Comic Art: Potential Careers | Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Comic Art: Potential Careers

MCAD Career Development can help you find work and help employers find you. In addition to job listings, the staff is available to meet one-on-one with students and alumni to assist with career development. Services include assistance writing and editing resumes, cover letters, and other professional correspondences; career exploration and industry research; interviewing practice; networking strategies; and industry-specific practices.

Cartoonist

Draws comic strips, caricatures, and spot illustrations for syndicated newspapers, magazines, trade or business publications,T-shirts, calendars, greeting cards, books, and more. Utilizes story-writing skills as well as humor, irony, and cynicism.

Comic Publisher/Editor

Working with an artist and a publishing house, helps guide a comic to print while ensuring that quality and production needs and deadlines are met.

Comic Artist

As an entrepreneur, freelancer, or staff artist, draws and writes narrative stories for comic books.

Comic Writer

Conceives of a story and develops a plot and script, using their own narrative that is self-published or submitted to publisher, or working as a hired writer for a pre-existing character. Works with a comic artist to illustrate the story or create the artwork themselves.

Webcomic Artist

Often working solo, creates and develops comics to be regularly published on a website or mobile app. Often shares their work exclusively through the web or published, printed works.

Writer, Penciler, Colorist, Letterer, Inker

In traditional monthly comic book companies jobs are frequently split up to meet demanding production deadlines.

  • Develops and writes the plot and script for the story.
  • Creates comic book layouts and illustrates the story from the writer’s script.
  • Working with the penciled illustrations, creates finished artwork using India Ink.
  • Digitally colors and separates either the pencilers’ or the inkers’ line art.
  • Sets the script, type, and balloons on the page either digitally or by hand.
Film Storyboarder

Creates visuals for each major scene in a film or TV show including character poses, facial expressions, and backgrounds.