat. An important aspect of his character is that he will not stop working and has something to prove, meaning that his connection to his work on Earth makes it difficult for him to make the choice to leave and find help.

The Mars military forces are soldiers who accompany Dr. Ruwan on the journey off-world and a ssmall squad of them become the secondary protagonists of the story. I knew that to make them look futuristic, I had to adapt what I already knew from sci-fi media to a more practical approach, which resulted in red armour to help camouflage during missions on Mars. All the parts of the armour are detailed in how they attach to the bodysuit underneath, which makes for an immersive and appealing design. 

For the helmets of these soldiers, I took inspiration from many different designs, including adapting real life helmets to science-fiction. The final helmet needed to feel like it would be made by humans, while also suitable for the martian landscape. From the handful of concept designs, the final choice went to the bottom-left helmet, it had necessary features such as re-breathers and a wide visor, as well as a strong visual identity.

The Cryp'lar aliens serve as the antagonists of the story and have a humanoid, yet reptile physiology. They have sharp claws and large muscles for help climbing the mountains of their homeworld, and are a warrior race. However, this species is intelligent and became conquerors of the other four Larian races before reaching out to conquer other species. The body was simple to get right but the head had to strike a balance between vicious and smart. The top-left head became the final Cryp'lar design, while the other two left concepts were to be reused as the Chron'lar species.

The armour for the Cryp'lar showed the culture of their species and was covered in round and sharp edges, with a symbol on the chest denoting the rank of the individual warrior. The helmets were difficult to produce concepts for as they had to be practical enough to fit over the unusual shape of the alien heads. The middle-right concept became the final design as it was the best-looking and the one that made the most sense to wear in a combat situation.

Cryp'lar have military commanders and one of them happens to be the primary antagonist of the series. A veteran warrior known as Kuel'lar Shan was born from a line of proud holy leaders and craves knowledge about the history of his species. He is ruthless and tactical in his approach, which has earned him the flagship of the Cryp'lar fleet known as Before the Seventh Moon. His visual design is covered in scars and he wears the cloak of a fleetmaster, and his helmet is like a crown on his head.

This design is effective in communicating a sense of intimidation and power, as Kuel'lar Shan is covered in spikes and has scars and cracks that tell of his previous victories. His body is taller and bulkier than a standard Cryp'lar soldier and I believe it adds to the viciousness of his appearance. This makes for an effective contrast with his thought-out strategies and cunning tenacity. 

The development of characters for the narrative of my project is vast with extensive background detail that helps inform the design of each one. I have ensured that these characters are not just one-dimensional stereotypes, but have deeper motivations for their actions, which raise moral questions throughout the narrative. Each design is unique, practical and serves the story with everything having a purpose. This is important in creating iconic characters that are memorable and relatable.

Poster design workshop

One of the workshops for the FMP module entailed developing three different poster designs for movies of our choice. This workshop challenged our composition techniques and ability to create dynamic and interesting illustrated posters. I chose to design posters for the three The Lord of the Rings films. (1)

First, I experimented with various compositions that played around with the content of the images. A few of the techniques I used were straight angles, perspective, and layered depth. I believe these experiments were successful in creating unique compositions that featured a range of illustrations to represent characters, locations and objects from all three of the films.

Next, I chose the three poster designs that I wanted to illustrate and produced pencil roughs of each. The first one is for the first film and depicts a hand reaching for the Ring of Power with the iconic title opposite. This is an effective composition because it utilises negative space wisely and incorporates elements of the Golden Ratio of design into the poster.

The second one is for the second film and shows a broad variety of locations featured in the film and portrays this section of the journey of the characters. The title next to the river flows into the image and seems as if it is a part of the world. This is an effective composition because it uses straight angles and layers to give a sense of depth to the illustration.

The third one is for the third film and portrays the Eye of Sauron above his tower of Barad-Dur in Mordor, with part of the title beside it as a teaser. This is an effective composition because it uses perspective to show the vast scale of the tower in an angle that is both eye-catching and connected to the narrative.

After producing rough sketches of the designs I liked, I inked them and digitally cleaned them up to make the posters look more professional. These designs were still black and white at this stage, but the plan was to make them coloured and close to real film posters. Even with just the bold outline, the illustrations are made to stand out more with higher definition.

I believe these posters mostly work well in a digital format, however the negative space affects the overall impact of each image. Coloured backgrounds would work to retain the atmosphere and depth of these poster designs, while further ensuring the images are eye-catching to viewers.

Finally, I added colour to the elements of the first design to see how it would look. While I still believe it would benefit from a coloured background, the addition of this simple colour already gives life to the image. I believe that this particular design is more effective in black and white, while the others may have been the ones to need colour.

This workshop was useful in teaching me more unusual composition styles and how to frame elements in a visual space. This is important when developing panels for a comic/graphic novel to create dynamic sequences that don't become dulled with the same angles and positioning of elements. I believe what I learned from this workshop will be beneficial in helping me with my Final Major Project.

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(1) The Lord of the Rings. (2001-2003). [Film series] New Zealand, United States: Peter Jackson, New Line Cinema.

Module Evaluation

The FMP module was useful in giving me a focus for a project that I am passionate about, which made it enjoyable to develop, produce and reflect upon. By starting to professionally produce my own graphic novel during the course of this module, I received experience in how I will later produce projects such as this in an independent fashion and in my own time. Using the first novel to inform my practice, the development of this project is an example of the process that I will use to produce comics/graphic novels in the future. I intend to create the other three graphic novels that I had planned for this project after university, and will refer back to the novel I am currently producing to see how much I have improved as an illustrator and a storyteller.

