Nate Piekos of Blambot @blambot Twitter profile | Pikagi

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

@blambot

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Creator of , award-winning designer, typographer, and Eisner-nominated letterer. Author of The Essential Guide to Comic Book Lettering.

Rhode Island, USA

https://t.co/DVd3KhZs8F

Joined June 2009

Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.

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@blambot

Nate Piekos of Blambot

6 months

Do you have the most comprehensive guide to modern comic lettering ever written? It's just $14.49 on Amazon, and it's still got 4.8 stars! 256 pages, full color! Written by Nate Piekos, Introduction by Tom Orzechowski, and published by Image! AMAZON:

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@blambot

Nate Piekos of Blambot

3 years

Writers, two separate thoughts = two separate balloons.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

1 year

It can't always be helped, but how you stack text in a balloon can influence the readability of the text. Notice how the text reads more naturally when you break lines based on punctuation.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

7 years

A cautionary tale. I've been in pain every day for a year...

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

6 months

A periodic reminder about free-use of Blambot "indie fonts" for small press comic creators...

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

5 years

Writers and letterers, two separate ideas should be broken into two balloons, particularly when there's a direct address. #lettering #comics

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@blambot

Nate Piekos of Blambot

2 years

And now you know.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

2 years

One of a letterer's primary jobs is to make sure the reading order of a page is as clear as possible. We see this panel layout often, and no matter how much negative space is left at the bottom of panel 2, a good letterer is going to try and preserve the reading order.

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@blambot

Nate Piekos of Blambot

7 years

Blambot’s BETTER LETTERER tips are all collected right here for your convenience: #blambot #lettering #tips #comics

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

4 years

“If I do a job in 30 minutes, it’s because I spent 10 years learning how to do that in 30 minutes. You owe me for the years, not the minutes.” (Not mine, but this quote sums up how you should charge as a designer pretty succinctly.)

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

8 years

Just turned in final lettering for UMBRELLA ACADEMY: HOTEL OBLIVION #1 !

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

6 months

BTW, this is how you ramp up intensity in dialogue with your graphic design mojo: Over the course of this page, a character is losing control panel by panel, shouting the same word over again until there's a crescendo of violence.

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@blambot

Nate Piekos of Blambot

4 years

It’s time once again to mention that small press comic creators can use Blambot’s indie fonts in their comics, webcomics, and merch, for free. Doesn’t matter if you’re making money with your comic or not. That’s how I support the indie comics community.

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Blambot Font Licenses

Non-profit/Indie Comics Use • Some typefaces on Blambot.com have a $0.00 price for limited use. Anyone can use these typefaces for non-profit use in print, or flattened into web graphics. Any other...

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

5 years

If you’re hiring any creative, you’re hiring their years of experience and knowledge of the craft and how it’s done. You are not hiring a marionette to act as a middleman between you and a task with which you have no hands-on experience. Trust the talent to do the job well.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

7 years

BETTER LETTERER #3 : Dynamic Sound Effects. Read more here: #lettering #comics #blambot

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@blambot

Nate Piekos of Blambot

2 years

A reminder: Blambot’s indie font free usage policy means that as long as you're self/small press publishing, you can use the indie fonts for free. Same goes for any merch associated with your indie comic. This is how I support the indie community and aspiring comic creators.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

7 years

So I’m homogenizing my various lettering tips into a new series called…LETTER BETTER! And here’s #1 :

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

1 year

Hot take: We need to just stop calling them “Comic cons” if the focus isn’t going to be comics.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

3 years

So, we’ll start at the beginning again… Better Letterer #1 – Personal Pronoun “I” in Comics #comics #lettering #blambot #tips Read more:

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

3 years

Here it is, folks. For the last year and a half I’ve secretly been writing a 200-page book on digital comic book lettering. It’s being published by @ImageComics in October.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

3 years

Comic lettering is not a repetitive factory assembly line. It is not placing a widget in a hole. It’s not done BY a computer...it’s done WITH a computer. By a designer. With their hands. Lettering is *graphic design.*

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

2 years

Reminder: Blambot indie fonts can be used license-free by all indie comic book creators. No matter how much money you’re making, as long as you’re *small press or independent* you can use the indie fonts In your comics, merch, and promotion…(cont)

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

4 years

It’s time once again to mention that small press comic creators can use Blambot’s indie fonts in their comics, webcomics, and merch, for free. Doesn’t matter if you’re making money with your comic or not. That’s how I support the indie comics community.

