Concept in Definition ABC

The box in which a He drew where a story is told is known as a vignette. Thus, the vignette is a Format of the narrative graph in which two elements are combined: the representation of a drawing and a text explanatory. The person who makes these types of creations is known as a cartoonist, but other terms are also used, such as graphic artist, cartoonist or illustrator.

As for the origin of the term, it must be placed in the Middle Ages in France. At that time, copyists and scribes decorated some sections of books with drawings in which clusters and vines appeared and this ornamental element was known by the word vignette, which means bullet point.

Stories told in this format have two possibilities

1) a cartoonist who is at the same time the narrator of a story and

2) a separate cartoonist and storyteller who do joint creative work.

In any case, the vignette must be placed in the tradition journalism, as well as in the culture of comic.

In graphic humor

In most newspapers there is at least one section devoted to graphic humor. The creator presents a small story related to the present in a cartoon. Regarding its content, it does not necessarily have to be humorous, but there is usually an element of irony and social criticism. It is a format aimed at adult audiences and with the intention of offering an atypical point of view of reality.

The cartoons of the graphic humor of the newspapers can have other approaches. Thus, some of them are aimed at children, others have a spicy content or are related to the sport. Regardless of their theme, journalistic cartoons can be presented in a single illustration or also in several and in the latter case they are called comic strips.

In comic culture

The comic has two historical backgrounds. In ancient times there were already illustrations that told a little story, the Egyptian hieroglyphics. In the medieval world there is also another precedent, the medieval altarpieces. Both one and the other can be understood as the first bullets.

From the eighteenth century the tradition of the written press began, in which drawings began to be incorporated in which stories about reality were told. In the 20th century, a new publication, the comic, emerged in Europe and America. The term that was initially used was the comic strip and with the passage of time they became a mass phenomenon.

Originally, these publications were aimed at children and young people and addressed stories of superheroes, but little by little publications were appearing for all audiences and with different themes (politics, social, erotic, etc). Although the contents of the comic can be analyzed from all kinds of perspectives, there is an element that has remained, the use of the vignette.

Photos: Fotolia - Ratoca / macrovector