Become an IPhone Cartoonist

In this Instructable I will be using 3 iPhone apps to create compelling comics. These are the best apps I have found for iPhone, but I am sure there are just as equally worthy apps in the App Store.

Applications Needed:
Google
ComicBook
Comic Tycoon

Tools Required:
iPhone 4 (or later)

I use the Google browser for finding images on the web, but you can use Safari for the same task. You can also use images you have taken yourself with your built in camera. I create the story board with ComicBook, which has a bunch of great features and Comic Tycoon to render comic book-type images. There are a bunch of photo editors that can be used to create the perfect image to place in your comics, I just prefer Comic Tycoon's comic toon imager.

Other Photo Editors:
ToonPAINT
PhotoTropedelic

I have created a bunch of comics with my phone and developed some tips along the way. I had an idea one day on a road trip and decided that it needed to be in comic book form. I jotted down my thought until I felt that it was funny enough to share with my friends. I then figured out the best way to convey my message in as few words as possible. People these days do a lot of their browsing on their phones so I wanted a comic that was easy to read on a small screen.
Ideas can come from anywhere. Maybe you saw a funny post or comment on a social media site or a news article seemed ridiculous enough to share. My first comics were about our road trip and became a way to share our adventures with our friends. It all just snowballed from there.
Giving you a place to find funny ideas for your comic can be difficult. I believe that once you come up with an idea, that other ideas will come easily, that's what happened for me. I ended up creating comics by searching for trending articles. Ben Afleck and Mylie Cyrus were trending when I started my comics. I also began creating comics for holidays and for friend's birthdays.

• Photo 1 - My first comic. This one is pretty rough, but I was able to convey my idea.
• Photo 2 - Mylie Cyrus twerked her way into the headlines.
• Photos 3,4 & 5 - Ben Affleck was just announced to play the lead role in the next Batman movie.

Illustrated Life

Once you have a funny idea, it's best to draw it out to see how many frames you will need. I suggest not using more than 5. This is an important step but not really necessary after you get a feel for creating your own cartoons, it really helped me get a feel for layout in the beginning.

One you have the concept of your comic, it is time to add compelling images. I usually start with a header (the top image). The header is not necessary but will give the viewer an idea of your cartoon. I then use 4 frames or less to get my idea across. If you intend on creating a whole series of comics, a header is a great way to help your audience identify your comics right away. If you plan one creating just one comic, I suggest not adding a header because you will then have more room to convey your thoughts. When I created my Facebook Trends comic series, I had at least three ideas ready to go so I knew I wanted a header. You will be able to save your template within the ComicBook app for later use.Look for the briefcase icon at the bottom to save your template.

• Find an appropriate image and add a title.
• Create your first comic and save for your next one.

This part of the project is wide open and based on your own tastes. As I stated earlier, you can use a variety of programs to get your desired effect. For this step, I am going to use ComicTycoon.

• Open Comic Tycoon.
• Start a new comic
• Choose camera roll or take a new photo.
• Add photo and pick your desired effect.
• Save to camera roll.
• Open ComicBook.
• Pick your template.
• Add your photos.
• Add captions and effects from the bottom bar. There are a great many to choose from:
  • Explosions and emoticons
  • Title bars
  • Additional effects for purchase
• Add text and save to your phone or social media sites.

Additional tips

I would love to see what you create. Please share your comics in the comment section below.

Have fun!

This is a series I created to make fun of the items I see when scrolling through Facebook. I post them back on Facebook, I can't help myself, haha.

As an avid bicyclist, I decided to create a series for my fellow bikers to laugh at. I got great feedback for this one.

Bicycle Logic

Colorado recently (January 1st, 2014) allowed everyone to purchase marijuana. I decided to put my spin on the industry with a series of comics. These did quite well.

Colorado Chronicles

Video Series:

Colorado Chronicles 1 - 5

Colorado Chronicles 6 - 10

Colorado Chronicles 11 -15

Colorado Chronicles 16 - 20

Colorado Chronicles 21 -25