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Blambot Font Licenses

Non-profit/Indie Comics Use • Some typefaces on Blambot.com have a $0.00 price for limited use. Anyone can use these typefaces for non-profit use in print, or flattened into web graphics. Any other...

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

4 years

Can you hear the difference? This is just one small way that the letterer's design decisions can affect the reader's experience. #comics #lettering #design

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

10 years

Properly Stacking Text in a Dialogue Balloon #lettering #comics http://t.co/hYofogkQTy

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

2 years

When I quit my day job at 28 to make the leap into comics full time, the president of the company told me I’d never make it. That I didn’t have the temperament to be a freelancer…that I’d be back. I’m 46 and still self-employed. Don’t listen to those shitheels.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

2 years

Let’s do this again, because I’m frustrated. Standard US Comic book dimensions at print size.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

2 months

Todd Klein's The Art and History of Lettering Comics is now online...for FREE! Each section is expandable via a link!

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

6 years

An oldie but goodie from 2014: Fonts are a starting point for sound effects...

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

6 years

No matter the size of the balloon, the width of your tails, where they meet the balloon, should be consistent—and here’s my “secret” recipe: I try to make the tail width the same size as the bold characters of the font I’m using. #comics #lettering

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

8 years

Updates on @gerardway ’s custom fonts complete! #UMBRELLAACADEMY

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

3 years

Sad to hear that Bruce Blackburn, designer of the NASA “worm” logo has died. One of the greatest logos of modern times. It inspired so much futuristic, and then retro-futuristic typography. I mean, how many times have we leaned on that “A” with no crossbar to imply “sci-fi”?

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

1 year

You ever read a comic and notice how many of the sound FX are yellow? That's because the letterer never got to see the finished colored art. They were lettering over inks. We use yellow because it's the safest bet to show up against whatever the page's color palette might be.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

5 years

BETTER LETTERER #1 : Serif-I vs. Slash-I, the #1 telltale sign of amateur lettering. #lettering #comics #blambot

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

6 years

Here’s my “tight 13” essentials of comics lettering. #comics #lettering #blambot

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

2 years

Quick tip: One of a letterer's primary jobs is to make sure the reading order of a page is as clear as possible. We see this panel layout often, and no matter how much negative space is left at the bottom of panel 2, a good letterer is going to try and preserve the reading order.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

6 years

If you’re killing yourself doing rush jobs at low rates, you’re not getting your foot in the door for a more comfortable career in the future, you’re helping to normalize low rates/rush jobs in everyone's future…that includes you.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

2 years

Exhibit being installed! Jan 20-Feb 10 at Salve Regina University!

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

1 year

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

3 years

Everyone working with art in the western comics industry needs to commit these measurements to memory... Standard American print dimensions for comic art are: FULL BLEED: 6.875” x 10.4375” TRIM: 6.625” x 10.1875” SAFE AREA: 6.125” x 9.6875”

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

1 year

If you work in American comics, and specifically if you're an editor, artist, letterer, colorist, or production person, these dimensions should be committed to memory. *This is part of your job.* Properly sized art makes everyone's life easier throughout the creation process

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

5 years

Original hand lettering by Todd Klein, in the Blambot studio.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

6 years

FYI: Indie/small press comic creators can use Blambot free fonts LICENSE FREE in their print or webcomics, whether or not they’re making money on their project, and can even be used on merch related to their comics: #blambot #fonts #free

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Blambot Font Licenses

Non-profit/Indie Comics Use • Some typefaces on Blambot.com have a $0.00 price for limited use. Anyone can use these typefaces for non-profit use in print, or flattened into web graphics. Any other...

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

5 years

Have you heard about the new features I'm including in new Blambot pro dialogue fonts? How about SIX versions of every letter...! #lettering #comics #blambot

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

5 years

Artists, this panel layout in the middle of a page makes reading order confusing. Don’t expect a good letterer to put balloon 5 here. No one’s going to go from 4 to 5. They’re going to go from 2 to 5. (Cont.)

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

6 months

I can't give you candy this Halloween, but how about an updated look at my default lettering template in Illustrator?

