Development of a Digital Comic for Teaching Photography Composition in Visual Communication Design

Abstract

This research aimed to identify the conceptual needs for developing a digital educational comic on photographic composition for vocational Visual Communication Design students, to describe the systematic stages of its development, and to determine its feasibility as a learning medium. The study applied a research and development approach adapted from a structured instructional design model and involved expert validators, a teacher, and students across two main phases. The initial phase focused on analysing learners’ needs, formulating the concept, and producing early prototypes of the comic. This was followed by expert validation to assess the content, media design, instructional quality, and overall usability. After revisions were made based on expert input, the comic was implemented through a field trial with students. Data were collected using a one-group pretest–posttest design to measure learning improvement, alongside interviews and questionnaires to capture the perceptions of teachers and students. The results showed that the study successfully produced a digital educational comic that integrates illustrations and photography to support students’ understanding of photographic composition principles. Expert validators provided high feasibility scores of 90.95%, 91.90%, and 93.81%, indicating that the comic met standards of content accuracy, visual quality, and instructional effectiveness. The teacher’s assessment reached 94%, highlighting its relevance and practicality for classroom use, while the students’ assessment reached 94.38%, demonstrating strong engagement and positive learning experiences. Overall, these findings indicate that the digital educational comic is highly feasible, pedagogically effective, and suitable as an innovative learning medium for teaching photographic composition to vocational students.