One of the particular features of publishing a webcomic in Webtoons is the vertical layout. This means that I have to think about the layout in a quite different and new way compared to traditional page format. This is a bit challenging but also quite fun, as I get a chance to think about comics in a new way. It does slow down the working a bit, like just from the practical point of view of trying to get an overview of the whole layout is not that easy.
The big difference is that the layout flows in vertical direction. At least for me, it has a much more dynamic feel that the traditional page form. The page format is usually horizontal in its overall format and that makes is more static to start with.
I like the dynamism of the vertical format and it appears to be really great for depicting time. But to get the right ”timing” with the image sizes and when to use white space and especially how to position the written sections and speech bubbles is not so easy. This takes some experimenting and trial and error to figure out. I also find difficulty in figuring out how to move between more detailed and more overall views.
In page format comics you are supposed to plan how to move the eye of the reader though the pages and this takes place both horizontally and vertically. With Webtoons formant you dont really have much space to move horizontally so the movement takes place only vertically. I think this much accounts for the dynamic feel as you really dont get those horizontal ”resting moments”.
So how does one then give space to more restfull moments? I find that in many Webtoons comics this is created with what I would call a ”free fall” moments, where you just seem to be floating in space without so much else actually happening. I find this a very interesting way of giving space for thought and just kind of feeling around to take place. A sort of stillness in the movement kind of thing. This is something I want to explore in my comic as well.