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

5 years

I ordered a 20’ ladder 3 weeks ago. It’s lost in the mail. A 20’ ladder. Is lost. In the mail.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

5 years

Balloon tail widths, where they meet the balloon, should always be consistent. Here's how I do that: When I add tails (pic 1), I make sure the "fat end," where it touches the balloon, is about the same width as the letter-height of my dialogue font (pics 2&3). #lettering #comics

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

8 years

Yeah, it’s time for this lesson again… #comicbook #lettering #basics

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

9 years

Properly Stacking Text in a Dialogue Balloon seems to be getting some RTs today. Here it is in a larger format. http://t.co/JOv6Vt40xa

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

8 years

Letterer @deronbennett devised a new way to denote foreign languages. (Image sourced from: )

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

8 months

I am lucky enough to work with editors who respect this, but this is the biggest complaint among letterers. Endless revisions chip away at the value of our page rate. Changes are not made with "the push of a button." Letterers are not unskilled labor. We are graphic designers.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

5 years

BETTER LETTERER #4 : Don’t Cross Balloon Tails…Ever! #lettering #comics #blambot

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

4 years

Can’t believe it! I won the 2020 @ringoawards for Best Letterer! I’m honored, thank you! It was such a talented lineup of nominees, I never thought I even had a shot.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

3 years

American comic book dimensions at print size. Learn it. Live it. Love it.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

7 years

BETTER LETTERER #5 : "Stacking Text in Dialogue Balloons” Read more here: #lettering #comics #blambot

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

2 years

Happy Letterer Appreciation Day!

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

8 months

Happy Letterer Appreciation Day!

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

3 years

Here is your first look at interior pages from my Essential Guide to Comic Book Lettering! A 256-page deep-dive into lettering! Arriving in Oct. from Image Comics. Foreword by Tom Orzechowski! Pre-order on Amazon, or wherever you get books.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

3 years

My default lettering template as of Jan 2021. This is where I keep ALL the assets I’ve designed over the years. When I start a new project, I delete whatever I don’t need, and re-save the blank template for that project’s style guide. #lettering #comics #Illustrator

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

10 months

Graphic design pet peeve: I really, REALLY hate it when a logo is supposed to have organic distress, but you can see the pattern of distress repeat in duplicate letters--usually because someone's using a font with distress built in... Do the extra work and make it all different!

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

6 years

I’m reading about the Japanese concept of Ikigai this morning. I think this could be useful for us creative types…or for anyone really. Interesting.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

7 years

Blambot’s BETTER LETTERER #2 : Kerning! #typography #lettering #comics #blambot

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

3 years

So unless I decide to change anything, here’s my entire cover spread--including spine--for The Essential Guide to Comic Book Lettering.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

4 years

I never get tired of replying to emails by indie/small press comic creators asking how much they need to pay to use a Blambot indie font in their comic... The answer is nothing. I gotcha covered:

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Blambot Font Licenses

Non-profit/Indie Comics Use • Some typefaces on Blambot.com have a $0.00 price for limited use. Anyone can use these typefaces for non-profit use in print, or flattened into web graphics. Any other...

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

6 years

Basic USA comic book dimensions; FULL BLEED: 6.875" x 10.4375", TRIM: 6.625" x 10.1875", SAFE LETTERING AREA: 6.125" x 9.6875”. #comics #lettering #blambot #template #commitittomemory

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

4 years

Here’s some hardcore typographic geek speak! #typography #lettering

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

3 years

Blambot indie fonts may be used for your comic without paying a license fee if you are a small press/self-publisher. Even on merch supporting your comic. This is Blambot’s way of supporting the comics community. Just a reminder!

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Blambot Font Licenses

Non-profit/Indie Comics Use • Some typefaces on Blambot.com have a $0.00 price for limited use. Anyone can use these typefaces for non-profit use in print, or flattened into web graphics. Any other...

