How do you subtly change mood tone in your design without your viewer—or in our case our reader—knowing it? It can be a challenge. The treatment for “Mí Barrio” is much different than any other comic book we’ve worked on before. And creating a subconscious change in mood throughout the artwork is critical in capturing the essence of Robert Renteria’s story in comic form.

Robert transforms through certain stages in his life—from poverty to gang life to military life and then to the corporate world—but in the design of the comic book, we want to not only tell a story around these life changes, but also change the mood visually as these transitions take place. We want these changes to be subtle and not jarring as the story progresses. Because Mí Barrio’s design treatment is only black and white instead of four color, we are limited in how we can manipulate design elements to make those subtle life-stage changes. Robert’s story starts off dark and dreary and ends with a message of hope. So at the beginning of the comic book, we’re using treatments that include darker, heavier lines and tighter. Shades of gray tones are used to create dark and light effects. At the end, the treatment will feel wide and open—very light—with more spacious variations. When finished, if you compared page 1 to page 49 you’d see a different feeling though the treatment of the art. It is our hope that the reader can thumb through the book and see a transition happening even before reading each page.

Below is the first page of “Mí Barrio”

Author Robert Renteria has dark shifty eyes, black hair and dark features. He’s a little bit cool and quiet, and often wears a black suit. He grew up in poverty on the East side of LA and was involved in gangs, drugs, and violence throughout his adolescence. This may sound like the ingredients needed to create the perfect comic book villian. But actually, you’d be surprised.

In Robert’s latest endeavor, collaborating with Round Table Companies and SmarterComics to create “Mí Barrio,” a comic book version of his sought-after memoir “From the Barrio to the Board Room,” one of the most interesting challenges has been transforming Robert’s real life personality and persona—which spans about 50 years and goes from tough street kid to military man to successful business owner to inspiring author—into a comic book character.

Since Robert has developed a dedicated following for his mission to get kids off the streets and help them be successful in life, we continually search for the balance between what is enough to make his character recognizable as Robert yet still have the element of a “good guy” comic book character. Some of Robert’s visual features in an illustrated character equates with the villain of the story. Yet it tends to go back and forth throughout the book. For instance, Robert was a troubled youth so a little villain in him when he was young is OK. But at the end of the story he is the hero, so we must find a way, through character design elements, how to portray Robert as that hero but still stay true to his human likeness. It’s a work in progress, for sure, and working on “Mí Barrio” has been much different than other comic book work we’ve done.

Stay tuned as Robert’s comic book character evolves; Below are some of the initial design work we have created for Robert’s character.

Finding the right creative individual to become the next cog in your talent machine is a really tough job. Sure it’s easy to flip through a designer’s portfolio or website to view their work. You may even love what you see from a particular artist or designer. But inevitably, you will have to communicate with that individual, on some level, in order to have a successful working relationship… and believe it or not, there are a lot of really talented designers and illustrators out there who, quite literally, can’t put two sentences together.

I found this out when searching for an illustrator for the new “Little Barrio” comic book. I reviewed a lot of portfolios and talked to a lot of illustrators and I was amazed at the level of work that some produced. But I was also very bothered at how many times this brilliant work was not coupled with the attitude and professionalism that I was seeking in a creative partner for the Barrio project.

Finding a brilliant, creative mind is only half of the equation for successful design collaboration.

• Does the person you’re interviewing have the ability to communicate on a professional level?
• Does he/she return phone calls or emails promptly?
• Can you talk through a process with him/her in order to get to the meat of a project, and then turn it into something that is creative and meets or exceeds deadlines?

It’s a truly tall order.

But after a long and grueling search through the haystack of illustrators I finally found the needle I was looking for.

Meet Shane Clester.
He is the brilliant—and professional—illustrator working on “Little Barrio” with us. Shane and I quickly found a groove and spoke the same language, even referencing the same obscure indie comics. Because Shane can operate both sides of his brain so well and so effectively, I can now take a step back from the creation process. He knows how to ask the right questions, he knows how to communicate his ideas effectively, he’s professional, he’s creative… and man’o man… can he draw.

Below is some of the work that has turned me into a fan.