Granatæble

Language & visual representation have a very close relationship with one another. In acquiring a language, one must use visual cues to understand the spoken representation of the thing cued. When learning the Danish word "granatæble" - one should be looking at this image (right) for the memorization of the visual cue.

Similarly with design - and more specifically communication design or visual communication, the words that follow the images should have a similar relationship. Words should be carefully chosen for their literal meaning, for the way they stand alone on the page, and for the meaning they have when coupled with a graphic.

Brian Fies does a superb job of incorporating both words and images in a harmonious balance within his comics. It takes much restraint and sculpting to create a piece of literature that can compliment and accentuate the images which it supports. In "Mom's Cancer", Fies often purposely creates a kind of tension between the images of his ever-fading mother and a humorous text that tries to lighten the experience the reader has. He challenges the reader to feel uneasy about the whole graphic novel because it is about a topic - his mother's dying battle with cancer - which is in itself and uneasy topic.