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

4 years

At long last Blambot's condensed typeface featuring special manga glyphs, six alphabets, three sets of numerals, bouncy baselines on consecutively typed letters, serif-I correction, varying ! and ?...IS HERE! #fonts #lettering #comics #manga

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

3 years

Blambot’s Astounder Squared font used in promotional graphics for Marvel’s new Loki series on Disney+.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

6 years

I wasn’t thrilled about SW:TLJ, but you know what I’m not doing? Putting down people who liked it, or boo-hooing about the franchise, or especially not signing a BS petition to have it removed from canon. It’s a movie. You’re an adult. Pull up your big-boy/girl pants and move on.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

2 years

Zoom in on these and examine. 1) Inorganic balloon with a default uniform stroke and minimal effort applied to crafting the tail. 2) Organic balloon shape with a simulated tech pen stroke, and slightly more effort applied in crafting the tail. This stuff makes a difference.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

4 years

Writers, in a series of captions spoken aloud by a character, every caption begins with quotes. *Only the last one gets end quotes.* #lettering #comics #writing

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

8 years

A frequently encountered dilemma in panel layout/reading order for letterers. #comicbook #lettering

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

2 months

Almost three years later now, and when I look back on writing The Essential Guide to Comic Book Lettering, my first thought is always: "How the f**k did I find the time to write and design a 256-page book?" It was a second full time job for 2 years!

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

1 year

It blows my freaking mind that some massive companies can't provide proper file formats of their own logos. "Oh you need a nice clean vector? How about this 1" wide jpg? That'll work, right?"

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

3 years

For some reason, you folks really liked that "separate thoughts/separate balloons" post. Why? Out of all the tips I’ve posted, I don’t know.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

4 years

If you think lettering is an “unskilled job”, you’re a special kind of idiot.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

6 years

Pro tip: if you’re lucky enough to have people show up for a signing, don’t sit there like you’re bored. Every one of them is taking time out of their day for you, just like you are for them. Jeepers Cripes.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

3 years

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

2 years

COMING SOON.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

6 years

Screenshot of my default #lettering template, Dec. 2017. #comics

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

3 months

Letterers, are you up against a panel with too little space? Here's one of my favorite solutions. Take a tip from hand letterers of yore and flex those graphic design skills to create balloons like these.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

1 year

Colorists and letterers are not all the same. Please care about who colors & letters your comics. It's in your best interest to learn a little about those disciplines and see what constitutes competent coloring & lettering--See whose work you admire, and request them if you can.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

3 years

It's not always possible, but whenever I can, I try to make sure balloon connectors make a smooth arc through the centers of the connected balloons. Pic 1: The balloons as they will print. Pic 2: The elements highlighted so you can see the individual parts. #lettering #comics

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

1 year

Lovely day. How would you folks like a guided video tour of my default lettering template where I talk about the functionality and all the various balloon assets?

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

10 years

In case you missed it yesterday: Properly Stacking Text in a Dialogue Balloon #lettering #comics http://t.co/hYofogkQTy

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

4 years

I will no longer be lettering any projects associated with Scott Allie.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

2 years

Better Letterer #3 – Dynamic Sound Effects #comics #lettering #blambot #tips Read more:

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

4 years

Better Letterer #1 – Personal Pronoun “I” in Comics #comics #lettering #blambot #tips Read more:

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

2 years

Better Letterer #4 –Don’t Cross Balloon Tails #comics #lettering #blambot #tips Read more:

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

4 years

No, artists, you can’t cut corners/budget and letter your comic as well as a pro letterer. Being an amazing artist in comics doesn’t make you an able letterer. Or even a competent one. No more than being a good chef makes you a good baker. 1/2

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

8 years

READING BETWEEN THE LINES - Line and Negative Space in Comics Dialogue. #lettering #typography #blambot

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

2 years

Creative masking.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

5 years

Pro tip: If you don’t think there’s comic book for you, make it. No one’s stopping you.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

7 years

BETTER LETTERER #13 : Layering Balloons in a Conversation #comics #lettering #design #blambot . For more tips:

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

3 years

Screenshot of my personal lettering template (single page) as of 4/21. I use this template to create other templates for specific projects.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

15 days

Here are some common corrections that need to be made to a comic book lettering script before it can be used by a letterer.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

7 years

If you think you need multiple !!!!! or ????, what you really need is just one of those, and a letterer who can visually punch-up dialogue.

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

6 years

Happy Colorist Appreciation Day!

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Nate Piekos of Blambot

8 years

Breaking out the reference materials--this morning, I start lettering new UMBRELLA ACADEMY.

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