Facing Facts

We all love faces, don't we? I made a little video the other day about “likeability” (some spell with an 'e' and others without) that addressed the subject tangentially.

Today, Russell Davies point to this great set of images by a photographer trying to capture subtle aspects of people's personalities by shooting them playing video games. Cool.

One of the trigger for my video was Scott McCloud’s new, amazing, book, Making Comics. I was fortunate enough to see McCloud at TED a couple of years ago. He's a brilliant comic artist but much more. He's one of those rare people who can not only DO something extraordinarily well but can also EXPLAIN what he does. Specifically, he tells/draws the secrets of facial emotion in this book. In remarkably clear prose and spot on visual depictions, McCloud describes/demonstrates the subtle differences between the facial expression of emotions; for example, “disgust” and “revulsion.” Terrific stuff.

This book isn't just for comic artists. It's for anyone interested in storytelling using visual materials...which, today, should mean, all of us.