Cover Criticism Needed!

[Aidan of the tavern]

I think it looks great .

[Devor]

The gauntlet has little contrast with the darkness of the cover. It's hardly noticeable. While that's okay with a larger cover, if it's going to be looked at as a thumbnail, that could be a problem.

Maybe it was intentional, but I think you over did it. This is a real issue. Most readers who shop online only see a thumbnail. I zoomed out and the gauntlet kind of fades and looks weird as you get smaller. So does some of the text, except for the title which I think looks good.

Mostly I like it, but I think you should really fix this.

[ALB2012]

I couldnt get the second one to work but the first one looked fine- except use Book 1 not 1 it looks weird

[psychotick]

Hi,

I sense another photoscape user!

I like the cover. My only thought would be that the little diamond? is not quite between the thumb and the forefinger where it should be if its being held. A little more to the left. The gauntlet looks great, but it would look better if it was a tiny bit darker against the background. And I have a small question about the tag line. The gods being deceitful and us being decent doesn't quite go together. I'd suggest that if you want to say the gods are deceitful then the contrast is that we should be honest. Or alternatively if you want to stick with us being decent, then the gods should be indecent / amoral or something of that nature.

Cheers, Greg.

[Helleaven]

Hi,

I sense another photoscape user!

I like the cover. My only thought would be that the little diamond? is not quite between the thumb and the forefinger where it should be if its being held. A little more to the left. The gauntlet looks great, but it would look better if it was a tiny bit darker against the background. And I have a small question about the tag line. The gods being deceitful and us being decent doesn't quite go together. I'd suggest that if you want to say the gods are deceitful then the contrast is that we should be honest. Or alternatively if you want to stick with us being decent, then the gods should be indecent / amoral or something of that nature.

Cheers, Greg.

Actually I've done it in GIMP.

Although I agree that I may not have centered it properly, it is not a diamond, it's a black pearl and I have tried to give that black outline of the pearl but I'm not expert of drawing-painting thus it may have caused some wierdness. I found the picture of the gauntlet on google, I cut it and made a few adjustments, then I put it on the cover. What I was trying to do was to make that gauntlet seem unimportant; because it actually is one of the most important parts of the story. Only after reading it the reader should see why there is a gauntlet on the cover. But I accidentaly merged down the layer of the gauntlet to the background and unintentionally saved it. So unfortunately I can not make any changes now :/

English is not my mothertongue so i can easily make that kind of mistakes (and since the beginning of the topic I've made many) but they can be corrected as much as easily. If it feels wrong, then I should change it. Thank you for your useful criticism

[ALB2012]

Oh I use GIMP too (or at least try). I have merged layers too and then changed my mind. I think it looks fine

[Taro]

i think that if the gauntlet is the main thing regarding the story, keep it but as others have said the red light could be taken away and just change the font of the title. but other than that it looks great. i have so much trouble with designs so good on you.

[Addison]

The colors are great. But one thing I've found with cover art is that you want the eye-catching part to be what the book is about. For the first Harry Potter book we saw Harry on his broom flying past an arch. For the first book in the "Books of Umber" trilogy we saw Hapenstance's striking green eyes which are a key through the whole series. With your cover I was drawn to that bright ball of light hovering between the finger tips. If the gauntlet is important to the story you want to make the gauntlet to catch the eye. Try researching gauntlet's of the story's era, how they're made what they look like and draw that on the cover. Of course this is just my opinion.