Throughout this module, I saw noticeable improvement with my drawing skills, planning and page/panel layout for sequential illustrations. I believe that the depth and variety of the compositions and camera angles used in my project is appropriate for my current work and shows a clear understanding of the importance of pacing and flow in a graphic novel. This is important as it means that I can effectively judge when the intensity of the action should be portrayed, in tandem with the quiet of the still moments in a story.

However, I believe the development and concept work for this project was lacking and showed only the basic ideas with little expansion. If I dedicated more time to the developmental stages, there is a chance that I could have created a more realised and well-drawn set of characters and environments that added to the immersion of my story. Ultimately, this came down to re-scheduling after the drastic changes in what I wanted my final project to be, and how much time I would need for each stage. In the future, I will be sure to take more time to thoroughly plan how long I will need to complete a project. If I missed deadlines in a professional market, then I would be penalised and could result in me rushing to complete illustrations and not produce my best work.

As my project stands, I do not believe that I could sell my current work at market or get it professionally published by an external source. This is because I need to improve my practical drawing skills in order to be able to visually depict characters and environments in a realistic and illustrated way. When I feel like I have significantly improved on these basic skills, I believe that I will be confident enough to get the graphic novels of this project publish. This will also allow me to revisit my current novel and recreate it to objectively reflect on my improvement as an artist, and encourage myself in seeing that I am making progress as an illustrator.

Overall, I am pleased with the skills and processes I have learnt during this module, as well as the level of improvement with many different skills needed for the project. On the other hand, I need to dedicate more time to idea development and improving my personal illustrative skills for future projects. This will result in having work that I feel is good enough to publish and has a story worth telling.

Book cover research

In conducting research for the cover of my graphic novel, I found a few examples of classic sci-fi novels with cover illustrations that interested me and inspired elements that I want in the final cover design for my novel. Classic cover designs with more abstract imagery were appropriate research for my project because they align with the mythological storytelling and themes present in the narrative. This results in an interesting balance of old and new imagery to create something truly unique.

Danger Planet by Brett Stirling (1)

Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany (2)

The Rings of Saturn by Isaac Asimov (3)

Earth Abides by George R. Stewart (4)

After researching these covers, I began experimenting with composition and layout of elements that inspired me from each of these novels. An ever-present symbol that was the focal point for many classic science-fiction covers was the circle to represent a planetoid of some description. From this, I ensured that the circle would also be a focal point on the cover of my graphic novel.

While a few of these designs appeared to be too busy when compared to the image composition of the researched covers, I leaned towards developing the first concept of a city in front of the planetoid (which in this case would be either Earth or its sun). This made me realise that in order for this story to be accessible I needed to give the cover simplicity with easily read imagery, making for an interesting illustrated cover that can draw readers in and doesn't push them away with too many sci-fi elements. 

Other ideas I experimented with involved the helmet of one of the Mars military forces from my story being merged with a planet, taking direct visual inspiration from "The Rings of Saturn" by Isaac Asimov. This concept was not successful in achieving the same visual impact as the city idea and could potentially confuse the reader into believing this helmeted figure was the main character. Another idea was the alien city of Neos being shown as silhouettes in front of a setting sun, but this was again too confusing to grasp as a city and didn't provide enough visual information.


As the project progresses, I will continue to develop my chosen idea for the cover design for my finished graphic novel. I hope to provide a finished illustrated cover in time for the Degree Show, along with my printed novel. For future graphic novels in this series, I will further research into other forms of covers for inspiration to use for the rest of the covers. My aim is to see improvement in each developed cover as my level of research and idea development expands to produce a more refined and solidified visual representation of my story.


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(1) Sterling, B. (1945). Danger Planet. 1st ed. New York: Popular Library.

(2) Delany, S. (1977). Dhalgren. 1st ed. Boston, Mass.: Gregg.

(3) Asimov, I. (1989). The Rings of Saturn. 1st ed. Lightning.

(4) Stewart, G. (n.d.). Earth Abides. 1st ed.

Vehicle development

For the development of the vehicles that the characters of the narrative use, I took inspiration from designs from other science-media, such as Star Wars, while also creating completely original designs by 3D modelling miniature ships with the use of building blocks and translating those designs to a spaceship. These concepts use a mixture of both processes while experimenting with vastly different shapes and sizes.

The concept ships shown here are for the development of human star-ships and transports that would take the characters of the story to other locations or worlds throughout the galaxy. I wanted to give each concept a consistent visual style with blue patterning and detailed markings. I believe this created visually appealing designs that showed the wear-and-tear of ships that are part of a lived in world, which would further help with the immersion into the universe of the graphic novel.

If I had dedicated more time to concept development of these vehicles, I would have chosen designs that I thought were effective, and improved upon their structure and visual identity to better fit with my story, as well as incorporate them into the final illustrations of the first graphic novel.

This is an in-universe poster advertisement illustration for a model of spaceship available to purchase on Earth. By making these sorts of objects, it enriches the depiction of worlds in my story by giving detail to the background elements that would be present in cities such as those in my graphic novel. The featured ship is one of my favourite concepts as it has a practical design without unnecessary detail, and would seem to be some sort of cargo ship as of its size and bulbous structure. 

Along with the inclusion of the in-universe price label at the bottom of the advertisement that shows the currency of this future Earth city, this poster is an effective means of immersing the reader into the practical world of my project - making it seem more believable to them. This is important as a good story needs a connection with its audience and this visual connection helps in achieving that.